How To Redesign Your Teenager’s Bedroom Like An Interior Designer – The Resolution

Part 2 – Mom gives her teenage daughter a bedroom makeover – and peace reigns!

As you’ll recall, last week, we talked about Nancy and Devon’s redesign of Devon’s bedroom.  We all know how trying any redesign can be, especially when two generations are involved! So let’s start with Nancy and the four questions I had for her.

• What’s your GOAL for this room?  Her answer was “to create a space for my teenage daughter that is functional & fashionable.  I would like it to be her private space”.  And, if they were to move into the new home they are looking to buy, it would translate well there.

• How do you want this space to FUNCTION?  “A place for sleeping and homework.

• How about the FEEL for this room?  “I’ll let my daughter make that decision.”

• What’s the BUDGET?  Their budget was limited.  Just so you know, budget is always a driving force.  It does and will affect the end results.  However, even limited budgets can produce beautifully designed spaces.   All you need is a game plan and to creatively use the funds.

Step two – Phone conversation with Devon.  Below are the questions I asked her.  My goal was to find out how she wanted her room to function, feel, and flow.  What’s her ultimate goal for this bedroom?  Think about asking your teen questions like these.

We started with her current bedroom.  I asked what she loved about it, how it functions now, and if it could function better.  Once we established who the bedroom needed to function for, I took it a step further.  We explored what felt right, how it flowed, and what could be improved.

Now it was time to learn what she wanted to accomplish.  I asked what she would like to change, update or remove. Were there any roadblocks that needed to be removed?

Now that I was getting a picture, and she was feeling comfortable sharing her desires with me, we still needed to talk about how we could accomplish what she wanted within Nancy’s budget.

This brought me to the final questions:

• Could it function better?

• What simple update could we make that would increase your overall happiness?

• What update could you make to make those feelings more positive?

• Is there a historical trend or style you really like?  Or not like?  (This is a hard one to answer right away.)  My client’s daughter could not when I asked her this question.  However, on shopping day she had a picture of a dresser she really liked.  And there I had it, the style she loved!

Here’s how we solved Devon’s design dilemma.  I went to the house to measure and evaluate the bedroom. This entailed the following …

• Inventory of  bedroom for existing  bed and furnishings
• Made a list of needed furniture and accessories
• Developed a color palette based on her likes
• Made a two- hour shopping trip to select and pick up needed items

In order to keep redesign costs down, – I taught Devon how to use graft paper and do her own space planning.  She also did the product research for needed items.

As you can see, we were able to meet Nancy’s budget while getting Devon actively involved in making the changes!

 

So what about you and your daughter, are you ready to tackle her bedroom redesign?   Let me know if this story was helpful to you, and what other things you’d like to know about.

 

***What make’s Design For A Life Span different is we look at Universal Design to allow families to age in place.  What does that mean?  Helping you create beautiful interiors for easy living no matter where you or your family members are in life.