Teen Bedroom Decorating Ideas
Inexpensive Ways to Liven Up Walls and Fabric
Updating a teen's bedroom can be done simply with some paint, wall art, and personalized fabrics.
The most important thing when decorating a teen's bedroom is to allow the teen input so that the room really is a reflection of who they are. Just like the rest of us, teens can have very stressful lives and they need a place to retreat and feel comfortable and happy. They are searching for who they really are and designing their own bedroom provides an outlet where they can express themselves creatively. Here are some ideas to get everyone started.
Color
Planning your color scheme is the first thing you want to do before you start decorating. Bright colors are very popular at the moment, such as a vivid pink and candy-apple green. Color schemes in the same hue are very pleasing to the eye. Think about staying in the cool colors, with greens, blues, and purples, or go with a warmed-up bedroom in yellows, oranges, and reds. Boy bedrooms are traditionally focused on navy, but other color schemes are just as functional. A khaki with green tones is soothing or use a crisp red and white to make the room pop. Let your teen visit the paint store and browse through all the paint chips to see what catches their eye. Alongside the paint chips are many booklets with color scheme ideas and suggestions.
Artwork
If your child is already artistically inclined, they may already have artwork ready for hanging on their walls. Have them pick their favorite pieces and then design the feel of the room around them. If they don't have anything ready-made, there are many ideas they can choose. Buy blank canvases at the craft store and invite their friends over. Each person can create their own masterpiece for hanging in the art gallery/bedroom. Kids love photos of themselves. Have them select images you've already taken or have a mini photo shoot in the backyard with the digital camera and find enough photos to make collages or blown-up posters for wall art. Even a regular poster can become art. Have your teen shred the poster into long strips or rip it into bits and then put it back together in a ramshackle style on a colored tacky board and frame it.
Words
Stencil words on the wall for impact. Find a spot above the door, the window, or the bed. Then help the child choose what they would like to say. Maybe they have a line from a poem they wrote in English class or a favorite lyric from a song. If they can't think of anything, borrow a quote book from the library and have them peruse it for great ideas. Or they can simply put their name somewhere or a simple saying, such as:
Sweet Dreams or Friends Welcome Here
Ribbon
This idea is especially great for girls' rooms. Updating current plain fabrics or inexpensively purchased monochromatic pillows, bedding, and curtains is easy with some beautiful ribbons. Ribbon can be sewed on easily (and may even be taught in your child's home economics class!) or you can find iron-on ribbon or peel and stick ribbon. You can keep the ribbons all of the same thickness and style or mix it up with skinny and wide ribbons and scalloped edges or plain. Ribbons come in different patterns and every color in the rainbow. First find colors to suit your theme at a fabric store or a craft store. Then apply the ribbon to your choice of fabric. For example, if you are doing a pillow, you can stripe it, weave it, or outline the edges. Consider doing a valance for the windows made of dangling ribbons. Dangling ribbons can also be looped and sewn over the edge of a hoop along with a long sheer fabric and placed above the head of the bed for a princess effect.
Makeshift Fabrics
Use everyday objects as fabrics. Make an old favorite athletic jersey into a pillow. Who else can say they have a Brett Favre #4 jersey pillow? Use team pennants and let them drape down side by side for a window valance. Use the high school colors for pom poms as the decorative hardware at the end of the curtain rods. Cut out pieces from baby clothes and other fabrics that you couldn't part with and make it into a quilt. The ideas are endless!
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