Helping Your Teen Son Renovate His Room

Unless your son naturally has a design opinion, helping your teen son renovate his room can be a challenge. My daughter recently redesigned her room, and she initiated all of the change. In the process of making space in her room, the dresser and bookshelf that didn't match her design aesthetic got bumped over into her brother's room. It's an amazing piece of furniture, but when I recently started hinting at changing his room around, I realized he had nothing at all in that dresser. It was taking up the bulk of his room, and he was not bothered by it!

So how do you help your teen son not only redesign his room, but have an opinion about how it should look or function?

Start With Research

Research skills are valuable in all fields of study, even bedroom design. We took some time to look through Pinterest and see what kinds of design he was drawn to. The best inspiration we received was in establishing a color palate. The idea was to pick something from your belongings that you like the colors of. Then use that for color inspiration.

He picked his favorite shoes:

Let Him Take The Lead

One of the most challenging things about raising a son is giving up the control and letting them lead. If I want him to have leadership skills in his future job or family, I need to let him practice now. That also means I need to let him be willing to fail. More often, I find that he's more capable that either of us gave him credit for, and he soars.

We played around with an online room designer, and made a list of what he wanted to get at IKEA to finish out his design. The best part about the design: he was funding the project. He felt very proud when we walked out of the store with a new desk, chair, bookshelf, and art work that all were purchased by his wallet.

Don't get me wrong. I was there the whole time offering options and ideas as we shopped. However, I left the final decision to him.

Here are the results:

Bed side of the room purchases total: $89:

• Tree photograph on canvas from IKEA - $49
• 2 red pillows from Home Goods - $40

Desk side purchases total $200:

• Alex cabinet from IKEA - $80
• High gloss white desktop from IKEA and two legs - $43
• Frosted glass noticeboard from IKEA - $20
• Sunnersta rail and containers from IKEA - $6
• Tertial desk lamp from IKEA- $9
• Desk chair from IKEA - $40

The centerpiece of his room features all of his favorite things - his instruments. Getting them up on the wall to display makes great artwork as well as functional access to be able to play them as he wants. He has an electric, acoustic, and classic guitar, as well as a hammer dulcimer. I plan to encourage this endeavor as long as he lets me!

Guitar wall purchases total $81:

• Two Hercules guitar wall hangars - $20 (we already had one)
• Gersby bookcase from IKEA - $25
• One can of Ovation Satin Paint and Primer in One "Glacial Stream" from Lowes (and supplies) - $41

I was so proud of his choices for purchases. He completed his room design under $400, and he made some great investments in pieces that can grow with him for years to come!