Fresh ideas for a teenager's bedroom

Louise Elsza Louise Elsza
Jugendmöbel, Möbelgeschäft MEBLIK Möbelgeschäft MEBLIK Nursery/kid’s room
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A great teenager's bedroom should have their personality front and centre, while offering smart solutions for keeping all that teenage chaos under control. It should be a place they can have their privacy, chill out with friends, hit the books, and get the copious amounts of sleep they'll be so very cranky without.

When designing a room for someone whose tastes are rapidly changing it's always a good idea to keep expensive items such as beds and desks neutral, rather than overly trendy. Keep the trends for accents, so they are easy to switch out as their taste and style grow and change. 

If you've got a teen who's outgrowing their childhood bedroom decor, read on for some tips and tricks to give them the room they need to take them through high school.

Choose an appropriate wall colour

A lick of paint in your kid's favourite colour is a simple and affordable way to update their room to suit their taste. Talk to them about what they want, and be open minded – after all, you can always paint over it once they move out! 

Orange, purple, lime green, blue, and black are popular shades for teen rooms, and each can be made to look sophisticated. You can even make black work without getting too goth. It's all in the styling. 

Once you've selected your wall colour you can subtly work the rest of the room to fit in. Here other hints of blue feature in the bedding, chair, lamp, and drawers, while a tasteful grey in the rest of the furniture keeps it toned down.

The ultimate bed

Steer away from the childish bedding prints and either go solid colours, or for bold geometrics. You can stick to neutral tones like this strong black and white zig zag pattern, pick stripes that work with the colour scheme of the room, or something fun like polka dots. 

Interesting details such as the quilting on this duvet cover play with texture and add a little extra sophistication to the look. The red pillows chosen here work beautifully with duvet pattern and tie it into the touches of red in the rest of the decor.

Let them experiment with the walls

What's your teen into? Bring their interests into their room in a big way with affordable art prints (in case they change their mind in six months!). Here a girl's room is infused with a bit of old Hollywood glamour with a giant Audrey Hepburn print in chic black and white. It's like the upscale version of hanging a poster on your wall.

If you've got a music obsessed teen why not buy their favourite albums on vinyl and frame them? Surfers would love a giant wave mural painted on the wall to help them daydream. If your daughter or son is the bookish type images of beautifully designed vintage book covers make for excellent wall hangings. 

Add decorative accessories that compliment their style

Decorating is all about the personal touch. The subtle take on the initial letter art is a nice addition, as are the artworks in different sizes on the exposed brick wall, but what gives the most personality in this space is the string of photos. This is so simple to do on the cheap, and allows your teen to display their social life or favourite inspirational images right on their wall. I'm also loving the string of lights behind the bed – it's a festive take on the bedside lamp, and perfect for reading at night. 

Encourage them to use storage

Teens accumulate stuff, and that stuff has a tendency to clutter their room right up. Clever storage solutions are your best weapon against mess, so look to all the wasted spaces in the room to see where you can fit additional cupboards and drawers. This fantastic bed nook by INT2architechture uses all the negative space of a bed for storage, while creating a cosy space anyone would love to nap in! 

While you might not be able to build a custom piece like this, you can always add shelving to walls, put drawers under the bed, or pick bedside tables with ample storage to contain the nick-nacks.

Add a trendy floor rug

You can't go past a great rug to really pull a room together. Some teens prefer their decor to be understated, and the honeycombed blues and greys in this rug lift the room in a subtle way. Rugs protect your floor from the rough actions of boisterous teenagers, feel great under the feet, and bring a bit of warmth to floorboards or tiles.

Want to give your bedroom a makeover next? Imagine you and your love in these gorgeous romantic bedrooms.

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