Cathy Lara i have to say that writing this made me nostalgic. i used to have a canopy bed like the first room in this set. but my room was nowhere near is elegant as katie's design. lucky girl/client!

Greenstone Design UK Ltd There was an excellent, illiuminating, article in the LA Times last year. It talked about the loss of childhood that comes from our desire to give our children a 'grown up' space. The photos in the collection above show souless hotel-like rooms (sorry, my opinion, but really, kids need to be kids). All the teenagers I've lived with (we have 3 wonderful kids who regularly bring friends home) have clothes on the floor, wires dangling from chargers, a dog or cat curled up somewhere it's not supposed to be.

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

Cathy Lara @greenstone design — I think even the designers above would agree with you. None of them were interested in giving the kids a grown up space and Jane Hamilton says as much in the article.

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...)

Katie Rosenfeld Design As the designer of the first picture, I am having trouble understanding your comment, Greenstone Design.

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...

Greenstone Design UK Ltd Hi, yes, I know all about photo shoots, (and my kids's rooms do get tidied occasionally and look like they belong in the home of a designer LOL) and yes Jane's article does mention not being too grown up but my comment was more to say we need to relax a little when it comes to kids - they're too easily turned into designer accessories

Tonja Morris So many fun fabrics and wallpapers. I can't decide which is my favorite.

Karen Heffernan I'm not sure where Greenstone is coming from, especially, since they are designers (landscape), seemingly arguing against design.

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!

ARED I for one, LOVE the first bedroom in particular. As a designer and mom of a teenager who is craving calm in her room, I think this is a perfect combination of soft sophistication and youthful spirit. Great job!!!!

docilana Wouldn't mind that first bedroom for myself.....

trasgorshek My 17 year old daughters bedroom is actually most visitors favorite because of the personality that is married with design. :) kind of funny actually. But then again, they almost always see it after a massive cleaning spree, not on the normal clothes and makeup everywhere stage...which is everyday after the cleaning spree.

Becky Harris I remember when my mom let me redecorate my room when I was 14 and I was thrilled. Out with the outdated the floral wallpaper I had tacked pictures of Simon LeBon, Sting, Corey Hart and John Taylor atop, the dollhouse and the aquarium I had been neglecting, in with the crisp white furniture from the new Scandinavian furniture store across the street from the mall (including a unit for my gigantic stereo where I made mix tapes) and a whimsical wallpaper I'd picked out by Sandra Boynton (John Taylor got to stay).

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!).

lindseyakin I'm happy to see them not totally pink! I'm 28 weeks pregnant with a girl and when we found out its a girl, I was so paranoid about having pink everywhere for the next 18 years or so!

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.

alliemit Where did you get that adorable print of the dog with the tiara?

aeykelbo I want to root this discussion in reality and provoke the readers here to think what they might be saying to their children (and how they might be warping thieir worldview) by giving them such opulent, custom-designed spaces:

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.

Karen Heffernan Lighten up people those objecting to this idea book! Houzz is a design/decorating website. People of different income brackets come here for inspiration, and sometimes just to dream. If you don't like it, move on to another idea book

trasgorshek I'm sitting here shaking my head because I'm in disbelieve. I'm confused where an argument can be generated from an idea book about tween/teen rooms. Because a mom decides to make her daughters room pretty then she's somehow misguiding her child? The child's room is part of the house, why shouldn't it look pretty. We call them our angels/little princess, we tell them how beautiful they are all the time, so why shouldn't they have a pretty bed to lay down in every night? And, your child doesn't have to watch you go in debt to accomplish this. My gosh, a few smart pairings from Walmart/Target/KMart/Ikea (wherever you choose to shop) can accomplish a pretty room. My daughter has watched me completely tear out a 1/2 bath and put it back together again by myself, put in hardwood floors by myself, wallpaper her room and add crown, put up cabinets, tile, etc...My prayer is that she has learned she can do anything if she puts her mind to it not that she has to go in debt to have pretty things around her.

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.

photogirlla I love the first look w the chesterfield, I'd use it myself and I am hardly a tween. I like this idea book, I can clearly distinguish the personalities of the girls involved. Some girls really care about what their rooms look like, some don't. If they do, help them design it, no matter what their age, and as another commenter pointed out, you can do this very well with Target, Ikea, Urban home, World Market, flea markets, Craigslist, and teach teenagers the cost of things at the same time. Not every room has to be top-of-the-line PB teen megabucks. There are always cheap creative solutions to achieve a desired look. I think if you can afford a designer for yourself or for your child that's great. I just bought a house and I wish I could, but since I can't I'm using this site and others to do it myself. Part of the fun is the collaboration and the picking out of the designs, and that can be done at any budget.

lorenzanab Love the rooms and color I really dont care if its clean at least you see the design and get ideas

duke2647 I love the lavender and turquoise paisley wallpaper with the turquoise wall in the last set of photos. I was wondering where I can find this exact paper and what paint color was used??