Decorating Teen Bedrooms: Transforming a Child’s Room with Teenage Décor

Last Updated on November 28, 2021 by Kimberly Crawford

A teenager’s bedroom should reflect who they are now, not how they were as small children. Decorate teen bedrooms in versatile styles for years of use.

Parents will frequently decorate a nursery or a small child’s bedroom with nursery appropriate themes. This often works well for several years, but as the child becomes a teenager, these decorations can seem outdated or even embarrassing to teens.

Transforming an old child’s room into a teen bedroom is easy and can be accomplished in just a few weekends.

Teen Bedroom Ideas

When decorating teen bedrooms, it’s important to remember that while the room should reflect the person they are today, the room’s design should have some staying power to avoid another makeover in just a few years.

To that end, there are several things that parents and teens can do to give a room teenage décor, without further dating the room.

To this end, everything that goes into the room, should be easily changed or removed, while still lending the room lots of personality.

Use multiple colors in the design, allowing for minor updates over the years
Use easily removable vinyl wall art to personalize the room
Use throw rugs in bright colors or designs rather than wall – to – wall carpeting
Use bold colors in window treatments, throw pillows and bedding, rather than on the walls
Hang cork boards and shelving to help organize belongings

Step-By-Step Teen Bedroom Decorating

An entire room makeover may seem like a daunting task when faced with years of accumulated childhood treasures, old paint or wall paper and other childhood themes. Before beginning the bedroom renovation, come up with a plan to tackle each section of the room’s design.

Be sure to purchase all needed materials, from paint to cork boards and new furniture and have it all ready to go and waiting. Don’t make the mistake of beginning a project, and then finding that the selected curtains or wall art is backordered or unavailable. Once a project has been interrupted, it can frequently lose momentum, so be ready to complete the project once it begins.

Break down the project into just a few weekends worth of work and the new teen bedroom can be ready to go in under a month. To make the transformation easier, plan the change in easy to do steps, and accomplish as many steps as possible each weekend.

Clear out old furniture, toys and other trash
Steam off old wallpaper borders, spackle and patch nail holes and wall cracks
Tape off the windows, ceiling and baseboards
Prime and paint the walls
Rearrange the remaining or new furniture into their final places
Hang new window treatments, place throw rugs and bedding
Reorganize remaining personal items by hanging cork boards, shelving and bookcases
After the paint has had time to cure, place vinyl wall art, posters and framed art on the walls

Remember to use accessories and other easily removed items to highlight the teen’s personality. Try to keep permanent changes to the room to colors and choices that can be lived with for years, not those that are appealing in the moment only. Plan ahead, make choices for the long term and watch the new teen bedroom take shape in a short period of time.