Teenage Daughter’s Bedroom

I needed to create a new look for this teenage girl’s bedroom that I had previously designed when she was 10. When I first designed Ellie’s room, she was a 10 year old girl who loved purple and
hated pink. She liked bold colors and cupcakes.

Project Overview:

Fast forward four years, and she is a 14 year old starting high school. From talking with her about her likes, she described a much more calm environment, and said she wouldn’t mind a little pink in the room – as long as it wasn’t bold!

Teenage Daughter’s Bedroom

I did want to ensure that the room would grow with her into her college years. I also had a repeat of the issue of the window trim butting up to the roof line of the house, which again made it a challenge to design the window treatments. Our client had her bed, dresser and nightstand since she was a toddler, and that all had to stay. Since I got the impression from our conversations that she wanted a little boho vibe, the bed in particular would work quite nicely. I exchanged one nightstand for an iron and reclaimed wood accent table to add some texture.

A soft wall color gave the room a whole new feel, and linen bedding gave us the casual look a teenage girl would want. I had a new seat cushion made for the window seat – a neutral with varying texture – and added an array of pillows to both the window seat and the bed. The pillows brought additional organic texture, which gave the room visual interest. I selected some quirky art and textural pieces for the walls, and included a framed print of a character from her favorite young adult novel series. An MCM type lamp added a modern touch to the room.

I re-used the holdbacks from the original window treatments, and painted them gold (I did have to add a few more since I was changing the design a bit from the previous design). I used an unlined linen, still draping it with a drawstring cord from each holdback, but used more holdbacks this time around, and also used them to “hold back” the sides of the panels. For the window seat area, I chose to have drapery panels down to the cushion, instead of a valance like the earlier design. I felt it gave the space a more casual and inviting feel.

Our teenager now has a room she can enjoy now, and still enjoy as she goes through high school and off to college. It will be a great room to come home to.