Has your teenager been bugging you to redecorate her bedroom despite the fact that it was redone just a short while ago? I can relate. To her, that is.

As my decorating partner, Matt Fox, can attest to, I crave change. This helps me to empathize with a teen’s ever-changing mind and requests. So what’s the answer to this teen-driven decorating dilemma? As with most situations regarding teens, compromise is the best solution.

A room makeover is possible with a minimum of fuss, particularly if you allow your teen to do all the work. And there may be hidden benefits. Let me explain.

As with all decorating projects, I like to start with a clean slate. That means clearing the room of anything and everything.

Since redoing the room is her idea, get your teen to go through her belongings.

Next comes the background check. If your teen is one who loves change, I’d advise choosing a neutral wall color.

If your teen is one who loves to hang posters on her bedroom walls, consider painting a base coat with a magnetic paint. Top it off with a latex paint in the desired color. Instead of using tacks to hang her posters, your teen can now use magnets.

Just because the walls are a neutral color doesn’t mean the room has to be boring. There are a variety of ways to bring in vibrant color.

Matt and I recently redecorated a teen bedroom on a budget. The walls and flooring of the room were both a soft beige, so the room definitely needed a bit of pizzazz.

Our first step in the redo was to find bedding that would bring color and interest into the room. We hit the jackpot with a vibrantly striped comforter.

The comforter was a great deal because it was part of a “bed-in-a-bag” package. Two matching pillow shams were included, as was a set of coordinating floral sheets.

The head of the bed looked great, but the foot of the bed still needed something extra. Again, we tried to be decorative and practical with the addition of a duvet.

We used two coordinating flat sheets to create a beautiful, but functional duvet cover. Since one of the sheets was part of the bedding package, the duvet cover was a perfect, but inexpensive, match to our bedding ensemble.

To give the room a bit more punch, we chose a pair of apple green tab curtains for the window treatment. The color was repeated in the pillow on the bed and a few accessories placed around the room.

Our teen was delighted with the new look, and her parents were satisfied with the low cost of the project.

Matt Fox and Shari Hiller, authors of “Matt and Shari’s Great Weekend Projects (DRG Publishers), also appear together frequently on HGTV.

source : detnews.com