The decorating of a teenagers room can be a rite of passage

Where did the time go? It?s unbelievable that you?re decorating a teenagers room. It seems like yesterday when the bedroom was filled with childish delights. Baby blankets were stacked next to burp clothes. Plastic bins on the changing table held mangled tubes of diaper rash cream and pink squeeze bottles of baby lotion. Bibs and terry rompers were the fashions of the day. Where did the time go?

Decorating a teenagers room is a maneuver worthy of considerable prep work. Make sure of the young adult?s current likes and dislikes. What is perceived to be ?in? today is ?out? tomorrow. Enlist the hands-on participation of the teenager. Some teens will insist on doing everything. Others will participate from the sidelines, especially if manual labor such as painting, furniture moving and curtain hanging are a part of the plan.

And, of course, there is a segment that will profess no interest at all and condescend to answer your questions with a shrug. Persevere when decorating a teenagers room. If things work out, you may be rewarded with high praise?perhaps a flowery tribute of one word?cool?or its equivalent in the lingo of the hour. If things do not work out when decorating a teenagers room, the newly adorned habitat is the place to which you can banish the surly miscreant when attitudes need adjustment.

Trends in decorating a teenagers room

Long gone are the days when plugging in a new night light sufficed as decorating a teenagers room. Today, many teenagers are savvy consumers whose spending habits range from modest to outlandish. Part-time employment, entrepreneurship and weekly allowances enable teens to play a major role in the American economy. Their decorating ideas also may reflect some sophistication. Linoleum, for instance, is unknown to today?s teens. Plush, colorful area rugs are more the style of today.

Rag-tag pages from movie magazines and posters of rock stars that traditionally were used for decorating a teenagers room are out. The ephemera have given way to more modern accoutrements such as big, bold graphics on the wall. Some cling-on decorations and graphics need no paste. They can be removed at will.

Now, too, the wall space may be allotted to lighting fixtures?wall sconces and wall lamps?that can properly illuminate a work space where term papers are polished. The location of the wall lighting above the work surface gives teens more available space on the desk top or work table. 

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Consider ways to encourage organization

Decorating a teenagers room these days entails adding organizers that will help keep the room uncluttered. Teens have evolved past the point where they will welcome a cluster of plastic bins or some stacks of shoe boxes disguised as storage accessories. Today?s teenager well may consider a bedroom to be a base of operations.

A room that frequently doubles as a music room, a computer room and a home office is a tall order when decorating a teenagers room. But the challenge of decorating a teenagers room is made easier by considering the addition of modular furnishings that help preserve space yet serve useful functions. One popular item in many homes is a modular computer desk designed to be set up in a corner of a teenagers room. 

Think about the room?s future uses

Some facts about today?s teens come from the National Labor Committee (NLC), a human rights advocacy group concerned with workers rights. The organization reports that the discretionary income of young teens?ages 12 and 13?hovers at about $1500 per year while older teens?ages 16 and 17?increase their spending to about $4500 per year. Other sources such as the census concur.

The reports conclude a teen spends much of that income on clothing, shoes and accessories?items that wind up in the bedroom. No wonder decorating a teenagers room is an activity calling for much forethought. The rites of passage between childhood and the teenage years are many and complicated.

The day comes when baby clothes are passed along to other families. The day comes when dolls and teddy bears are moved to display cases, the basement closet?or the local thrift shop where the toys will find new homes. It?s all a part of growing up. Someday, that teenager may be grown and gone out into the world to seek fame and fortune?or a job.

That?s when another transformation?another rite of passage?may occur. That?s when decorating a teenagers room may involve a more advanced set of maneuvers?the removal of all that modular furniture and the installation of a sauna and a cozy hot tub. Cheers.