Yellow-green shag carpet. Yellow beads instead of a closet door. The Monkees playing on my record player. At age 12, that was my idea of the perfect pad. What was I thinking? Well, it was the ‘60s, after all, and all that really mattered was that it was my room and I had gotten to choose how it was decorated. My sister, who was a mature 16 at the time, went a more sophisticated route with bare wood floors and tomato red walls. Regardless of what you think of our taste, our rooms said a lot about who we were. And that, whether it is the 1960s or 2006, is the key to decorating a teen’s or tween’s room. Once kids hit the double digits, designers say, it’s futile to try to put a parental stamp on their personal retreats.
Not that some parents don’t try: I recently saw a makeover of a 10-year-old boy’s room where the mother/designer’s goal was to create “a boy’s room to mature in” and for the room design to “last a good 10 years.” It was a beautiful room with walls and twin headboards upholstered in a pale blue stripe and bed skirts with ribbon trim, but no kid worth his weight in Star Wars figures would want to spend even 10 minutes there. |
 |
 |
 |
“Teens and tweens want their bedrooms to express individual style,” says Aimee Desrosiers, color expert for California Paints. “Their rooms tend to be much more eclectic and personal than any other room in the house.”
Manufacturers, including California Paints, which offers a palette for teens with names such as Dude, Grounded for Life and CUL8R, are aware of teenagers’ expanding influence on bedroom purchases. Drexel Heritage went so far as to provide Princess Mia’s bedroom suite for The Princess Diaries 2 movie, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen now have their own “city” and “country” line of teen furnishings. Pottery Barn Teen offers a riotous collection of stuff for the under-20 set, from “Haight Street Locker” and “Cool Prep” looks to lots of retro and surfer accents. And every summer Targets across the nation fill up with stylish offerings for dorm dwellers, which are equally appealng to teens.
 Even with all of the marketing hoopla, not every kid is into the whole decorating scene. My friend Leah has given up on her 15-year-old son’s room. He has a bed, a TV and a computer and that’s all. Half the time he seems to “misplace” his sheets, she says, but when 10 kids pile in to watch a movie no one seems to mind his “cell block” style.
My own daughters go for a less Spartan look. The 14-year-old’s room is like a dead rocker’s hall of fame, with posters of Kurt Cobain, George Harrison and Jimi Hendrix all over the place. You can hardly find her bed among the guitars and keyboard and books and music piled up everywhere. And she and her friends have drawn and written all over her walls, forcing anyone sleeping in there to read song lyrics (“hold me closer, tiny dancer”) while gazing up at the ceiling.
My 12-year-old’s room is much more restful with cheery yellow walls and colorful pillows and shag rugs from Target. She is an animal lover and a dancer and other than the can of our dead dog’s ashes next to her bed, there isn’t one morbid thing in there. But, alas, 13 is looming and she is saving up for a bass guitar. I have a feeling that all that sweetness and light is about to go the route of Kurt Cobain. |
|  |
| Check out these tips from interior designer Sarit Catz of Refuge on how to find a happy medium between the too formal and the too funky. |
| Everyone knows that it’s hard to talk to your teen and tween kids, but they do open up when it comes to things they want to talk about. Like their own rooms. Get them to share their ideas with you—there are bound to be a few in there that you can live with too. |
Remember your kids’ former favorite toys that they don’t even touch anymore? Don’t let the same thing happen with their room design. Don’t go whole-hog into a single theme, because in a little while it’s going to be “sooooo last year.” Do be prepared to update several times, however, no matter how well you plan.
Teen room tips» |
| Invest in furniture that’s going to last from tween to teen to college visits home to (heaven forbid) moving back in to look for a job. A few high-quality pieces in a versatile wood stain will coordinate with many a changing room decor. |
Pack the personality into the easily changeable and often-inexpensive elements in the room, such as area rugs, bedding, accessories, wall art, drawer pulls, lampshades, window treatments and hardware. Even a change in wall color is quick, easy and costs no more than a can of paint.
Add teen punch with paint» |
 |
