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Be sure to go over online shopping safety and security before giving your kid the credit card to shop online.
Your teen may even be able to paint her own bedroom – possibly with a friend or two, although, you may want to kick off the project by outlining safety and proper technique.
Design considerations
The key thing to remember with teen-room redesigns is the main occupant, your young adult, is likely to be flying the coop within a few years. This means:
- It’s worthwhile to invest in furniture that will work well in his first apartment. Dual-purpose pieces like the aforementioned loft bed/desk, maximize function in a small space.
- Bedding choices should be easy-care because your future college student isn’t going to be doing laundry as often – or as painstakingly – as at home. Mid-range colour prints are good bedding choices – they’ll hide pizza stains or makeup smudges better than light colours and can be washed with detergent alone – unlike whites, which need bleach.
- Curtains and drapery panels are the best window-treatments because they can follow your child to her first apartment – unlike custom-fitted shutters or blinds.
- If out-of-date lighting needs refreshing, keep installed fixtures (overhead lighting) neutral, and reserve quirkier choices for lamps or plug-in pendants.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. Crazy paint choices, a no-to-beds-yes-to-futons mindset, and eye-popping bedding are all small stuff. The big-picture is: You can always repaint down the road, and hey – your little baby’s all grown up, with a design sense all his own.
Photo courtesy of West Elm
Read more in Decorating & Design and Bedrooms