|

Teen Bedroom Ideas (Teen Bedroom Makeover)

For nearly a year, we’ve collaborated on John’s bedroom makeover. I’m so excited to share the reveal with you today and give you some teen bedroom ideas!

We’re so excited to share some teen bedroom ideas! This room has been a long time in the making and I wanted to balance my love for home decor and styling with our 15 year old’s tastes and needs.

One big hurdle is that this room is TINY and he NEEDS lots of stuff in here – desk, dresser, bed, and also wanted to bring in his keyboard.

Boy sitting on bed with his dog

John (and Max) are thrilled about how the space turned out! Come on in and see!

Bedroom with white walls and lots of plants

Before we start the tour, let me share a couple of things you may have missed. John and Conor used to share a bedroom. You can see that here. We decided it would be best for John and Conor to have their own bedrooms with Covid and homeschooling so we did a room swap. You can see Conor’s reveal here and we’re still working on our bedroom. We are all really happy that we swapped rooms. Like many of you, we’ve had to require our spaces to serve multiple functions and also comfort us in these hard times.

Teen Bedroom Makeover – Inspiration

Along the way we’ve shared the process of this bedroom. If you missed it you can see the inspiration here.

Mood Board for teen bedroom
Teen bedroom layout plans

John is an artist and launched his illustration company at the age of 14. We have an online shop together. He also is a voracious reader – he loves Stephen King, the classics, poetry etc. You will see his love for books reflected in his bookshelf. John also loves music. He plays the trumpet (started in 7th grade) and in 8th grade he began dabbling with piano. He is also a nature lover and collector (he loves old things, collecting treasures on the beach, and is interested in skulls and bones).

It was my goal as a mom and a designer to fully support him and his desires. You will see him reflected in every nook and crany of this tiny bedroom.

Teen Bedroom Ideas

Teen Bedroom

There is a mix of new and old, nature, lots of pattern and texture in this space.

Mix New and Old

Plants and vintage elements

I paired his vintage typewriter and vintage camera with a flat storage file from Ikea. This holds his school supplies and drawings. We actually have several of these in our home because they are great for storage but still look clean.

Vintage typewriter

Use Vertical Space

We used simple picture ledges from Ikea to create a plant display in John’s room. A boring white wall is now given depth making the space actually appear bigger.

White walls, shelves and flat file storage
Plants and models

John has displayed some of his artwork and vintage treasures:

Shelf styling - antiques, plants, and art.
Navajo FolkArt in a teen bedroom

The crow is Navajo FolkArt by Matthew Yellowman from Native in Scituate Harbor.

Boy playing keyboard

We carried out the plants onto the small wall near his closet.

Plant wall

The Wallygro living wall planter and reclaimed redwood propagator are both from Plantsandponytails. We gave the redwood display to John for his birthday to remind him of our trip to California.

Pothos in Wallygro
Plant holder

Allow light in to make a room feel bigger

These swiss dot curtains (originally in our guest room) are sheer and allow lots of light to come in. This is important as this is the only window in the room.

Swiss dot curtains
White sheer curtains, white walls, and wall plants

Add a statement wall

This graphic wallpaper with leaves makes the room appear larger than it is.

graphic wallpaper and a leaf

I chose this when this was our guest room / my office and told John he could have this room BUT he had to KEEP THE WALLPAPER. He loves it so it wasn’t a problem.

Teen workspace

Paint Furniture White to Make Space Feel Bigger

The majority of the furniture in here is white. I painted the dresser a soft white to pop against the wall.

Cottage white dresser

This dresser was originally painted with a Union Flag to celebrate John’s English heritage.

His bedside table is also white. This was the first piece of furniture I ever painted nearly 10 years ago.

vintage bedside cabinet

Build a Desk

We built John’s desk so we could customize the size for his room.

Teenager sitting at a DIY desk

It’s a Parson’s Table so has hidden drawers and a cable holder for added storage.

faux leather desk chair and white desk

See the build plans here.

The pin board is functional and also let’s John display ideas. We used brass hooks to hang from the picture rail.

Pin board with illustrations

Shelf Styling that Tells a Story

Shelf with books and vintage items

John is a collector – he collects stories, skulls, nature, cameras, and really anything that looks cool. So much on his bookshelf has a story behind it. For example, the owl was my dad’s paper weight. The statue of liberty is mine from when I was little. It actually has some copper from the statue of liberty when they repaired it.

Bookshelf with books and statue of liberty statue
Antiques and books
collection of nature
childhood books
Bookshelf with classic books and vintage items
Sailboat

Add Texture for Visual Interest

His duvet cover and pillow have lovely texture and a ric rac stitch.

Close up bedding
teen with dog on bed

I love to layer in soft pillows – those are from Target and our perfect for reading in bed.

The rug is a woven texture but have to tell you it really sheds….

I hope these tips were helpful in thinking about your own teen’s rooms. I will share a full source list at the bottom of the post.

Here’s a few more photos of the space!

microphone
bookshelf
Black vintage style alarm clock
Collection of books & decor in a teen bedroom
white walls and plants
Teenager playing piano

Hope you like the space as much as John does! Can’t wait to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let me know! If you need some help in your own home I offer eDesign and in home design consulations.

This post also contains affiliate links, if you purchase a product via the link I may receive a percentage of the sale. You can read my full disclosure policy hereAs an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting my blog in this way.

Shop the look

Source List

  • Wall Color – Simply White by Benjamin Moore
  • Wallpaper
  • Flat File Storage – Ikea
  • Picture Ledges – Ikea
  • Navajo FolkArt – Native
  • Dresser – Tutorial here
  • Bed
  • Light – Restoration Hardware Outlet
  • Table Lights – Target
  • Desk Light – Ikea
  • Plants – Kennedy’s, Plantsandponytails, and Lowe’s
  • Tan plant holders – Home Depot
  • Rug
  • Alarm Clock – Ikea
  • Duvet Cover Set
  • Pin Board
  • Wooden Tacks
  • Desk – Tutorial here
  • Desk Chair – Laura Davidson Direct
0 0 votes
Article Rating

Similar Posts

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

8 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Rita C at Panoply
Rita C at Panoply
3 years ago

I really love John’s space. Better still, I love the young man he represents in all his ‘things’. The Native store really caught my eye, and I love that flat file storage. What a fresh, new space!

Cheryl
Cheryl
3 years ago

Lots of love went into this room…you’ve utilized the space to perfection!

Donna
Donna
3 years ago

John’s room came out great! I love how you guys collaborated and how it represents him and his interests so well!

Elaine
3 years ago

ALWAYS good to take your time. It paid off. Cozy and special for your young gentleman!