Teen Boy’s Bedroom Makeover – One Room Challenge – Week 7

It’s reveal day for the One Room Challenge, and I’m so excited to share my teenage son’s finished bedroom today!  If you’re just now tuning in, the One Room Challenge is a 6 week design challenge, hosted by Linda at Calling It Home, in which featured and guest participant design bloggers completely makeover a space.  (Except this time the challenge was extended by a week.)  Feel free to get caught up with my teen boy’s bedroom makeover here – week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, week 6.

It could not be more fitting that I’m writing this post just before heading to the high school for an open house for 8th grade parents.  I could cry just thinking about him heading off to high school next fall…….

Let me grab some tissues while I show you all around my teenage son’s new digs.

A Quick Look At The Before

I didn’t want to scrap everything and completely start over, but I did want to build on what I had started over a year ago.  He inherited the king size bed when I moved him into what was our guest bedroom, but the style of the headboard never really suited him.  At 13 my son has a much better sense of himself in terms of his style and interests.  And boy, did he have opinions.  And so I wanted to work with him to create a space that felt much more personal to him.

I decided to keep the furniture layout the same, bring in a few new pieces to replace what just wasn’t working and add moulding to the headboard wall to add some architectural interest to this flat rectangular room.

After

I think the moulding I added to the headboard wall is the real MVP in this makeover.  It adds so much depth and interest to the room.  I had, as many of you know, originally planned to do a grid style moulding treatment, but the simplicity of the vertical boards really grew on me.  And I’m happy I changed course on that element.

Painting the walls Sherwin Williams Amazing Grey ended up being such a great call in here.  With all of the warm tones in the room, the grey, albeit a warm-ish grey color, adds the perfect amount of contrast.  And even on cloudy days and with just this one window in here the room never feels too dark……but more just slightly moody….which seems appropriate for a teen.  😉

Runner up to the moulding feature wall is this ceiling fan.  Lighting is so key.  It’s like botox for a room. 😉 Immediate results…..and while something other than a fan would have looked better…..if you live in the humid south you understand why there’s a ceiling fan in here.  His room also happens to be on the side of the house that feels the most intense heat at the end of the day…..which is great in the winter, but not fun to deal with in the summer if you don’t have a fan.  So a round of applause goes to Hunter for making ceiling fans cool…..both literally and figuratively.

Desk as a Nightstand

We’ve had this red desk for a few years now.  I just changed the hardware to make it feel a little more polished.  Using a desk as a nightstand is kind of a go-to bedroom design move for me.  It just works so well!

This coppery-rust shade paired with deep red against the warm grey walls feels so fresh and modern.

And I love that the rug ties all of the warm colors in the space together.  It even has a few touches of grey in it that I hadn’t planned on when I bought it online.  I love happy design accidents like that!

Artwork with Meaning

My boy loves cars, just like his dad.  He took this picture during our trip to Italy.  I love that it not only represents something he loves but is also a reminder of an amazing family vacation.  I had the photo enlarged to a poster print size at Staples then framed it in a Target frame.  Such an inexpensive way to add meaningful art to a space.

Opposite the bed is ol’ blue, the velvet sofa that once lived in our living room.  I wanted to create a gallery wall above the sofa in here that spoke to his interests and personality, but wasn’t overly theme-y.   So I again had a few pictures from our Italy trip enlarged.  There’s a picture of the paper mill in Amalfi, the inside of the Colosseum and a cool scooter I snapped in Ravello.  The starry night print if you look closely at it is actually a “Star Wars Night”, and it once lived in his room back when he was in elementary school.  I wanted to have something in here that felt a little nostalgic.  The iron bear I just couldn’t resist……bear is his nickname.

I found the Johnny Cash record mirror and the letterbox at HomeGoods…..my son put that “genius at rest” on it.

A few of the smaller prints I pulled out of a car magazine that he has a subscription to.

He collects old cameras.

Golden Hour

My favorite time of day in here is right before the sun is getting ready to set.  His room sees the warmest light of the day, and all of the colors in here just come to life in the prettiest way!

He’s so happy with his new space, and that just makes my momma heart swell!  I know these next few years are going to fly by, and I just want to hang on to every precious moment.

Sources

Not one thing was sponsored.  I built on what I already had and brought in some great, affordable new pieces.

The art above the bed is from Society 6.  They are such a great source for inexpensive art.  Cowhide stool is an Ikea find from years ago.

Thanks for coming along on this One Room Challenge design journey!  And thanks so much to Linda for creating this crazy fun design challenge!  Be sure to check out all the other participants spaces!  And absolutely don’t miss the spaces that the sponsored designers created!  They’re incredible!