Teenagers have a reputation for having messy rooms, rooms that feel dour and sometimes too dark, as well as not taking care of the space as much as they could. Of course, this might not be the case for your particular teenager at all, so this is hardly a hard and fast rule.
But slowly developing into adulthood day by day and learning to be a new human being with new responsibilities is not always easy, and so it’s no wonder why many teenagers fall into waking up late at the weekends, spending time in their space away from the family for a little more privacy, and sometimes, failing to attend to the general upkeep of the space.
More than this, it can be that without a little nourishment, this home environment feels a little dark and depressing rather than the vibrant, welcoming space a teenager may need. In this post, then, we’ll discuss how you can brighten and improve such a space, and do so despite the initial worries of your teen:
A Beautiful Feature Wall
A beautiful feature wall can add decoration to the space and provide a beautiful aesthetic outside of a huge amount of posters, photos, and all the other decorations that teenagers usually love decorating with. For instance, applying a beautiful purple expressive tropical palms wallpaper at source: Wallpaper Boulevard can add a sense of color and a splash of artistry in this space, which can make all the difference.
Feature walls can also elongate the space depending on where you place them, meaning that the room can feel larger and more open than it otherwise is, which can work well in a room where stored belongings, electronic devices, and other goods like guitars, snowboards, and everything else our kids love might be stored. If you keep that feature wall relatively open, it can also provide a nice clean counterpoint to the rest of the space.
Improving The Natural Light
One issue common to teenager’s rooms is that when the curtains or blinds are drawn, it’s uncommon for the room to be bright and airy as it otherwise would benefit from being. For this reason, it’s a good idea to improve that natural light in the space to the extent you can.
A good way to begin with this is to add a mirror, naturally placed, be that a floor standing mirror or a wall-mounted mirror. If you’re looking to save space, then embedding a mirror into the doors of a closet of wardrobe can also have an effect. A vanity table standing mirror can also help with this.
These fixtures help a room reflect the natural light around the space, and thanks to their visual ‘trickery’ will also give the illusion that the room is bigger than it is, which is useful for the reasons listed above.
Proper Storage Methods
Teenagers tend to hoard things. Well, adults do too, but usually adults have a home or apartment they can use to store everything they own, while teenagers usually keep everything they cherish within their bedrooms. This means that they have less space to work with, and ultimately that can lead to floor space being used up to store said items.
For that reason, it’s good to consider the storage methods you might use for a worthwhile overall outcome. This might include the willingness to store storage hanging baskets at either end of a closet, or even hooked into the ceiling, it might mean using storage boxes for under the bed, or building shelving units that can hold all of their books and ornaments they find appealing. Depending on the room your teen has curated, different storage solutions may apply. But the truth is that storage applications can make a big difference regardless, no matter which you find the most worthwhile.
Routine Cleaning
Of course, all the decorations and implements you place within a room will hardly be useful or even inviting if a space is unclean. For this reason, it’s good to hold some ground rules. For instance, you may be fine with giving your teen their privacy provided they care for their room and make sure it’s in top shape, cleaning, polishing, and vacuuming the space once a week.
This routine cleaning may also include the placement of place mats so that mugs and cups don’t make a stain on their desk, or it might mean ensuring your teen brings all of their plates, bowls, and cups out to the dishwasher instead of hoarding them in their bedroom. This might sound minor, but the space they live in will be cared for provided you tell your teen to do so, usually the age of thirteen or even below is a good time to make them feel more ownership over their space.
Vinyl/Limited Carpet
Carpet can be a nice furnishing for any room, especially a bedroom, but it’s also worth considering just how much carpet you’d like in your teenager’s room. Of course, this isn’t to say that your teenager is some incredibly messy person who just spills drinks every other day and eats without using plates or utensils, but it’s much easier to clean a room with vinyl flooring, rugs, and limited carpet.
This way, you can allow sleepovers to take place without worrying about crumbs or other stains making their way into the carpet. You can also brighten the space with a nicer laminate color and the associated rug than a carpet that might fade over time via use of walking into the room with shoes on. This is totally optional, of course, but a worthwhile thing to think about before you make your final decision.
Open Wardrobes/Closets
A good way to subtly nudge your teen to hang up their washed clothes and to put them in for the laundry often is to implement open wardrobe designs, or an open closet with no doors should this apply well to the space. Even a coat hanging rack placed independently of the wardrobe can work nicely here.
That kind of effort can make quite the difference when it comes to developing the space, as not only does it help it look larger, but it can encourage your child to keep their clothes tidy rather than having ‘a chair’ they place all of their folded laundry on until it needs to be used. When the coat rack is in visible disarray, it’s much easier to just sort that out when a door you can hide it behind isn’t available. It’s not hard to see, then, why this tip can be so useful.
Multiple Sets Of Linen
Unless incentivized, our teenagers can forget to change their bedsheets. For that reason, it’s good to have a few designs and multiple sets of linen they can apply to their bedspread once per week or every other week.
Additionally, encouraging them to place fresh towels in this space, sometimes overlapping a pillow at night, can work with clean linens to help reduce skin issues that ultimately result in acne. This also incentivizes your teen to get in a good schedule where cleaning and replenishment of the room is concerned.
Electronic Devices
Electronic devices are the staple of most teenagers’ bedrooms these days, and to the degree that we can, it’s a good idea to help avoid the ‘curtains-drawn, den’ of a gaming space that many teenagers can develop over time. This is especially common among teenage boys, but of course, gaming is a hobby that everyone enjoys today.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to situation the television and a desk to place the laptop on in an area where glare isn’t likely to shine on the screen, as this can lead to them closing their curtains and blocking off their room from natural light. A nice secure cabinet you can use to store games consoles and other devices can also help the room feel less cluttered. Great cable-management, too, can make a tremendous difference in this space, enhancing its visual appeal through and through.
Warm Lighting
Warm lighting is a great way to make your teenager’s bedroom a little less clinical or a little more inviting. Of course, you can use smart lamps that provide a comforting orange glow, or perhaps you can have them implement strips of RGB LED lighting that can change all sorts of colors to provide that cool aesthetic that only a teenager could reliably pull off.
This could be placed in certain areas around the room such as at the top corners of the walls, underneath their desk, or underneath a bedframe. Just make sure to inspect these areas once in a while because depending on where you live, bugs can find the adhesive used for the walls appealing and tasty.
With beautiful colors in a well-lit space, the room will feel the opposite of dark and dingy, and instead inspire creativity and a beautiful space to occupy.
With this advice, you’re certain to help your teenager brighten and refine their room decoration in the best possible sense.