Watching your child grow up is never easy. It isn’t until you have one of your own that you truly realize just how quickly time goes by; one minute they are so small you can hold them with just one arm, the next they are shooting up past your shoulders! This can be daunting for every parent, as many of us struggle to adapt to a child who is growing up fast. After all, a six-year-old is very different from a twelve-year-old, and your twelve-year-old may seem like a totally different person by the time they are fifteen. As they grow, so will their interests and personal identity, and it’s not uncommon for them to want their environment to reflect that too. With this in mind, there may come a point where you need to completely change the appearance of your child’s bedroom. Your child will want to spend more and more time in there are they get older, as typically older children require more privacy. Therefore, it is down to you to be willing to put the money into such a refurb and to help create a space that allows them to flourish and develop as young adults. Here are some of the ways in which you might choose to do that.
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The bed
When children are very young, they want their bed to be something exciting and quirky. This is why so many children commonly have bunk beds, or a bed with storage underneath it. A teenager, however, will soon start to berate the effort of climbing a ladder every night to go to sleep, as it is typically regarded as a childlike thing. Buying a new bed for your child may be expensive, but bear in mind that it will last them until they move out – and it can even be used for years after that, if y
ou decide to turn their old room into a guest bedroom. You will also want to provide your child with some more ‘adult’ bedding – however cute you think that Disney princess duvet is, your teenager probably isn’t going to agree with you! Visit a site such as Plumeria Bay where you can browse a whole range of different bed wear, from comforters to pillows and bed linens.
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The walls
The way in which the walls are decorated set the tone for an entire room. If your teenager’s room still bears the echoes of the past on the walls – a mural, perhaps, or bright, loud shades everywhere – it may be time to get the paintbrush out! Color tends to be very important to children as they like anything bright and engaging, but your teenager probably doesn’t have this quite as far up on their list of priorities. Going for a much more muted color is a great option for your teenager’s bedroom – it gives them much more scope to showcase various accessories without the fear of them clashing with the walls, sort of like a blank canvas. Additionally, if you do want to reuse the room once your child has moved out, a neutral color is far more easy to work with. Grab a few swatches from your local paint store and experiment with your child to see which one they like the best.
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Move the childhood items out
Your teenager probably will want to hold onto certain childhood items purely for sentimental value – these are usually things like books or plush toys. But as far as games and toys go, they will only start taking up valuable space in your teenager’s bedroom. Move them out to free up storage space – you don’t have to throw them away if you can’t bear it, simply store them in the attic until you have decided what to do with them. Once the childhood clutter has been removed, you and your teenager can start filling the room with things that are relevant to them in the present day instead. If you have a daughter who’s really into hair and makeup, this could be a dressing table with a state of the art makeup station. Got a son who’s super keen on astrology? Move that chest full of childhood toys out of the way and replace it with his telescope. There are also other aspects of this that you may delve into, such as replacing a childhood ‘moon and stars’ light with the kind of lamp you would expect to see in the rest of the house. You will soon start seeing the bedroom of a soon-to-be adult come to life.
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Allow them decorative freedom
When your child was young, you probably chose the majority of the decor for their bedroom. This may have meant you put specific pictures up and added touches to the room that were reflective of YOUR personal taste. But teenage years are crucial for self-development, and your child will start developing interests and hobbies all of their own. Give them a budget that they can use to buy some pieces of decor for their room and encourage them to put up pictures of friends/bands/anything that inspires them! Providing a desk and a bulletin board can also help your teenager to learn vital skills such as organization and time management, especially when they are going to school with a heavy workload. You can’t guarantee that they will listen to you nagging at them to stay on top of their various commitments, but you can provide them with the tools to help them do so. Getting rid of your child’s bedroom as you know it can be pretty emotional – but try and accept that this is just a natural part of life’s progression. Once you’ve got used to it, the thought of what it used to be won’t even cross your mind any more – and your teenager will be able to thrive in their new environment.
