If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I absolutely love to design spaces, probably as much as I love traveling and working with my amazing clients. It gives me a creative outlet and it’s something I hope to do more of.

One of my more recent projects was a teen bedroom makeover for my oldest son; he’s 16. He loves traveling (as much as his mama) and collecting interesting things from the places we visit.

If you have a teen, you know how crazy teen bedrooms can get. Maybe your teen is different but there is usually laundry, water bottles, school projects…All kinds of little treasures everywhere ?

The focus for my son’s room was to encompass his personality – traveler, collector, gamer – into several elements in his room while throwing in some practical teen bedroom ideas, like functional storage space.

Before

The people who lived here before us had 3 girls and one boy so a lot of the bedrooms were painted for girls. We painted the whole house almost immediately.

After

Here’s how it looks now:

Sooo different, right?

The focal point of the room is the wood paneled wall. That’s where I started. My husband is a contractor so he got this wood from a demo job here in Atlanta, but he’s also used wood broken down from wood palettes (for other wood walls). You know the wood palettes that you see behind the grocery store or in Costco? If you can get your hands on some of those and are willing to do the work to break them down, they’re perfect for this kind of project.  

Anyway, then we stained the wood using Varathane Briarsmoke. I love how it turned out – a perfect mix of brown and gray. It’s exactly what I envisioned.

I purchased the headboard from Wayfair (I don’t see this exact one anymore or I’d link it). From there I had so much fun adding textures and varying shades of neutrals and woods.

The rug is from Target – I love it because it’s modern, has a little shag to it and also inexpensive so it’s perfect for a kids room.

We grabbed this dresser for him from Pottery Barn Teen.

As I mentioned, my 16 year old son is a collector – he collects items from our travels all over the world and has since he was a little boy. He collects pins, stickers, movie figurines…And he loves it. He straight up says, “I’m going to be ‘that guy’ that has a bunch of souvenirs and collectibles when I get old.” SO, we had to install some shelves and baskets for him to store and display his things. The shelves above his dresser are from Target. You can find them here.

Just as we did in my middle son’s bedroom makeover, we replaced the closet doors with mirrored doors. I like this because it opens up the room not only with the reflection but by eliminating the two double doors that opened out into the room (they took up a lot of space).

We added the same Target shelves in a shorter length in another corner for more books and collectibles.

Most of the bedding is from Macy’s and is Martha Stewart’s collection. The little yellow-y-gold nightstand came from Target. I’m not typically a fan of yellow but I sure love it as an accent in his room for a fun pop of color. And the lamp can be found here.

A couple of my husband’s carpenters whipped up a desk using a few pieces of Cyprus wood we had lying around (only in a contractor’s home!) along with some plumbing parts for the leg!

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I debated FOR-EV-ER about the chair. I just wasn’t sure he would use it and I’m not one to fill a room with stuff just to fill it with stuff. But he seems to like it. And then I hung those little lights (a-la 1970) because his room is one of the darker rooms in our home and those lights have a really nice candle-like glow. AND, they were easy to add since they aren’t hard-wired. Easy-peasy.

The curtain panels are heavy enough to provide some insulation but they’re not room darkening. As mentioned, his room is darker so we didn’t really need blackout panels.

The wall color in his room is Benjamin Moore Whitestone 2134-60. I love it because of how neutral it is.  

This bedroom is one I’ve totally fallen in love with since its transformation. It suits my son’s personality perfectly and is organized, functional and put-together (in this photo, I mean ?) while still looking masculine.

What’s the next interior decorating project you want to take on? I’d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment and give me your thoughts!

xoxo,

THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE MY OWN .