Room Re-do: Boy to Man

Last winter I decided, quite out of the blue, to re-do my college age son’s room. Once I got into it, friends (and my husband) kept asking “Why are you spending money on a room for him when he may never be home permanently again?” And frankly, it did give me pause. Why was I spending money on a possibly temporary teen boy’s room? (Other than the fact that I like decorating, haha!)

Well, it turns out there were some legitimate reasons! To begin with, my younger son still had his furniture he had gotten when he was three years old, and needed new “big boy” furniture. It made sense to pass down my older son’s existing furniture to him. But this left his room empty. And since he does still come home, and it’s also where guests stay, it needed to have something in it! So, I needed to find a way to re-do the room on a budget, and make it look masculine and adult, while not losing his personality. I wanted to make it feel like it was still his room, while also working as a pseudo guest room. And I didn’t want to spend too much. Quite a feat, actually!

If I managed to do it on a budget, I’d be able to give him these items to take with him when he eventually leaves. Which means at some point, I’ll actually be able to decorate a real guest room! (But that’s another post!) After all is said and done, I’m pretty happy with his new teen boy’s room, and I think he is too!

He also needed some kind of book shelf to hold some books and albums and things as he had lost a huge desk with a hutch. This small bookshelf from Home Goods filled the bill, and wasn’t expensive. Plus, I love the dark grey color!

I mixed the grey plaid duvet with some grey and red pillow shams and a cute graphic pillow that I already had (always nice when something is free)!

Teen Boy’s Room Sources: