In transition – teen to office space

From the Resene colour inspiration – latest looks gallery

When your child enters their teenage years, it becomes especially important that their bedroom reflect their unique identity and interests.

At this age, it’s common to receive requests for more colour on the walls – and possibly even the ceilings. But, that doesn’t mean that their room needs to be painted from tip to toe in a whole host of crazy colours. With some creativity and a bit of foresight.

If it is a room where a lot of time is going to be spent, the atmosphere will be important. A starting point such as new bedlinen, a wonderful rug, a hobby or interest may steer a scheme. We used our teen’s skateboard to inspire our colour palette initially and then built it out from there.

Creative ideas such as hand-painted stripes or a creative wall mural can be restricted to one wall to add personality while keeping things from getting out of hand. Adding a large mirror can help throw the size so that it will seem bigger to your teen.

When your child leaves home, you may be reverting the room back to its original purpose, or giving it a brand new one. What you might not have anticipated is that it can be emotionally difficult to make changes to your teen’s bedroom after they leave home. But, if you’ve planned for that in advance of their departure, you might be able to redesign the space in a way that will make it easy to give it new purpose after they’re gone. Painting a colour block headboard behind their bed, for instance, could become a clever way to define your work space once the room becomes your home office.

We added a colour block of Resene Fast Forward to liven up the room’s neutral base of Resene Sea Fog walls and a Resene Truffle floor while the teen was still at home. But once the room transitioned to a home office, this shape became the anchor for the work area. We added lipped shelves and a desk painted Resene Fast Forward to blend in with the colour block, making it seem like one piece. For interest, we added a chair painted in Resene Clockwork Orange, a desk organiser in Resene Alabaster, Resene Truffle and Resene Earthen, a hook rack in Resene Secrets and plant pots in Resene Quarter Baltic Sea, Resene Moccasin and Resene Soulful.

Painting a piece of furniture with a cool pattern, like this chest of drawers, can add real character to the space – plus, it can be easily painted over when tastes change. The dresser in this space was first painted Resene Alabaster and then creatively masked with painter’s tape to create the triangle design in Resene Bismark, Resene Permanent Green, Resene Thumbs Up and Resene Truffle. Picking something in a solid, classic shape means you can hang on to it once your teen moves out – and you can give it a pick-me-up with new paint colours that better suit your own tastes and your room’s redesign.

Choosing multifunctional furniture when you’re refurnishing the room will also help you to make the most of your reclaimed room, especially if the space will likely be used for more than one purpose. If your teen has taken off with their bed, consider replacing it with a fold-out couch. That way, the space can still serve as a spare bedroom when company comes over but do double-duty as an office or library. Alternatively, try a bed with pull out drawers underneath to give yourself more storage space.

Photo and pin boards are popular with teens and can help save your walls from too many holes and tack marks. To steer clear of holes altogether, paint Resene FX Magnetic Magic under Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen tinted to the same colour as the rest of your walls and your teen can hang notes, posters or artwork – and even write on it with chalk. Simply use a damp cloth to wipe it clean. Or, finish your wall colour in Resene Write-on Wall Paint for a coloured whiteboard finish and your teen can use whiteboard markers to write on their wall.  And if the room transitions into an office later, that same wall can be used to keep track of your work to do list.

Styling by Annick Larkin. Photography by Melanie Jenkins. 2019