It happens when you’re not looking, doesn’t it? the need to move from Kids to Teens Bedroom. You make their room pink and sparkly (or skateboardy or dinosaury or hedgehoggy or LEGOey) and then before you know it they’re starting to hesitate to bring friends home because their room is a bit ’embarrassing’. All their much-loved, much-needed treasures sit and gather dust in the corners (though woe betide the merest sniff of a mention of passing some of them on), and a new natural phenomenon shows up, a seemingly magical crockery-magnet which draws dirty mugs and dishes and glasses to lurk on previously-Playmobil-strewn surfaces.
And yes, it’s time for a Kids to Teens Bedroom makeover.
We’ve been looking at the new Spring-Summer range from Fox & Ivy – Tesco’s own luxury brand of homewares and soft furnishings. They challenged us to create a ‘From Kids to Teens Bedroom Makeover’ from the range – and despite misgivings that I’d head to my local Tesco for such things, I took them up on their challenge…
But don’t be too scared – with a few tweaks (and very little budget) it’s not a tricky thing to achieve. You really don’t want a major outlay – it’s unnecessary, and unless you have bottomless pockets, there’ll be many more drains on your resources in the coming months. This is teenagers we’re talking about here.
It’s an odd thing – when their stuff is all in situ and familiar, they cannot bear to parted with even a single one-armed scribbled-on MacDonalds Happy Meal bit of plastic crap.
We’ve actually performed a makeover in this room previously – my daughter has inherited the tiniest bedroom in the country, we think. Back when the third bedroom was divided to make way for an indoor toilet, the 1950’s owner decided the best way was to create an odd L-shaped tiny third bedroom. It’s just big enough – but is a girls tiny bedroom makeover challenge. This is how it looked when we finished it for our then-7yr old… (click through to that older post to get a real sense of the shape and size of the room).
and this is what the almost-13yr old has done to it in the meantime…
Basic principle – just keep piling in more stuff, right?
So first job is to empty the room.
It’s an odd thing – when their stuff is all in situ and familiar, they cannot bear to parted with a single one-armed scribbled-on MacDonalds Happy Meal bit of plastic crap. And yet – remove it from the room, and they become super-picky about what goes back in to that shiny new lovely emptiness.
So your first job is simply to clear it out. Have a bag for the inevitable pile of rubbish that has accumulated, but assure them that nothing will be thrown away without their consent – and do stick to this. It’s important that they’re in control.
Once you have your empty room, take stock. If your walls are clean, bright and plain, you can move along to next step. If there are rabbits, dinosaurs or Marvel Avengers on the walls , then you’ll need to decorate. You can wallpaper over it, or simply paint it – whatever you find quickest and least painful. A plain and subtle background is what you’re looking for, something they’ll still not hate looking at when they’re 20 (even if they’re bored with it).
Because the idea for this makeover is to create a simple backdrop – it’s all in the details, not the drama in every turn. So plain walls are where to begin.
Now put everything back in – but let them filter it.
One pile for rubbish, one pile to pass on to the charity shop, one pile for the loft (too precious to give away, not appropriate for a teen bedroom) and the rest returns. Once they get the hang of it, they’ll love the decluttering process.
One pile for rubbish, one pile to pass on to the charity shop, one pile for the loft (too precious to give away, too young for a teen bedroom) and the rest stays.
Also double check the layout still works. For us there’s just no space for furniture shifting, but we did move the cupboard which used to be at the back under her bed out to the end nearest the door, making a useful new space for her growing teen girl accessories – and allowing her to create a den of a chillout space underneath where she now sits and reads and draws a lot of the time.
And now you get to ‘finish’ the room – and for the first time to actually spend a little cash. Just a few touches here or there on eye-catching staple items will make all the difference at this point. They’ll already be loving the clean new space, but with a few wise spends you can make it feel like a whole new room.
New Bedding
A new duvet cover feels like a new room. And we absolutely love the Pink Ginkgo Leaf Duvet Set (£15 for the single, also in Double & King size). Actually, since we set it up Bear’s flipped the duvet, preferring the white and grey side uppermost instead of the pink.
Naturally Cheeky Monkey & Pixel retained their spot – no girl can sleep without her faithful childhood bed buddies, no matter how teenagery she gets.
Soft Stuff
The teal Knitted Sherpa Throw on the end of the bed (£35) was actually the biggest extravagance of the room. But Bear stroked it in the store, doubled back and stroked it again, fingered the texture, cooed over it, hefted it off the shelf and hugged it for the rest of the shopping trip. We just couldn’t leave it behind – I’m genuinely surprised it doesn’t have a name yet*.
(also, the little ‘to travel is to live’ frame is just £4, and way too cute to leave on the shelf)
Apart from that, just a couple of cushions and a new rug. Perfect for curling up on with your phone or book, and excellent spots of highlight colour in the room. Bear fell in love with the yellow of the Check Cushion (£8), but on the floor she opted to contrast the same yellow of the Super Soft Throw (£10) with the stark plain grey of the Soft Cushion (£4). I wasn’t sure about the yellow on the purple carpet, but she was right (as usual). It’s perfect.
Statement Practicality.
Of course they need a lamp or two. And if that lamp should be a gloriously yellow anglepoise baby? Go go go.
To be honest we may need to go buy more; we ALL want this Adjustable Desk Lamp (£16).
And the other thing that Bear utterly fell in love with? A teacup. Of course. Never underestimate the comforting power of a hot drink to a teen brain. And to be fair, these Kosmo Mugs (£4) are really pretty – and come in a range of colours, not just the fabulous teal & scarlet combo.
So. If we ignore the sheer extravagance of that £35 Sherpa Throw , the total cost of this makeover was £69.
Under £70, and we’ve moved from a messy, stuffy mildly embarassing jumble of a kids room to stylish, relaxing space that she’s proud to have friends over to.
We had no need to redecorate the walls – we probably could have given them a lick of paint, but it wasn’t necessary so we didn’t go to the trouble. We could have re-painted the pink shelving, maybe changed the curtains… but she still likes them, and there’s nothing wrong with them, so we moved swiftly on.
*(I just checked. She’s called it Brian. I knew it)
FIND IT AT TESCO…
To find out where you can purchase any of the spring/summer 2019 products featured in these pages, check Tesco here
Products are not available online, but in selected Superstores and Extras, and are subject to availability.
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