From Tween to Teen: Bedroom Makeover

Surprising the girls with our house was hands down one of the best feelings I’ve ever experienced. Being able to give them their very own home with their very own rooms was such an accomplishment for Brett and me, and we wanted to make the whole ordeal special for them.

When it came to their rooms, we let each girl choose their paint color – not the greatest idea looking back, but hey, I wanted them to be excited! When Autumn asked if she could have neon blue walls I was like “Mmmmmm, negative.” So we compromised, and she got 3 neon green walls and 1 neon blue wall…..

I didn’t want to suck the joy out of her 11 year old little soul, so I said to her “in a few years you will outgrow these colors, but you’ll be stuck with them because I’m not painting again.”

Her walls were decorated with stickers and minion decals, canvas paintings of cats and Snoopy, artwork her friends had drawn for her, full evidence that a tween was living in that space. And then one day I noticed that there were less decals on her walls, and that a few Snoopy frames were tucked away in the corner. Her little stuffed figurines on her desk had been replaced with her sisters’ old vanity mirror and makeup she didn’t want. At that moment I realized the teen years had began and she had outgrown her room. And, I got sad.

Once I stopped crying over the fact that she was growing up, I told her I would re-do her room for her (so much for my empty threat of never painting her room again), and I set out to make her room a space she’d love, a space that was “cool” for a teenager, and a place that she’d be excited to share with her friends. A few small changes was all it took to update her room, and I was able to get most of it done within a week.

The first change was the paint! I asked her what colors she was thinking, and after looking up a few “neutral” samples, I settled on Marilyn’s Dress by Benjamin Moore. A soft but pretty light gray that takes on a hint of blue in certain light.

Since Autumn gave me free reign to do whatever I wanted in her room (no pressure), I branched out and brought some gold hardware into the space, which I knew she would love. I installed a gold curtain rod (using a 20% off coupon from Bed Bath & Beyond), swapped out the basic wooden drawer pulls on her dresser for some gold “T” shaped pulls, and my mother found a cool dark gray wall hanging macrame on a gold frame. Her desk was a few years old but she had done some decent damage to it – kids will be kids, after all! Rather than spending the money to buy her something new, I took to Pinterest to find ideas on how to revamp it. Solution: marble contact paper. I ordered this cool marble paper off Amazon and wrapped the top of her desk in it, making the desk look new and trendy.

Tip: Changing out the hardware on a piece of furniture makes it look and feel new, without having to spend the money on a brand new item.

We swapped out her Crayola comforter for a pretty gray and white scalloped bedding set, and continued with the gold accent by finding some cute white sheets with gold metallic hearts printed on them. Her bedding set came with a plush green throw blanket, so I found some sheer mint green curtains for a great price, and they compliment the comforter and throw blanket perfectly. Next, I swapped out her old beat up storage cubes for some new white and gray chevron ones. Finally, I found this great chair on clearance at Home Goods for her desk – technically it’s an outdoor patio chair, but I knew it would be perfect in her room and she loved it. I spray painted the legs gold, and we popped a faux fur throw pillow on it.

Autumn’s Room Design

She’s added a few things to the room to really make it her own, such as a wall tapestry and gold geometric string lights, and has decorated her shelves with all of her gymnastics trophies and metals. It was so fun to have a little freedom with her room, and I loved being able to give her a “new” more grown-up space!

all of the items from her room are listed below: