Decorating a teenager’s room is fraught with difficulties as they are certainly not so easy to please! One rule of thumb is never to decorate their rooms as a surprise, get them involved in choosing colours, patterns and designs and above all, remember that this is their room, not yours, so do try to compromise!
Colours
Contrary to popular belief, not all teenagers want their rooms painting in black, however many teenagers want to leave bright and airy colours behind them to focus on more unusual shades. They want to express their individuality and that often means choosing colours that parents may well disapprove of – black, deep reds and purples. Yet these colours can actually look great in a room depending on how you approach it.
Dark colour schemes do have a habit of being quite oppressive, particularly when all of the walls are painted a dark colour – which has the effect of soaking up all the available natural light. Strong colours are best used as accents or as a feature wall – whether your teenager will agree is another matter though? However if you acquiesce to their request for a particular colour they are more like to be reasonable about how much of it you use. Probably.
A relatively tame colour scheme can easily be made original and sophisticated with just a touch of imagination. This teenage room inspiration from Sico is a good example. For those not confident enough to give this a try, wall stickers or stencils can be just as effective and your teen will love the chance to get involved and show off their artistic skills to personalise their rooms.
If they insist on strong colours then these two examples from Dulux Colour Inspirations shows how deep colours can be used in combination with lighter shades and neutrals to get the best of both worlds – so to speak. A two-tone room is often the best compromise and can actually look stunningly effective.
Wall Art
Posters and artwork will be obvious solutions here but also consider wall murals as a feature wall which will provide a striking and unusual focus.
These fab wall murals are from a company called Digitex Home and I think you’ll agree that they certainly have a huge impact and may just provide the ultimate compromise from having a room painted entirely in black or purple.
Pop art style wall murals are fashionable and dramatic and give a room it’s own sense of character without needing to re-decorate entirely. They’ll make your teenager’s room the talking point amongst all their friends.
Teen Furniture
These designer beds from GoModern are sophisticated, classy and modern and will go down a treat with young adults. Designer beds often have that quirky edge that other furniture companies lack, making them a popular choice with teens.
This gorgeous sofa bed is called Pongo and not only looks divine but it comes with some clever storage too like the handy pockets in the back panel and optional storage under the mattress or even another single bed.
This ultra-modern designer teenager’s bed is called Ruler. It’s simple, un-fussy and yet sleek and cool. It can be hard finding a bed that fits in with your teen’s room but this one will look great anywhere and can be used as a classy guest bed long after they’ve left home (if they ever leave home!).
Seating
Teenagers spend an inordinate amount of time in their rooms so it’s a good idea to provide some comfy seating for them and their friends so they can gossip, play computer games and watch movies in style.
This Fatboy beanbag from John Lewis is so comfy you’ll be wanting it for your room! The huge beanbag is luxuriously soft and flexible and supports every part of you. It’s the ultimate beanbag that will prove a surefire hit with your teen.
Sofa beds can come in handy and are a useful form of bedroom seating. The Alpha sofa beds from John Lewis are not cheap at £399 but when you consider it might get ten years or more of continuous usage it’s not bad value for money really?
Teenage Bedding
Another compromise you could have for not letting them paint the walls black is that they get to choose the accents for their room; that is the bedding, rugs, wall art and other accessories that all help to transform a neutral coloured room into a teenage room with attitude and buzz. There is some great bedding out there for teenagers that is funky, stylish and perfectly ‘them’.
The Grunge Rock theme is always a good one and the Brit-Pop look like this Rock UK bedding set from amazon has been a good seller for some time.
Taru luxurious woven cotton percale bedlinen from Designers Guild is their latest design which is both feminine and modern and will appeal to a rather more sophisticated teen who prefers chic style to junior rock.
Plain Lazy duvet covers from Plain Lazy or Amazon add a humourous touch. Teenagers love statement clothes and so will most definitely want this statement bedding!
Decorating a teenager’s bedroom might fill you with horror but with so many inspirational ideas out there, it won’t be too difficult to find a theme that you both love (or at least one which you can tolerate).
