You might recall on a previous post Redecorating Resolutions 2014 I committed to three redecorating projects for this year. At the top of my list was my sons bedroom. He recently turned sixteen and needed a larger bed, not to mention his hand-me-down twin bed was falling apart. So, my son is becoming a wonderful young man with some ideas of his own for his bedroom for which up until now I had free reign.
Designing a teenage boys room is not easy and making the task even more difficult is when he is your son. Being the son of an interior designer causes him to be concerned that I will decorate his room. When his friends rooms are furnished with hand-me-down miss matched furniture, walls are plastered with posters and floors covered with books and video games, my sons room is neat in comparison and yes, even slightly decorated.
How did we arrive at this level of male teenage neatness? There are a few tactics you can incorporate and it helps to set standards early, very early. First, from the time kids are able to walk, always have easy to reach and easy to put the toys away compartments. The most important component is to always have a place to put everything away, bins, baskets and drawers are easy to manoeuvre for young kids. At the end of play time always put the toys away with the child. This habit obviously came natural to me since Im a bit of a neat freak, but it did set my kids up for good organizing habits too.
Its always a good idea to recognize and validate the childs interests and hobbies by allowing them to exhibit them in their space. When your childs interests might be as unrelated as my sons, it may seem a daunting task to design a room that is cohesive and organized. Add to this his age sixteen, which means you can no longer be cute with it, but instead need to consider a more mature approach. The challenge was to combine his love for technology (which means wires), gaming (more wires) and Coka Cola brand collection and a comfortable place to study, sleep and have friends over.
The starting point was his vintage Coke brand collection, which gave me the idea to style the room with rustic and industrial elements. He approved. We both love chartreuse, but its one of those colors that can easily overwhelm a room. The chartreuse was used on two opposite walls leaving the other walls white. My son selected a masculine charcoal grey five button upholstered bed frame and headboard. I approved. We were off to a great start.
The finished product. A 16 year old boys bedroom. Sorry about the glare.
I had to do some convincing when it came to my choice of night table, which was an original and very old wood trunk. That old trunk is a great way of storing stuff my son no longer uses but still wants to keep. He wasnt keen on my choice of lighting either but I think its grown on him. I had purchased an industrial metal wire hanging lamp. The industrial lamp compliments the rustic wood. Other than the new bed, mattress, new bedding and a few accessories, we reused most of what was left. This was a great opportunity to purge some stuff deemed too young for a teenage boy. We also reworked his study area with metal boards, and big industrial clips to keep him well organized. A great way to emphasize the decor style and maintain organization is to include baskets and boxes where big and small items can be neatly stored. Lastly, I was vigilant about hiding all those wires.
My son says he loves his new room, and thats all I need to know, but most importantly, he makes me happy and proud to be his mom everyday regardless of what his room looks like (well just keep that last part to ourselves).
