Hip to be Square

Earlier this year, I told my almost-teen daughter that we would change her room to a more grown-up space.  I don't have a before picture, but here are some of the elements that were in there.  The walls were lavender.

Pastel quilt, tole vase, & impressionist pics of little girls

Needless to say, she was ready for a BIG change!  She wanted something hip and modern.  I wanted something punched-up but not too wild.  She thought my ideas were so square (and I guess using that term confirms it!).  Both of my kids are anti-earth tones when it comes to paint choices.  She wanted a bright blue paint.  Initially, I said no way, since it's out of character with my style and the rest of the house.  But then a friend's comment gave me pause.  She said that our kids are only home for a little while, so why shouldn't we give them the bedroom decor they desire?  Since her bedroom is upstairs and mine is down, I thought about it and gave in since I wouldn't have to look at that color every day.

I painted her room a Laura Ashley color from Lowe's called Glass Green.  It's not really green, it's more turquoise.  (One note about paint from Lowe's:  always go one sheen level down from what you were thinking for walls.  I chose a satin and should have gone with the eggshell.  It's a little shiny, but not bad.)

Once I saw the color direction she wanted to go in, we started looking at comforter sets.  I liked the Pottery Barn Teen versions but found them very pricey, so we settled on one from J.C. Penney which we both LOVE. I don't think it's available anymore, but it came with the comforter and 2 shams for around $80 and has a microfiber type feel to it.  Very nice.

Seventeen: Geo Nights

I found a striped body pillow ($20) from Target that coordinated beautifully.  The blackout drapes ($20), also from Target, were a necessity since my daughter's room faces east.  Now if I could only get her out of bed before 11 when she's not in school!

I found some removable decals ($10) at Walmart that I used over the bed to give it interest.

Decal detail

For her study area, I already had the console table that a friend gave me and we're using it as a desk.

 The lime chair ($30) came from Target as did the cool stacked-squares crystal lamp, my one splurge ($75).

Peace sign ($12) came from HomeGoods.  I thought about painting a peace sign directly on the wall but wanted to stick with things that were easily reversible since I have a lot of painting to do elsewhere!

Finally, since my daughter has grown just a little bit since her early childhood days...

she really needed a new dresser for her clothes.  I found a sturdy one for $300.  It has lots of deep drawers, a jewelry drawer, and even a center door section with shelves and sliding drawers behind it.  And square knobs!  Perfect!

Oozing with teen charm

Vintage glass cat from Grammy

The one thing I still need to do is paint the finials on my vintage iron bed (it was my grandma's) either a silver color or white to match the rest of the bed.  But Jessica's room is functional, it's modern, and she loves it.  And it makes her mom very happy.