Tween Room Redecorating.... Budget? How Often? Etc

This sounds like a great age. Remind her that next year she will be in High School, and you may give a bit of money then, but to choose wisely, because you know her taste will change once she starts high school and you are really not planning on a big re decorating again..

Remember then she will be planning for her college dorm..!

This summer is a perfect time for her to be given a budget and any rules.. you may have.. like only pint one wall, or no you my not pull up the carpet.. whatever, you want.

This would be it. She needs to understand that what she does this time has to grow with her they high school. Furniture stays. New paint comforter, sheets, and a few decorations. My kids did bed-in-a-bag. I did it the most inexpensive way possible. Target is your friend.

the room she wants sounds cute. I would like a previous poster suggested set a budget. and don't be afraid to shop the thrift stores / ebay / craigs list etc for some of the decoration / furniture items. you might be able to find a dresser / wardrobe that could be painted to look like the phone booth. oh to answer the question they usually got rooms decorated at about 4 (done with baby stuff ready for school age. again at about 9 or 10 and then at highschool.

We decorated once for babyhood, once for kidhood and once when he turned 13. I think 3 times is reasonable.

The last time SD redecorated, she was 14 and we were shuffling the family for DD's arrival. We let her get a loft bed/desk and paint the walls crazy colors. She had to do most of the work. I'd give your DD a budget and tell her to make a proposal. I honestly don't care that SD's room is not "classic" and we'd have to kiltz it to redo it. It's hers, it makes her happy, it's just paint. Small price to pay for her being comfortable in her space. I would just tell your DD that it stays that way for x years so she can't do a total redo again next year.

We transitioned from "little girl" to "tween" at age 9. She got rid of all her Disney Princess stuff and we got her a new comforter. We did not do a big overhaul, just removed the character stuff and replaced it with more trendy things.

If we weren't moving we'd allow another redecorate this year, at age 12. Since we are moving, the redecorate is going to happen anyway! I figure she'll be in Junior High next year, so I'm sure she'll want a more grown-up room.

Our rule has always been: classic things for wall color, window treatments, furniture and carpet. The rest is changeable. I'd give her a budget and then you can talk over the pieces together. I know at age 9 my daughter REALLY wanted a Justin Bieber comforter. Instead we compromised with a Justin Bieber blanket and pillowcase. I tried to talk her into coordinating pieces like a JB poster and a purple lamp instead of a JB lampshade.

I do try to talk her into not making the expensive purchases things that are too trendy that she might outgrow. A comforter is expensive so I try to do solid color or pattern, but blankets are cheap so she gets trendy blankets.

It should be fun, good luck!

We moved a double bed in from the guest room, bought a comforter from Burlington coat Factory for $65, painted the headboard to match the comforter and decorated large letters with her name in matching craft paper. It came out really cute. The curtains match the comforter. All under $100

I repainted my son's room at age 10 and at age 12 did a whole remodel.

He was complaining for over a year and a half he was uncomfortable in his twin (from infancy). He wanted a Full or Queen bed.

IKEA is the best!!!! They have very affordable, hip furniture and accessories. I LOVE visiting the store because they have samples of how to decorate the rooms. It's all so very creative and would be a hit with any teen. I love wandering their huge store for design ideas. Order a catalog in the mail.

So we bought him
- a new full mattress
- IKEA Malm bedframe
- IKEA Malm corner computer desk
- IKEA Malm regular desk (the corner computer desk was too cramped for him). color: Black/brown
- IKEA Duvet covers (great way to change the look of a room without having to splurge on a new comforter)
- IKEA Premiar wave - artwork
- IKEA gray roller blinds (purchased 2 today because 1 14 yr old blind broke) - looks sleek and modern

I don't know the prices off the top of my head, but very reasonable. You can google search images & MALM bedrooms to see samples.

or google search IKEA & bedroom images - you'll see a ton of great photos for ideas. There are also fan sites like IKEA Hacker, where people get IKEA furniture and hack it to make it fit to their needs. PINTEREST would also be a great resource for ideas. If she likes a line of IKEA furniture, she can see PINTEREST photos of it.

It matched the bright green walls (painted 3 years ago) perfectly.

Bedspread: Really modern gorgeous Duvet cover (easy to change up looks over "boring" comforters) that he picked. It's no longer online.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/...
2 is enough. I ended up with 3 though.

Giant artwork: Ocean surf photograph (IKEA Premiar Wave) $125
He was complaining his walls were too bare. That was the biggest splurge. He loves it and it looks amazing. So worth it. My 9 yr old was crying because she wanted it. It wouldn't fit in her room and her walls are purple. Just won't work. And I'm not buying 2.

What he didn't get:
- bean bag
- flatscreen TV

I was at IKEA today because my 9 yr old wants to repaint her bedroom (white) and she wants curtains. I also bought my son a vertical shade and some curtains to see if they look good or not.

Let her choose the design. She might still love that London design at 15. If she doesn't, she needs to get creative if she wants to change it.

My 9 yr old currently "hates" her room. It's too dark (so we're going to have it painted white instead of the current LILAC) and she loves her brothers room. So I'm trying to find creative ways to spruce up her room and IKEA is the place to go.

Paint and bedding is pretty cheap so I wouldn't worry about that too much. I like to change out my bedding every 3 or 4 years as well, it's like wearing the same outfit every day.
But the "theme" stuff? Yeah, I wouldn't spend much money on that. Maybe some posters, and at her age she can get crafty. Have her get on Pinterest for ideas. There are so many easy, DIY projects she could do that would be fun and cool without breaking the bank.
Are you near an Ikea? That's PERFECT for tweens and teens, cute, modern and cheap!

Have her make a list. Of what she wants.
Then, talk about BUDGET to her.
Its about time. She is 13.
THEN based on budget, make another list.
Refine the list per what she really needs v.s. wants, and in light of that budget.
THEN shop, smart.
Sales, stores etc.
And be ready to tell her "no, we can't afford that..." etc.
And talk to her about it.
She should have her own taste.
Per decorating her room.
It is also per age stage.
And TALK to her about, longevity of a style or not.
And how that influences her.
And the price of it.

My boys each got a new set of bedding last year, and it was given as a birthday gift. Paint only gets done when needed, and always stays fairly neutral. They have bulletin boards on the walls, so they can change what hangs on the boards whenever they feel like it. They only use their bedroom for sleeping and storing their things so we do not waste a lot of money on decorating it.

My parents let us re-decorate our room once.
And I think that was a good idea.
I would let her do it once but then she has to stay w/that theme so tell
her to choose carefully and wisely.
Sounds like she's 10. I would have waited until she was a bit more of a
a teen.
But.....if you do decide to let her re-do it now (no harm in that) tell her
she's stuck with that due to time involved, expense etc.
Or just let her pick a couple of things now to "spruce" it up (throw pillows,
cheap comforter or 1 lamp). Then tell her she can do it up when she
turns 14.

I think my daughter had three major decorating overhauls in her life. One of them was a move at 8, and the next one was when she was maybe 14, 15? She painted the room herself. I think trendy is fine, just let her know she won't be changing it again in a year so pick something she can live with. She might as well have fun with it. Anything gets old, after a while. The urban London theme sounds cute.

If you don't need any major pieces like beds and dressers, I think you can expect to spend somewhere between 300-500, depending on how generous you are. My daughter got a fun desk from IKEA, bedspread, pillows and sheets, new room paint color, new handles on the dresser, and a cute chandelier, new stuff on the walls, and rearranged the furniture and it looked completely different.

She lived with that till she moved out.