Mini turns 13 in June and his bedroom hasn’t been working for him (or me) for quite a while. He moved from the box room to a larger room back in 2012 and we didn’t decorate the room. The only change since then was changing his bed from a midsleeper to half the bunk bed we used to have.
He needed new furniture (he had always had hand me downs) including bed, wardrobe, drawers, well pretty much everything, considering his wardrobe collapsed when we moved it!
The room also needed to be able to grow with him as we have no intention of doing anything other than perhaps redecorating before he leaves home! Plus we needed to do it on a budget as raising a family is expensive.
So we set off to Ikea with the room dimensions and an idea of what we liked, but we needed to get Mini on board as this was his room after all and I was hoping that if he was invested in decorating and designing it then he might keep it clean and tidy. Once we had made a decision on furniture we came home and remeasured and made sure it would all fit before ordering it online.
Then we made the decision that we could stretch the budget to a new carpet, so again I took Mini and he picked out his new carpet.
He didn’t want to change his bedding (which made me very happy as it was a quilt I had made) and we decided that his curtains worked really well, so I just bought a Dylon dye and re dyed them to remove any sun fading. He also wanted to keep a lot of his decorations as they had been made for him. Such as his personalised Alice Tait London Maps and his cherished Jennie Maisels London Print.
The hardest part of redoing Mini’s room was actually emptying all his stuff (take a look here to see what it used to look like). Going through his book collection was really hard work, but I was so proud as he gave a lot away to friends.
Mini picked really neutral walls and white furniture with a grey carpet and navy blue curtains, so it really was a beautiful blank canvas, but it was crying out for a finishing touch. A wow factor. Then Lana KK got in touch and offered us one of their amazing corkboard maps. And trust me it is AMAZING… we went BIG… 2 meters by 1.5 meters (World Map Blue Ocean – in 200 x 150 cm).
Lana KK has also given us a discount code to share with you. Code: KWELYB 10% discount voucher code valid until 31.12.2019
Mini has been delighted with his room. He has kept it tidy and clean so far and I adore it.
I think it will grow with him. It is grown up but also has places for all his knick-knacks and collectables. He has a place for his new TV (apparently teens need a TV)! But it also has room for his books and LEGO. The only thing we couldn’t fit in was a desk, but that isn’t too much of a compromise as we plan to put one in the conservatory for him, plus we have my office, the dining table, a bureau and table in the kitchen.
Source List
- Bed and Drawers, bedside table, bookcase, wardrobe, chest of drawers
- Lampshade
- Large Pinboard Wall Map (gift)
- Bedside lamp
- Nightlight
- BeanBag
- Curtains (Ours are over 14 years old from Maxi’s nursery)
- Balloon Pins
The room looks great. I love the big map print xx
That looks so good now, it’s hard making the transition from child to teen room but I think you have done it so well. We always go straight to Ikea for furniture, it’s perfect for children’s room, isn’t it?
Updating a teenager’s bedroom is always so difficult! I love the map – what a fabulous way to decorate a teens room! We also struggle with book hoarding in our house! At least your son managed to give some of his away – my daughters refuse to part with theirs 🙂 xxx
I love this – The map is an amazing touch!! K xx
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