Ideas for creating a room your tween can help decorate and enjoy for many years to come.
Once upon a time, your child drew you pictures, played with barbies and matchbox cars, and held your hand at the mall. Lately, you might have noticed your child is in or vastly approaching the Tween years. These perilous and soul-searching years from 9-12 are when your kid hits the not a child anymore, but not yet an official teenager either phase. This new phase is a rite of passage in independence and individuality. Your tween will also want to revamp their bedroom as well. Shedding that "baby" décor and creating a bedroom that is more mature can help your tween feel like their family recognizes they are growing up. We’ve created a list of great ideas on designing a room to last and accentuate individual style.
Set a Budget
As the parent, we want the best for our tween's space. However, before we set out on a shopping spree, it's a good idea to research what the price ranges are on the items you have in mind and create a budget to stick to. No matter what décor and furniture your tween likes, she’ll have to work within what the family can afford. Regardless of the amount, you can produce big results with accents and paint. The bulk of your budget should always go towards furnishings and the items that are an investment to be used for many years. Accessories like pillows, figurines, and pictures can be made or found at a very low cost.
Plan on Paper
Creating a plan or list of must-haves for the room is a great way to begin the official process. These things add up quickly, and you want to make sure you don’t go over budget getting sidetracked, which is easy to do, with extras before you've completed what is on the original plan. This is a great time to involve your tween. Put together a swatch board with the color scheme and create a sketch together to decide furniture placement and go through magazines to get a sense of her style. Keep a small amount of your budget for extras like painting accessories, which add up quickly, additional bedding, and lighting.
Furniture Quality and care
When choosing furniture for your tween, it's a good idea to keep the balance of quality and easy care. Tween's can still be hard on their things so finding sturdy and durable items that can stand up to wear and are easy to clean, is a good rule of thumb. Finding beds with trundles, loft beds, or platform beds are great to maximize space and storage. Setting up bins or baskets on their dresser and desk shelves is an easy way to keep the clutter to a minimum and keep her room organized. When deciding on a style, think ahead on how long you want her to keep this furniture and buy a style to fit that plan.
Neutral Themes
It is easy to land into the theme trap and go all out with Hannah Montana or Dallas Cowboys. Keeping things neutral will give the room much more longevity rather than passing fads and current passions. If she loves Hannah Montana, then you can go with music accents and frame a Hannah Montana poster. Dallas Cowboys? Incorporate football or general sports incase next year they decide Tennessee Titans are the best! If you decide to redo old furniture by painting or staining, go with colors that can match any theme or color scheme. Blacks, whites, beiges, and creams are easy to coordinate and look great in painted bedrooms. To add punches of pattern or bold colors, cover headboards or chairs with fun fabrics and make pillows with accent colors. You can switch out fabric much easier than painting walls or buying a brand, new bedding set.
Don’t be shy about involving your tween’s friends in the decorating process. They make great painters, baseboard cleaners, trash collectors, and designers. Make a party out of it with fun music, pizza, and rent a movie later. They will love sleeping over in the finished product and feel important giving ideas and helping their friend do such an important job. It's a great experience to share and create close ties with your tween's friends.
