Transitioning Your Kid To A Teenager’s Bedroom

Transitioning Your Kid To A Teenager’s Bedroom

If you think about it, the different stages of life for a child can be reflected in the place where they sleep. As a baby, the nursery is going to look very different from the bedroom that a young child will sleep in, then the one that an adolescent will sleep in. As they get older still, turning from adolescents into teenagers, they’re in the last stage of childhood, with new needs and concerns, and you should consider what changes you might need to make to their bedroom to help with that. Here are a few considerations to keep in mind to that end.

Opt for more grown-up looking furniture

The bright colours and playful themes of childhood furniture might look and feel truly outdated to your teenager by this point, so you may need to look at switching out things to better suit not just their tastes but their needs as well. A small homework desk might have to go to make room for a real study space and work desk, that has room for their computer or laptop, and all the organization they need to keep on top of their schoolwork and studying needs.

Do you need to change up the walls and floors?

Whether it’s wallpaper with princesses and dinosaurs, or colourful and expressive carpets for the floor, then you might want ot look at welcoming the new era of your teenager’s life by creating a slightly more mature look to their space. You can still opt for colourful schemes that will make the space more motivating and welcoming, but you can also opt for more grown up touches, like wooden or vinyl floors, not to mention wooden cladding panels, or similar touches, for the walls. Your teenager might appreciate being in a space that helps them feel a little more mature.

Where they sleep

Of course, it’s the bedroom, so no function it provides is more important than the bed and how your kid sleeps at night. You might want to move away from bunk beds or other gimmicky options that might excite a young kid, but won’t serve the needs of a teenager as much.

You may also want to think about leaving a little more space for a bed, as teenagers might prefer a little more room to roll around, and there are many sizes of reclaimed wooden bed you can find that suit those needs just right. There are other ways you can ensure a great sleeping environment, too, such as with blackout blinds or excluders to keep external light and noise out of the room. Teenagers do need more sleep than in most other stages of life, after all.

Keeping the spot tidy

As they get older, you should make it clear to your teenager that they’re going to be a lot more responsible for keeping their room tidy. While you may want to step in every now and then for the deep clean to make sure dust bunnies aren’t taking over the room, you can help transition to being a little more independent in taking care of their space by, for instance, bringing in clothes hampers or wicker baskets they can use for temporary storage to help them better maintain the space.

The question of privacy

Teenagers are getting more mature and, as such, their needs are becoming more sophisticated. At some point, you can expect the question of privacy to come up. In particular, they may want to be able to put a lock on their door. Parents who may have a reason to be concerned about what their parents get up to may have their arguments against this, but there’s no denying that if you’re trying to foster independence and maturity, this comes with a need for privacy. How you handle this particular decision is up to you, however.

What about the rest of the home?

Locked door or no, you can expect your teenager to want to spend a lot more of their time on their own, as they’re navigating a lot of new and difficult emotions, not to mention social mechanics that they need space and time for. However, ensuring that your home has shared, family spaces and times that you come together to hang out in them can be important to fight off the feelings of isolation that a lot of teenagers can start to expect.

With the tips above, you might be able to help your child’s bedroom better fit their needs and wants during their teenage years. Of course, they will be developing more opinions nad tastes of their own, so looking for their input and letting them take care of decor items in whatever way they want is recommended, too.