Bedroom Decorating Ideas for Teen Girls

Teen Girl’s Bedroom Decorating

A teenager’s room is her kingdom and decorating it should be a project that reflects that much importance.

No girl wants to keep the rocking chair mom loved so much or the little hand-painted kid’s dresser she adored at five forever. It is only natural that as a girl matures into a woman her tastes and interests are changing and she wants to make her room reflect those changes.

Whether you’re a mom looking for ideas to decorate your teenage daughter’s room or a teenager working on a new look for your own bedroom, read on to learn more about managing this important project!

Planning Your Teen Girl Bedroom

The first thing to do is to create a plan. Measure the dimensions of your bedroom; you want to know the width, height, and length and draw the floor plan. Decide which furniture you will keep and which you want to replace. Some items may be “recycled” by painting or otherwise redecorating the appearance; you’ll be amazed what a coat of faux paint, stencils and new drawer pulls can do to change the look!

Clean out your bedroom and get rid of anything you don’t want or need. You can have a garage sale and raise some funds for your bedroom decorating project. Anything left over after that you can donate to a charity organization or give to siblings and friends.

Teen Girl’s Bedroom Furniture

Pick a bed that fits the theme you’ve selected for your teen girl bedroom. A do-it-yourself headboard can be a fun and inexpensive part of your bedroom decorating project. If you can’t buy a new bed, think of creative ways to decorate your old headboard, add a sheer curtain or canopy.

Another nice feature to consider is a sitting area; whether you decide on a comfy chair, a desk and desk chair, a small sofa or loveseat or even a couple of bean bag chairs you can store in the closet when not needed.

If you like to have sleepovers a small futon or trundle bed with a pull out mattress is convenient. Of course, leaving open floor space for sleeping bags works fine too!

Once you’ve decided on the major pieces of furniture you want in your room, draw them on the floor plan. You might want to try making several drawings so you can consider various layouts before finalizing where you want everything to go.
Before you begin the decorating phase of the project you might even want to place furniture and try more than one layout to see which arrangement you like best.

Teen Girl’s Bedroom Theme and Focal Point

Next, decide on a theme and focal point for your room; often times the bed may be the focal point, but it could also be a makeup table, window seat or other design feature. Remember to keep things in scale; if you have a small room and you pick a king-size bed you may not have enough room left over for other important features.

Themes can come very naturally depending on your interests and taste, but having some theme will give your room a more cohesive design. A theme could be based on your favorite movie or music stars, sports, animals or it could be based on a particular style of décor such as modern or art deco, country or traditional Victorian décor, etc.

Consider the types of activities you tend to like doing in your room. You’ll want a space to study and do homework, put on make up and get dressed, a place to curl up with your favorite book, etc. Every teen girl has to decide what activities are most important in her room.

Plan for plenty of storage space; the easier it is to keep things organized, the simpler it is to keep your room neat and tidy without making cleaning a big chore. Closet organizers, under-bed storage and a tall chest of drawers are a just a few possible ways to keep stuff organized. You need a place to keep your shoes organized, a place to put clothes for laundry and a trash can.

Organize drawers and storage space so that like items are kept together; make it as easy and simple as possible to keep your room neat and you’ll like it a whole lot more than if you have dirty clothes, shoes and junk thrown all over the room!

Choosing Teen Girl Room Colors

While any girl wants to use her favorite colors for bedding, window treatment, area rug, etc. remember that too many colors will confuse and overwhelm the eye; try to pick no more than two primary colors and two accent colors. Any more than about four colors and your bedroom will start to look garish.

Lighter colors and hues will make a room look bigger, while darker colors can add drama. Try to use the same hues within the colors you select, going with lighter, softer pastels or contrasting bright shades of the colors you like.

Look at lots of pictures in books, magazines and online, watch a couple of home decorating shows on TV, go to a design center and talk with others to get ideas and pick the color scheme that’s just right for your new teen girl’s bedroom décor!

Design Patterns and Refrains

Remember that pattern makes a huge difference in how you use colors for walls, artwork, fabrics, etc. a pattern or design element that is repeated is called a refrain, and just as in music, the use of a memorable refrain is a key ingredient in achieving a successful interior design. Some suggestions for a refrain or pattern can include:

• Flowers or a floral pattern
• Polka dots or circles
• Stripes or plaids
• Fluffy white clouds on a blue background
• Sun, moon, stars or other natural subject

Teen Girl Comforters and Bed Linens

Once you have your furniture arrangement, theme and colors worked out, its time to start selecting your decorative elements. The nice thing about bedding is that it can be a relatively inexpensive way to add color and style; as your tastes change, you can alter the look of your bedroom by changing the comforter, sheets and pillow covers.

Walls and Curtains

Painting is a big project, so be sure to learn proper technique, how to mask off and cover the floors properly, etc. if you are painting your bedroom walls. Mom won’t be pleased if you get overspray on the carpet, furniture, etc. and it may be best to make this one a collaborative effort!

Be sure the colors are happy; while black or dark purple walls might seem cool at first, you may find it depressing if you overdo it. If you want something that really stands out, you might select just one wall to use that color or do a collage or art on that wall, leaving the other walls either neutral (white or off white) or with lighter color shades.

For window treatments, you want to remember that privacy is important, so while a frilly white lace curtain may look good, you want something like a window blind or shade behind it so that you have more flexible control over light and privacy.

Teen Girl Bedroom Accessories

Once you have furniture, wall colors, curtains, bedding, etc. all worked out, its time to consider some accessories; this is like putting on jewelry and make up when getting ready to go out. Accessories can be the most fun part of decorating your bedroom!

While mom often has a major say in whether you can afford a new bed or whether the wall colors you chose are acceptable, a reasonable mom will let her teen girl pick the accessories herself!

Lamps can add a nice touch and you can work together to create a unique lampshade. Remember you want good overall ambient light; a ceiling light fixture will generally do the trick. Task lighting is important for your desk or reading and sitting area. Accent lighting can be added by using a small lamp on night tables, dressers or vanities. Or try using rope lights to add some accent lighting.

A book case or book shelves will give you a good place to keep books and display photos, prize possessions, awards, etc. A decorative jewelry box is a must have accessory in most teen girls’ room.

One trick to keep in mind when it comes to accessories is not to clutter the look of your room too much; if you have more items than you can display all at once, try rotating items every few weeks. This will give you an easy way to change and update your bedroom décor over time.

Some other teen girl bedroom accessory ideas include:

• Look for interesting objects you can display on walls and/or shelves; scarves or swags, clothing items, album covers, books, memorabilia …. whatever fits the style and theme you are trying to achieve.
• Make your own lampshade by using a glue gun and/or staple gun to attach patterned fabric to a plain lampshade; if you pick the right sheer fabric and pattern you can achieve very interesting patterns of light and shadow on the walls and ceiling.
• Use a vase to create your own floral arrangement; use faux plant and flower products from your local craft store or even a live plant or two if you want your room to look more natural and add a splash of greenery and color.
• Put a large, cork bulletin board on the wall you can use to pin up important notes, a calendar, a collage of magazine photo cutouts, etc.
• Use panels of sheer curtain material attached to the ceiling over the center of your bed and drape them casually to the floor around the bed to create an inexpensive canopy.
• Foam core sheets can be cut and painted to create interesting wall art without having to paint the walls.
• A large floor standing mirror in a corner or wall mirror over the vanity is important in any girl’s room and can make a great focal point for the room.
• Small details like funky drawer pulls, door knobs, light switch and electrical outlet cover plates and decorative baseboard, crown molding, chair rail, etc. can really make your bedroom design pop.

Shopping Around

Remember that you can do things without spending a ton of money. Go online and look at items, making a list and then prioritizing it; at first you’re just shopping so there’s no harm in looking at items with a range of prices.

Use Microsoft Word or a paper notebook to write down notes and create a collage of what your room will look like; this way you can consider possibilities and see how various ideas might work before committing to making purchases.

Once you zero in on the items you really want, you can shop various online stores and local shops to find the best deals on the things you want. For example, you may see a bedroom furniture set you really like at an expensive boutique and then find something similar at a discount retailer like Ikea, Target or Wal-Mart that looks almost as good for a fraction of the price; it really pays to shop around!

Girl Teen’s Decorating Tips

For Teen Girls:

• Be sure to consult your parents before re-decorating your room; check with them before painting or you could cause an outright war over the entire project.
• Remember that decorating costs real money; don’t insist on having all the most expensive items.
• Be willing to negotiate with mom and dad; if you can’t have the super-expensive bed you wanted perhaps you can compromise on something nice that costs less.
• Seek advice; remember that it takes years to become a professional interior designer so expect you will make mistakes. For example, your favorite colors may not all go well together when picking a color scheme for your bedroom!
• You want your bedroom to look unique; it should reflect your personality, likes and interests, but be careful not to pick elements that you might hate in a few weeks or months!

For Moms with Teen Daughters:

• Try to remember what it was like when you were a teenager. Listen to your daughter with empathy before summarily dismissing any of her decorating ideas.
• Use the bedroom decorating project to help your teenager learn concepts like project planning, budgeting and interior design; make this a fun project you can work on together but let her own the project.
• Let your daughter try planning and setting a budget for her “dream” room first. Once you both know the total cost and what would be involved, it will be easier to begin negotiating toward a mutual agreement.
• Encourage your daughter to put as much time into planning and consideration as actual decorating; let her know you support her efforts and appreciate how important the project is to her.
• Remember that any decoration is just temporary; you can always repaint the walls later!