Teen Bedroom Decorating Idea's and Tips
Stage 1 the Bed Corner
The Bed Corner! My adventure in redecorating a teen bedroom to be fun, functional and not too romantic shabby chic. LOL yes, I made that mistake with her older sister, pretty much decorated a room to 'my' liking. What a mistake! Here's my thoughts and tips on decorating a youth or teen room! 5 steps...and noting some tweaks in the future!
My daughter already had the antique 3/4 bed. We keep a single mattress slid underneath for sleepovers!
1. First the branch on the ceiling. What a great fun, mystical element to a teen girls room. My older daughter cut it down from our backyard then painted it black and attached her handmade paper flowers and roses made from pages of old novels.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/46373009285829...https://www.pinterest.com/pin/15002623131352...
2. Second, shelves to hold all things sentimental...Her Stuff not especially picked decor items! This is so important, these are the things that attach kids to their own space and arranged the way THEY like! I think I'll eventually paint these green as that's her choice "pop" colour and SHE likes the idea!
3. Third Soft Coverings; let your kidling pick a colour scheme. She wanted green walls however I convinced her that too much green can made "some" people look sick. So she picked a second colour and we agreed to add in pops of green. The yellow happened by accident, her doing and works well!
HACK! ikea shower curtains for drapes over blinds. I had to purchase an extra curtain to add on for length but my daughter loved the colours and pattern and they work with the overall idea. Yay found another way to 'marry' her to her space.
TIP! I brought 3 bed covers home for her to pick her favourite after seeing them in her room.
4-Fourth...why didn't I take a before photo of the bedside 3 drawer chest! Before..it was spray painted black with silver handles. I gave the top a sanding due to the paint being quite chipped.
-TIP... Looks, Function and Durability. The Chest top was finished a bit differently for added durability. I painted 2 coats of black semi gloss then topped with 3 coats of protective clear finish. Kids and teens are hard on their surroundings without even realizing it. -the the dresser body was painted with 2 coats of Annie Sloan 'old white' chalk paint to match the bed. Lucky having the black underneath made it easy to rub off a bit of paint for the shabby chic look, which in my opinion will be forgiving in a teen bedroom! -TIP...the dresser body also got 2 coats of clear protective finish. I love the look of wax finish on chalk paint but I know myself to well to know that I won't be able to maintain it. So clear coat it is!
5-Fifth-knobs! Here's a chance to add a fun unique element to plain wooden knobs, and you can see just how at the blog posting for DIY on those knobs and another hot glue design!
http://larsend6.wix.com/donna-larsen-designs#!Just-wooden-knobs/c1umq/559ad45a0cf2604da34ba8f8
Next Area
Work!
My daughter loves music, lyrics, quotes, reading, writing, colour and creativity! When we decided to re-decorate this room after being her sisters to make it 'her own', a chalkboard wall seemed to be a great choice to let her creativity flow
It was all about creating a space that would be useful and comfortable as well and I think we ticked a lot of boxes. -light -table top storage kitchen shelves from ikea, poppy blue boxes from ikea -desk from ikea, legs spray painted acid green! -more storage...low nightstand painted black also allows storage on top -re-used ikea chair repadded and recovered with awesome bright 'bird' pattern.
Next Area Dress and Preen
Before...The 'rust' wall was great for the 'older daughter' to display artwork. However this beautiful tone isn't working with the plan...in fact neither is the dresser which is awesome in storage space,quality and design, and is why it caught my eye.
The whole dresser was taken apart sanded and spray primed matt black in the area's I wanted to rub through to create the distressing. -Then the dresser took 2 coats of Annie Sloan Chalk paint 'old white'. -The top was sanded and painted with latex semi gloss, 'ralph lauren coffee' (to match the night stand), and top coated in between sandings with lacquer giving it a good durable finish.
We added some whimsey to the dresser with the knobs. They were each glue gunned with the random raised heart design then painted over.
Added a simple painters cloth runner, with the edges stitched out in her bright green choice colour. We're still waiting for the right piece to put to the left of the dresser but painting out the wall to match the room was a big improvement. Then using the same technique on the dresser as on the nightstand took it a step further in creating more harmony. The 'steampunk Jewelry box" can be seen closer at it's own post on my blog page.
