Warning: This post is full of cool room ideas for a teen boy room makeover.
School is in session! Where did the summer go?!
I don’t know, but I am sad. So I decided to embrace it and give my son a space to be productive.
Every kid needs a space that is all their own to come home to and decompress after being out in the busy world. A place where they can look around and be surrounded by the things they love and happy memories to refresh them.
This is not the space that my son had. NOPE!
He had a room that he thought was relaxing but was actually causing more anxiety to the end of his day.
How do you upgrade a boy’s bedroom? Solve the problems they have.
Problem: Messy, stressful environment and the first room that greets you when you come up the stairs at the end of the day.
Solution: Create a space that makes everyone happy to see and feels good to be in!
How can a teenage boy decorate his room? This teen’s idea of great decor is a stack of anything. Clothes, books, papers, shoeboxes. You name it, it will be in a pile and considered great decor.
I knew we could do better.
I talked to him about giving his room a makeover for the Fall to give him a space that he would love to be in and be conducive to living learning. He was open to the idea and told me he wanted an all modern space.
That doesn’t go with the style of our home…..at all.
So, I put together a mood board to give him an idea of what I was thinking and he was agreeable to the ideas. I was able to show him how I could marry the style of our home and the style he wanted.
Find my TOP TIP for finding your decorating style here!
By creating a mood board for him, he was able to see what I was thinking and change what he didn’t like. It is often hard for someone to visualize an idea. Especially if it is someone else’s idea. A mood board is a great way to see all of the ideas in one place and how they go together.
Don’t miss the video at the end of this post to see this transformation in real life!
For this teen boy room makeover I cleared out the room of all of the STUFF. I only left the large pieces of furniture that I would be using again.
The large bookcase was too big and created a black hole. The shelves were so deep that anything he put on there would just get swallowed up by the depth and the darkness of the piece so I removed it from the room.
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Transforming the furniture:
The pieces that I will be using as is or repurposing are the bed, the lamps, the dresser and the nightstand.
I started with the dresser. I removed the hardware, sanded the top down to bare wood and stained it. For the actual dresser and drawers I used Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint and added a bonding agent so I didn’t have to sand.
I mixed a couple of different colors together to create the perfect Midnight Blue. The color turned out perfect.
I added new cup pulls and now it looks like a new dresser. The bicycle artwork we already had and didn’t stand out much before. But now the colors really pop with the new tones of the dresser.
Adding pops of red around the room tied it all together. We already had the lamps, but they look so much better on the wood tops of both the dresser and the nightstand.
Next up? The nightstand.
The top was ruined by water over the years and chipped along the edges and it was missing trim and our dog had chewed up the drawer pulls.
I thought about taking off the entire top and making a new one. But, after a trip to the hardware store I opted for just a thin piece of birch plywood for $10.
After cutting it down to size I added some pine trim to the sides I stained it all. I left the knobs the same. I kind of like the rustic look and little imperfections like the teeth marks of our son’s favorite dog that has passed away.
After both of these projects were done, I couldn’t believe how stunning they are.
You can see the 5 best ways to transform YOUR furniture here!
The bed:
We already had the bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. You never noticed it because it was, you guessed it, always in a pile!
His bed was already really cool and a bedskirt around his box spring would have been too much. I chose to wrap the boxspring instead with a $10 drop cloth that was the perfect size. Now it has a Restoration Hardware feel and looks like linen without the cost and the seam that I was able to run down the center of the cover adds interest.
I simply wrapped the box spring like a present and stapled it on. Now it looks finished.
FREE Monogrammed pillow: I took some leftover drop cloth and created a pillow cover by cutting a square and sewing three sides together. Turning the pillow right side out, I printed out an “M” and traced it on one side. Then I hand painted in the “M” with black paint. Finished it off by a pillow from around the house and stitched the pillow shut on the bottom.
The walls:
I left the walls the same color that runs through the rest of the home.
This is the first room that you see when you walk up the stairs so I wanted it to flow cohesively. You can always add color with the decor, bedding and furniture.
Picture ledges and decor:
While I was at the hardware store I grabbed some 1 x 2 and 1 x 3 1/2 select pine boards to make some simple picture ledges.
I cut them to 36″ long and glued/nailed them together. You can read how I did that here!
These are a great solution for saving space as well as eliminating the potential for any shelves to become a landing strip for everything.
I filled them with some items that are special to him and frames that contained his favorite photos all in black and white.
I decided on a simple pine board with metal brackets to hold books and other favorite items. Keeping it all simple and streamlined opened up the space and made it appear larger.
I was also able to achieve the modern feel he wanted in the room by keeping everything symmetrical and with straight lines. Warmth was added to the room with the wood tones.
In the mood board I had planned on using a desk that we already own. It turned out to be too deep in the space so I purchased a desk from HomeGoods that fits perfectly. I was able to find a desk that had the same wood tone and metals already in the room. I knew it would work because that style/color worked for the desk already on the mood board.
Remember your mood board is a great beginning and a great suggestion. Being flexible when things don’t work out as planned is key to getting the best result. You have to leave room for variables like space limitations.
I only gave myself 2 1/2 days to do this teen boy room makeover and needed it done. Most of the time I make my drapes but I found some on sale at Hobby Lobby (yes they have drapery panels).
For a custom look, hang your rod as close to the ceiling as possible to raise the visual space and then hang draperies on rings.
Once they were hung they were too long so I needed to hem them. I measured the new hem allowance and then brought my ironing board in. I used an iron-on tape to hem quickly and without taking them down. EASY! No sewing machine needed!
The end result:
After adding some new artwork and a few other inexpensive decor items this teen boy room makeover was perfect!
My son was so happy and I love the way the whole thing turned out, too!t.
He loves his new space!
I believe that, if we are thoughtful with the way we put things together and have a plan, we don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a great space.
I thought about what we already had, put together some ideas in a mood board and executed! We are both really happy with the space I created. Now, go think about how you can transform your rooms!
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