A teenager's bedroom is the one room in the house that is really theirs, and what goes on the walls matters to them more than almost anything else in it. It is also the room where taste changes fastest. The thing they loved in September can be embarrassing by spring.
That is normal, and it is not a reason to avoid decorating. It is a reason to decorate in a way that can change without much cost or effort. Here is how.
Let them choose
This is the most important point, so it comes first. A room decorated by a parent is a nice room. A room decorated by the teenager is their room. Offer a budget and some limits, such as no nails or nothing on the ceiling, and then let them pick what goes up. They will look after a space they chose.
It is also good practice. Working out what you like, living with it and changing your mind is how anyone develops taste.
Think in three layers
The way to make a room that can change is to separate what is permanent from what is not.
- The base: stays for years. Wall colour, furniture, flooring. Keep these neutral: white or a soft grey, plain wood or white furniture. A neutral base suits any style that comes later.
- The anchor: stays for a year or two. One large piece of art that sets the mood of the room.
- The accents: change whenever. Posters, prints, pins, lights, cushions. Cheap, small and easy to swap.
When taste shifts, you replace the accents for the price of a few posters. The base never has to be touched.
The anchor: one big piece
A tapestry is the best anchor for a teen room. It covers a large wall for $45 to $65, it hangs without nails, and when it has had its day it folds up and goes in a drawer, or to a younger sibling. A tapestry behind the bed also stands in for a headboard.
Choose an anchor that has some staying power. Subjects that people don't tend to grow out of:
- Space. Stars, galaxies and night skies appeal at twelve and at twenty. Star Valley, a blue valley under an aurora, is calm enough to sleep under.
- Animals with some edge. Blue Fox in Space, a blue fox standing on glowing shards against a pink and blue sky, has personality without being childish.
- Cities at night. Space Cityscape on the Shore puts a skyline under the Milky Way.
- Abstract colour. No subject to go off.
What dates fastest is anything tied to a single show, game, band or meme. Those are better as small, cheap accents than as the biggest thing in the room.
The accents: cheap and changeable
This is where a teenager's current interests belong.
- Posters. From about $14 each, and they go up with removable strips. Three or four above a desk make a gallery wall that can be redone in ten minutes. See how to hang posters without wall damage.
- A desk mat. It changes the look of a desk, protects it, and costs $21 to $40. See the desk mats collection.
- Pins and keychains. For a pin board, a backpack or a pencil case. At $6 to $15 these are pocket-money purchases.
- Lighting. An LED strip or a string of warm lights changes the room more than anything else, and it suits any style.
Use the wall without damaging it
A teenager will rearrange. Plan for it.
- Removable adhesive strips and hooks for posters and tapestries.
- A picture ledge or shelf so prints can lean and be swapped with no fixing at all.
- A cork board or a wire grid for photos, tickets, pins and small prints. It gives the constant churn of small things a home, and keeps tape off the paint.
- Magnetic poster hangers for a tidier look.
Agree the rules at the start: what can be stuck where, and with what. Ordinary tape pulls paint off. Removable strips don't.
A room has to do four jobs
A teen bedroom is a place to sleep, study, relax and have friends over. It helps to give each its own wall.
- The bed wall: the calm one. The anchor tapestry goes here, in a design that isn't too stimulating. Dark, cool colours suit sleep.
- The desk wall: the personal one. Posters, a pin board, the things they are into right now. This is where the loud, busy pieces can go, since it isn't the wall they face when trying to sleep.
- The rest: leave some wall empty. A room where every surface is covered feels smaller and messier.
Pick a palette, loosely
Teen rooms look chaotic when every item is a different colour. Suggest two or three colours, taken from the anchor piece, and repeat them in the bedding, the desk mat and the lights. Within that, anything goes. A loose palette is what makes a room full of different things look put together.
A sample room for under $100
- One 50 × 60 inch tapestry behind the bed (about $45).
- Two 11 × 14 inch posters above the desk (about $28).
- One small desk mat (about $21).
- A pin for the backpack (about $6).
Prices are approximate, at the time of writing. When tastes change, the posters and the pin are the only things that need replacing.
When they do change their mind
- Don't throw things out. Roll posters around a tube and fold tapestries. What is out of favour at fifteen is often nostalgic at twenty.
- Swap one layer at a time. New posters first. If the room still feels wrong, then the anchor.
- Pass things on to a sibling, a cousin or a friend.
A note for parents
You may not like what they choose. A wall of neon skulls is not everyone's idea of a restful bedroom. Unless it is a real problem, let it go. It is temporary, it comes off the wall without a mark, and the door closes. A teenager who is allowed to make their room their own is one who will want to spend time at home.
For more ideas on a budget, see dorm room walls on a student budget, and browse the tapestries and posters collections.