5 Teen and Tween Girls' Rooms With Fresh-Faced Style
Youthful and light, these girls' bedrooms show an age-appropriate mix of playful spirit and design-savvy sophistication
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In a sage moment, a prebreakdown, pre–X Factor judge Britney Spears sang about no longer being a girl but not yet being a woman. This between-worlds dilemma extends itself into the design world, where tween and teen girls often want to leave behind childhood tokens while yearning for a more sophisticated taste.
Interior designer Jane Hamilton says it's not about letting girls this age have too much of a grown-up, adult room. "It's about taking the time to understand what's important to them and listening to how they feel, asking them what accessories and colors and prints they want to surround themselves with and then going from there," she says.
Parents may not always understand their tween and teen girls, but the rooms below show that when they work together as a team, designers, parents and young clients can do a great job showcasing a young person's unique taste.
Interior designer Jane Hamilton says it's not about letting girls this age have too much of a grown-up, adult room. "It's about taking the time to understand what's important to them and listening to how they feel, asking them what accessories and colors and prints they want to surround themselves with and then going from there," she says.
Parents may not always understand their tween and teen girls, but the rooms below show that when they work together as a team, designers, parents and young clients can do a great job showcasing a young person's unique taste.
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| This college-bound teen asked designer Katie Rosenfeld for a soothing environment. "She needed a place where she could decompress. Simplicity and no clutter were a priority for her, so the room had to make her feel relaxed after a long day of academics and athletics," says Rosenfeld. Yellow floral wallpaper, an Oriental rug, twin beds and a cement-block bookcase had given the room a hodgepodge feel. Now the chesterfield sofa, a four-poster bed and an overstuffed Lee Industries bench, together with accents from Lee Jofa, Sister Parish and Serena & Lily, mix traditional forms with a fresh, young palette of color and pattern. |
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"I loved working with this young lady," Rosenfeld says. "She gave me full input, and there was minimal intervention from the parents."
Bed, nightstands: Somerset Bay; sofa: Century Furniture; bench: Lee Industries; Biedermeier chair: client's own; carpet: Stark Carpet
Bed, nightstands: Somerset Bay; sofa: Century Furniture; bench: Lee Industries; Biedermeier chair: client's own; carpet: Stark Carpet
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Fashion, sewing and photography rule this tween girl's world. "I worked closely with the young client and her mother for this room," says designer Ana Donohue. "The teen is quite the creative but was on the shy side, so it was nice to have her mom there as the bridge of communication."
An accent wall in Sherwin-Williams' Eros Pink creates a sweet-as-candy association and adds more punch and energy to the room. "Clients request this color all the time," says Donohue. "It's popular across all ages."
The designer paired subdued grays with the splashier pinks for contrast. A womb-like swivel chair sits in the corner, perfect for journal writing and hours perusing fashion magazines.
An accent wall in Sherwin-Williams' Eros Pink creates a sweet-as-candy association and adds more punch and energy to the room. "Clients request this color all the time," says Donohue. "It's popular across all ages."
The designer paired subdued grays with the splashier pinks for contrast. A womb-like swivel chair sits in the corner, perfect for journal writing and hours perusing fashion magazines.
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| In the same house, the previous client's tween sister got a fresh update for her room before her bat mitzvah. Sherwin-Williams' Cooled Blue gives the space a relaxed vibe. "She preferred blues, blacks and grays. Pops of magenta and pink show up in the accessories, but not in the same way as in her sister's room — which makes sense, since they have completely different personalities," says Donohue. Chair, lamp, throw pillows: Ikea; zebra rug: Overstock; drapery fabric: Kravet; duvet fabric: Duralee |
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| Schumacher's Birds and Butterflies wallpaper adds plenty of whimsy and movement to this teen girl's room. "The space was a collaboration between the young lady, her mom and me," says designer Jane Hamilton. A chic tufted headboard with white piping takes the twin bed from girly to sophisticated teen, and a faux sheepskin rug has a luxurious, touchable quality. |
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| A fuchsia pouf from Shabby Chic brings out a rosebud's pink hue, and a potted plant on the bedside table mimics the wallpaper's foliage. |
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| Hamilton's design studio mixed her signature blue paint for a different teen girl's bedroom. "It's where she stays when she's at her dad's," Hamilton says. "She wanted a beachy style, and I think the blue really brings out the carefree coastal look she was going for." |
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A white maple dresser from Room & Board throws the new-traditional room a modern touch. The piece is built to last well into the young client's adult years.
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Hamilton updated a vintage wingback chair and paired it with a white pouf, creating a cozy reading nook in one corner of the room.
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A parson's desk and Tulip Chair lend a cool, modern touch to the teen's homework area, and a custom raffia bulletin board adds an organic feel.
"My young client loves this cool blue room. I think it makes her feel more understood," says Hamilton.
More:
Teens' Rooms: The Haven Grows Up
Design Ideas for a Teen Boy's Room
"My young client loves this cool blue room. I think it makes her feel more understood," says Hamilton.
More:
Teens' Rooms: The Haven Grows Up
Design Ideas for a Teen Boy's Room
Ideabook published on Nov. 8, 2012.
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For a child to become a successful adult I would suggest they need to have had a childhood first. They need to have played, outdoors. They need to experiment, hang out with friends, take time out for quiet contemplation and importantly, have fun. These rooms don't look like they would support any of those things.
My comment is not meant to offend those designers and clients who love the pristine look, but hopefully offers an alternative viewpoint, based ultimately and intimately on the health and well being of the next generation
These are portfolio shots so of course they're going to be polished and "pristine" because frankly, not very many people are interested in seeing clothes on the floor, wires galore, etc. — the point is to be inspired by something outside of the mundane messes of our lives. But I agree, let kids be kids. They have the rest of their lives to become adults. (Cue I'm not a girl, not yet a woman...)
In case you have never been on a residential photo shoot, clearly you are not aware that the rooms being shot are cleaned up thoroughly and staged for the lens. Do you think we would shoot a room with clothes on the floor and papers everywhere?
Much less to call these spaces "soul-less"---wow that is a reach, to say the least.
Quite the opposite.
Your suggestion that giving a child or young adult a mature space is somehow robbing them of their childhood pleasures is lost on me.
My particular room was a labor of love incorporating elements this young lady wanted in the color palette she desired. She is thrilled to have de-cluttered and have a ice cream colored space in which to relax after long days at college.
Contrary to your thoughts, I believe teaching children to respect and appreciate their space as well as the entire home, and to keep things tidy and well cared for is a good thing---forgive me. I know in my home, my kids are expected to keep things in order---I will not run after them picking up their belongings.
I have two young daughters who have friends over and trash their rooms with clothes and makeup and sleep like teenagers. Then I ask them to clean their rooms.
If a parent is spending money designing their child's room with thought and care, then the child needs to be mature enough to appreciate it and take care of it. Otherwise it is a waste of funds and time.
Sorry, I wholeheartedly disagree with your comments. There is a time and place for messy play and relaxed behavior. I am all for people living in their spaces and using them hard.
But there is also a time and place to clean up.
Certainly, when taking pictures...
There is absolutely nothing soulless about any of these rooms, and every room seems to be a collaborative effort. These are not small children's rooms, they are tween/teen rooms. Every tween/teen girl I know wants little personal sophistication in their rooms, and these rooms are that - and beautiful and whimsical and above all, personal - the polar opposite of soulless. I have no doubt that these lucky girls are enjoying their childhoods.
And of COURSE the rooms are tidied up for a photo shoot, that was just plain silly. My teenage daughter's room was shot for another idea book, and of course it was tidied up - and as soon as she got home from school, the clothes were back on the floor : ) I don't browse houzz idea books to see messy rooms - I can look up from my laptop and see that!
I would have been thrilled with any of these designs as well. While my crush on John Taylor is still going strong to this day, I probably would have taken him down for the professional photo shoot (sorry JT!).
Naturally, I'm very much thinking right now about letting children have their childhoods, its crucially important. But at the same time, the job of a parent is to bring their child up to be a functional, productive, independent, happy member of society. We don't want to be around when they're gone so our job is to make sure they can cope without us. Providing a transition to adulthood at the appropriate time of their lives (tween/teen years), by working WITH them to help them learn how to design a space, how to have it reflect their own unique personality, teaching them to respect the work and money that goes into making something nice like that, all important skills. I think all the rooms in this ideabook achieved this.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/08/where-children-sleep-a-round-the-world-tour-of-bedrooms/243303/
Sorry to get heavy on you all, but this is one of those absurd Houzz ideabooks that makes me a little ashamed to be here. I started coming here to get ideas for fixing up my badly damaged kitchen, to make it look decent, but I find myself staying to gawk over the designer homes. Most places on houzz not only fail to reflect how most people live, but are examples of how people could not afford to live if resources were distributed a little more fairly on this planet, or if we all plan keep living on it.
I might be assuming a lot but I believe the majority of us come to Houzz not to covet the $10,000 rug or the $5000 headboard but to see how the designers paired up lines, colors, lighting, textures, etc. Some of us didn't go to design school so we use the nice folks on Houzz to educate us in one way or another.
Interior Design is another form of art, art to be appreciated and studied. A good majority of people CAN live like this but with a $200 rug and a homemade headboard. You just have to use the right side of your brain and get creative, not covet the things you think you will never have. Appreciate the beauty, there is absolutely no guilt in studying a multimillion dollar home or jelousy for the people who can afford them. So you think a mansion is beautiful because of the millwork/wainscoting...ok, then go to HomeDepot and buy some 1x4's and some cove trim and get it up on your walls. Really folks, you can make a $100,000 home look like a $500,000 with little money invested you just have to educate yourself and be willing to try. I apologize for my ramblings, I've been away from Houzz for awhile due to being under the weather so my head is still a little foggy and my words probably don't make much sense right now. But, I went through some of my emails and got confused where an argument could be made from this idea book.