Having a teenage son or daughter can be hard work. Aside from the shirty attitude at the realisation that they now have responsibility, the eat like horses, take up much more room, and constantly invite a stream of other nomad teenagers into your living room to take control of your television that you paid for.
The easiest and best way to solve the issue of feeling like your house has been invaded is to give your teenager a space of their own to hang out in; somewhere they can moan together with their clones about the unfairness of societal authoritarianism in the form of parents.
Just like designing a child’s bedroom, it’s great to get some input from your teenager on what should go in the room. Beware, if you give them free reigns, they will end up turning their hangout area into a skate-park or worse. Use the room as a way to bond; decorate it through compromise, it’s still your house after all.
However, before broaching the subject with your son or daughter, it’s good to have some ideas in your mind of what you think they might like, and what is suitable for your household. Coming up with a few themes will staunch an argument before it starts. Think big and be brave with ideas; teenagers love extravagance and they love to show off to their friends.
Here’s a couple to get you started:
Movie Themed
Teenagers love movies. If they could sit on the sofa all day and watch movies they would, but unfortunately they’re usually on your sofa taking over your TV.
By having a movie themed room, you could give your teenager their own space to watch whatever they like with their friends and feel like they’re in a movie theatre. It’s a fun way to give your teenager their own space and to make them feel as though they have something that is their own. The great thing about theming the room about movies is that you can constantly change it around and stay with the current popular topics.
- Tack up lots of movie posters to the walls. Try to combine old classic films such as Star Wars or Casanova with new movie posters, which can change with whatever new films come out. For a more sophisticated look, try framing them in a plain black frame as you would see in a movie theatre. It adds a more professional touch and keeps the room looking smart.
- Instead of mounting an expensive television, painting one wall white and buying a projector will create a huge screen for your children to watch movies on. Combining this with surround sound speakers will add the realistic movie theatre feel and is pretty impressive to their friends.
- Why not install a soda fountain and popcorn machine to add to the vibe. A mini fridge is also a great idea;http://www.menshideaway.com has a great review of a retro ‘Coke’ fidge which would fit nicely with the movie theatre theme. That way they’ll never be hungry or thirsty so you won’t have a pack of ravaged teens rummaging through your fridge.
- In terms of furniture, a collection of plush red bean bags and sofa will give that movie theatre vibe. Having sofabeds is always a bonus at it allows for sleepovers.
Music Themed
It’s an age-old theme for bedrooms. We all had our favourite band posters on our bedroom walls and danced around the room singing into hair brushes. In hindsight, I realise how annoying this must have been to my parents, which would account for them banging on the downstairs ceiling with a broom telling me to stop stomping my feet so hard.
In fairness to me, if they’d given me my own disco parlour, they wouldn’t have had to worry about my stomping feet interrupting their TV soap operas.
Why not give your teenager a music themed room so they have somewhere to fulfil their creativity and blossom as a basement artist. Perhaps they’re in a band and need a place to practice without disturbing everyone. Why not try some of these ideas:
- Do they play instruments?. If they’re the new Jimi Hendrix on guitar, provide guitar wall hanging to allow them to hang their instrument up after they’re finished so it doesn’t get damaged.
- Why not set up a small stage area so your teen’s band can practice in a real life setting. They can arrange their microphone, instruments, amps etc as they would at an actual gig. Additionally, you could provide small stage lights for extra effect.
- There are some teen hangouts that have been featured on the internet that provide a cradle mic and seat along with online recording equipment. Everyone’s going to be jealous of your child if they have their own recording studio to play in.
- To give them room a real music vibe, why not frame classic record and hang them on the wall. Accompanying them with fake signatures is always fun, and adds the feel of a production studio.
- Make sure to include a stereo, preferably surround sound for playing music. A TV is also a good idea for music videos.
There are lots of idea of how to theme your teenager’s pad to hang out in with their friends. Just get creative. Although these ideas are somewhat extravagant, you don’t need to break the bank; just think outside the box and use what you have to develop a running theme throughout the room, creating a private space for your teen and his friends.
Freelance writer Emily Jenkins loves to decorate. She loves the lack of boundaries on creativity in houses and can’t wait to have children to completely let that imagination run wild in their bedrooms. Not knowing what they’ll like yet, she’s stockpiled some great ideas in her head; from NFL wall murals for football fans, to princess castle beds for girly girls, Emily can’t wait to get busy build they dream kids room.