You could win parent of the year award by making over your tween's room. They are a pretty stubborn and particular species though, so you need to do it right. You don't want to do a makeover that they hate. Or one that they'll love now but quickly fall out of love with when the latest trend goes out of fashion. If you want to makeover your tween's bedroom decor as a surprise but don't know where to start, we've got you covered! Check out these tween bedroom ideas that are sure to make you the most relaxed parent in the neighbourhood.
All Shapes and Colors of the Rainbow
One awesome way to add some personality and flair to a tween's room is to add lots of colour. If you don't want to paint the whole room in bright colours, think about adding an accent wall or painting giant shapes in their favourite colour. Triangles, circles and squares in red, yellow, or purple on a white background can give the room a fun feel and playful vibe. Geometric shapes never go out of style and are mature enough to last through their teens without complaints of the room being too young.
S.T.E.M. Inspired Tween Bedroom Ideas
If you want to add to the geometric shapes with a more complex design, why not inspire a love for S.T.E.M. learning? Science, technology, engineering and math can easily be turned into an incredible room that could inspire talents and interests that lead to endless possibilities for your tween. Some S.T.E.M. ideas you might consider: An artist or architecture desk that tilts or goes flat is a great addition for a tween's room. It can be a place for creativity and study space for school work. It'll grow with them and should last as a cool piece in their room throughout secondary and post-secondary school. Things like telescopes, microscopes, and chemistry corners for their room may lead to a passion for astronomy, science or medicine that lasts a lifetime.
Artist Studio
Some of us are more creative than core academics, and it's great to encourage and celebrate those talents just as passionately. Why not paint the walls with chalkboard or whiteboard paint. They come in every colour you could want and allows your tween to write down their favourite quotes, draw their latest masterpiece or create a to-do list on their walls. This also lets them be creative about the decor of the room because they can add the colour and accents they want with dry-erase markers. Add an easel and some canvases or a craft corner where they can build sculptures or paint artwork.
Out of This World
What tween doesn't love a space theme? You can paint the ceiling with stars and a night sky. You could even draw the constellations on the walls or ceiling for an added touch. A great way to add some cool detail to the room is to glue a mobile of the solar system planets to the ceiling. Your tween can drift off to sleep dreaming of space travel while learning about the universe they live in. If you want to add a fun twist draw or make aliens and have their room be decorated like they're on another planet.
It's a Jungle In There
Turning your animal-loving tween's room into a jungle could have them crowning you the king! Hang a hammock or net from the ceiling and throw all the stuffed animals into it. Paint the walls with vines and giant leaves. Grab a couple of giant stuffed animals and maybe a few tiki torches that can be turned into stand up lamps. It doesn't have to be a rainforest. You could decorate their room with plants and add a camping theme or forest with animals such as owls, bluejays and bears painted on the walls or added as accents as stuffed animals. If you have pets, you can always add them to the decor by placing a few pet beds in the corner for them to chill and offer pet therapy after a stressful tween day.
Sports and Recreation
If your tween loves sports or has a favourite recreational activity, why not make that the theme of their room. You could add a basketball hoop above the laundry hamper, turn the closet doors into a football net for their sponge football winning goal on Manchester U. Add a sports jersey hung in a frame or maybe even go all out add a flatscreen tv or a tabletop foosball table for them to play. Add a few ottomans or giant cushions and the whole team can hang out after their game. If they prefer video games, you could always go retro and paint Super Mario Bros or Zelda themes on their walls. Add a game chair and system to play their favourite games, and you may not see them till next Christmas.
So You Think You're a Star
All the reality shows on television today gives tweens dreams of being a star for something whether it's cooking for Gordon Ramsay or singing for Simon Cowell so why not create a room to help them on the road to stardom. Whether it's adding a corner for their Youtube and video applications to shows or their karaoke station to practice their talent, you could give them the perfect spot to perfect their craft. If they love to cook, you can always give them an induction burner to cook on without causing a fire hazard. See what is the best bean bag chair for tweens.
Reader's Paradise
If your tween always has their nose in a book and would rather get lost in the pages of literary adventures, you could create the perfect reader's paradise. You can do this by adding several bookshelves to line the walls, comfortable beanbag chairs to lay back in and devour their latest book. If they have a favourite series of books, you could always create some of the decors around that author or series. Many tweens fall in love with the Harry Potter series or perhaps Lord of the Rings which you could easily create a fantasy room on.
Picture Perfect
If you have a little photographer in the making, then you may want to make them a photography or selfie room. Give them colourful walls as a backdrop for their selfies. Add a photobooth corner to the room where they can have fun taking pictures with friends. Add some string lights with clips or frames all over the wall to hang all their pictures from. Perhaps hang some fun pictures of the family to add to the decor.
Music to My Ears
If your tween is a budding musician, you can always encourage their talent by creating a music-themed room for them. Paint giant music notes and sheet music on the walls, hang any stringed instruments like guitars, ukuleles, or banjos from the wall on instrument hooks like they use at a guitar shoppe. If they have a video game system, you can buy instruments they can play with games like GarageBand or RockBand or DJ Hero for much less than buying all the real instruments. You might want to soundproof the room so they can finally get that drum set they're dreaming of and play as loud as they want without annoying the rest of the family or the entire neighbourhood. If you want to add another layer to the gift you could even add a few microphones and some simple recording equipment so they can lay some tracks and record a demo tape.
Mermaids Under the Sea
Why not create an underwater world filled with mermaids and underwater sea life. You can make a fun room that looks like you're swimming below the sea with light filters or the type of paint you use. Add some soft blue lights and some painted seahorses, dolphins and whales to make it feel more nautical. They may prefer to be by the sea than in it and if that's the case you could always turn their room into a beach theme by adding some fun aqua colours and nautical decor. You could even make their bed into the shape of a sailboat or rowboat, add a water wall or a sandbox where they can build castles and feel the sand between their toes no matter what the weather is doing outside.
Black Light Bright
A fun and economical way to wow your tween is to create their room theme around a gimmick like a black light room. That way you can get some bright and fun posters that completely change when the black light is turned on. Make a wall into a neon light wall or a digital light bright where they can have fun creating designs of light. Another fun way to use light as a decor item is to get lava or fibre optic lighting options for their room. You can change the entire feel of a space depending on which lighting you use. You may want to add a few different options so that they can adapt the feel of their room depending on their mood.
Horses and Unicorns
If your tween has a passion for all things equestrian or magical than you could give them a room Mr Ed would be talking about. Create a room that looks like a stable or add some beautiful horse pictures and even an old saddle turned into a chair to give them the feeling of being around the majestic animals. If they prefer something a little more magical, you could make the theme unicorns and mystical creatures. Pictures or paintings of magical beasts from their favourite television or book series could be a big hit. There are lots of decals and wall art that you can easily add to make the theme really pop and get even the pickiest of tweens to fall in love with what you've created for them.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
A room dedicated to speed is usually a hit with anyone that has a love for vehicles. Whether it is jet planes that travel faster than the speed of light or locomotives that are faster than a speeding bullet, you can create a room that celebrates their favourite mode of transportation. Why not give them a video gameplay area with aeroplane-style seats? Or maybe set up a model train set that they can create miniature worlds for their trains to travel through. Consider creating a bed that's a car, or a desk that's a cockpit and make the floor into a road or a runway. Your imagination, creativity and budget only limit you. It doesn't have to take a lot of money. You can even use craft store paint or dollar store items to build an entire room theme around their favourite vehicle or idea in general without breaking the bank to do it.
Toon Town
Does your tween have a favourite cartoon or perhaps they love reading comics or graphic novels. You could create a comic book room. There are lots of great options for decor, and if you want to make it awesome, you could make the walls look like the storyboard for their favourite comic book or a comic book starring them. You can make the comic backdrop out of whiteboard paint so they can draw their own story on the walls. If you don't want to do the whole wall in a whiteboard, consider making some cool word bubbles that they can add a comment to whenever they feel like it. They can doodle and create storylines and be living life in the funny pages of their room.
Tween Bedroom Ideas
You are sure to win some brownie points if you use any of these tween bedroom ideas to surprise your kids with a new bedroom makeover. Whether you do something elaborate like creating the universe on the walls or something simple like adding a little colour and a few new lights and pillows be sure you give them someplace comfortable to relax and enjoy their new room.
