DD's bedroom re-do About This Page:

[dejavu]

My DD desperately wants to "re-do" her room. We painted it and "decorated" it when we moved in 5 1/2 years ago. She was 9 at the time.

At what age did you let your daughters have free reign in decorating their rooms and what is a reasonable expense? (she wants new furniture, paint, comforter, etc.- her "furniture" is all white kid-ish looking.)

(Her best friend recently redid her room to the tune of $1200+. Yikes!)

We saw some cute stuff at Ikea, but I'm wondering if she'll like what she picks out now, all the way through high school. (she's 13, in 8th grade.)

I have no experience with this as I got my FIRST new comforter when I left for college!! My room was all hand-me-downs.

[JaimeandChad]

I was 14 whenI got to pick and I could buy whatever I wanted as long as was under a certain amount. I also babysat to earn money to make it more. I think I paid $700 and that was 16 years ago.

[Mommyof2NJ]

We just finished our kids rooms DS 12 and DD soon to be 7. We had some construction going on (moving walls to make the rooms a little larger). You can get some really cute bed-in-the-bag sets which include everything at a really reasonable price. Try JC Penney's, Target, Walmart on line which ships to the store free and domestications.com. Your makeover doesn't have to be expensive but set a budget and make this a project you can both work on together. Good Luck and have fun!

[my2girls]

We just re-did DD 11's room last year for her birthday. We picked out furniture from IKEA together. We also picked bedding and decoration. She did have a hand in it. We just re-did DD5's room this past March. Since we already had good furniture, she picked out the Tinkerbell Bedding, boarder, paint, and curtains.

[Colexis Mom]

I think I was about 13 or 14 when I got a "new room" - full bed and dresser with mirror. We had wallpaper, so I think I picked that out and my Mom put it up.

[krisk11]

DD & I painted her room only about 2 yrs ago and now she wants to redo it again. We went and picked up paint chips yesterday and now they are taped to her walls. We aren't redoing funiture just paint and bedding/curtains and throw rug. She wants bright pink walls with orange/lime green accents. Those colors are really big now so I hope she likes them for a while. She just 12 this summer and will be starting her 2nd yr of middle school next month (7th grade). I found a comforter at domestications for $30 I just need to find some curtains. and a throw rug. Good luck with the redo

[koalamom]

I am just finishing up DD11's room now. We kept the same comforter set we got two years ago (about $200) and decorated around that (for about $200 more). Three different colors of paint, shelving and mom rearranging a bunch of stuff and it now more befits a tween than it did. Should (hopefully) carry her through for a few years. She is very excited about it, especially the string of multicolored Christmas lights I let her keep out of my stash to use to decorate with.

Oh, yeah, the shelving system includes a desk which is new, dresser is hand-me-down, bed two years old, papasan chair about three years old and assorted other stuff hand-me-down to newish - nothing matches but that is okay!

[ilovedisney0_0]

We re-did my DD's room when we moved into this house (7th grade). We found a blue-jean comforter and matching curtains at Brylane Home, and some really cute hawaiian sheets at Pottery Barn on clearance. She picked orange sherbert orange for her wall color (it picks up a color in her sheets) and we found tons of cute hawaiian accesories on eBay. All told, I probably spent $300... she s it.

[stretch2864]

We re-did DD's room twice when she was growing up. The first time she was around eight years old. She was a major tom-boy back then, so she opted for a Minnesota Twins baseball theme. We found Minnesota Twins wallpaper for one wall of her room as well as a MLB comforter and sheets. I also found a really cool baseball lamp for her bedside table. When she was around 13 or 14, she changed her mind and went in a totally different direction. We got rid of her loft bed, and bought a regular twin bed instead. The wallpaper went from baseball to a very pretty blue floral. We found a matching floral comforter and coordinating sheets. This time around, we bought a new dresser and bookcase (in white) to match the new look of the room. Instead of the baseball lamp, she picked out a couple of cute bedside lamps from Pottery Barn. Now she has moved out of the house and into her own apartment since she is in college. Her room there is a hodgepodge of different things!

[HiddenMickey]

We are in the process of doing things to our kids rooms right now. We moved into our house a bit over a year and a half ago. At that time the kids kept all their old furnishings (many of which are hand-me downs).

DS is nearly 14. We just bought him a new student desk and chair and three small bookcases (two are stacked) this weekend. We're in the market for a full-size mattress set to replace his bed and will probably get a new bedside table as well. He'll be getting his sister's old dresser (though it doesn't match anything, because its a bit larger than the one he has). (His old things will go to nephew.) He wants to paint his room a soft yellow-gold. (He has an asian theme going).

DD is 12. She is jockeying for the full-size futon in our office for her bed. She no longer likes her all-white bed (with trundle space....used for storing stuffies) and side table. So, she'll probably get that. Her dresser is going to her brother....as we added some extra shelving in her closet a few weeks ago, that she's putting all those clothes on now instead of in drawers. She wants to paint each of her walls a different color (kind of bright colors) and that I'm not sure about. Her colors are blues, greens and pinks.

[JoanW]

We did the girls rooms over the past nine months. Paint came from Home Depot, and Rachel's furniture came from Ikea, Hemnes in white. We got her desk there as well, Mikael. I got the bedding from JC Penneys in a reversible lime/aqua comforter and matching sheets and pillow things. The curtains she wanted "light and airy" like in a beach cottage. I got them at Walmart and they tie at the top on a rod.

Grace's room had really good furniture already, but she needed a new headboard. I got a Sauder one with a bookshelf for a headboard, and had a left over desk from when Camille got married and moved out. Her bedding came from JC Penney's and the curtains match too. Her room is dark purple and the bedding is a lavender gingham. The walls are very dark, but her bedroom gets sunshine 75% of the day, so it doesn't seem that dark, and the gingham "tones it down", so it's not so dark.

[akleos]

My room at my parents house just got re-done about three years ago: after I was married!!! :shock: When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to choose what was in my room and what wasn't. I just got to choose what color the walls were. So I think you're a pretty awesome Mom to allow her to pick things out! Besides, it'll be a great lesson for her about how to stay in a budget and time management!
Go for it!

[Teresa]

As a cheap mom, here are my ideas:
If she wants a full, queen or king bed and matching furniture - try the paper and estate sales. There are always tons of them to be had. She can look through catalogs and furniture stores on-line for ideas on what she wants. Also, there is a "Kittles Warehouse" here in Indy. Kittles carries Ethan Allan, Thomasville, etc. And the warehouse is where all of the floor models, damaged, and just out of date stuff goes. We picked up a sofa for the basement, a china buffet with hutch for the kitchen, and 2 dressers there for under $2,000. They retailed for more than $8,000!!
Buy the mattresses new! (this is one place I am not cheap)
Then - go pick out a comforter set/quilt, and sheets from TJ Maxx or something like that. the time to pick paint is then.

I don't really believe in doing much to my children's rooms. I figure that by the time they're 14, they're only going to be in them for another 4 or 5 years, and then they're my rooms again!

Personally, if her furniture is still functional, I'd let her re-paint and get new sheets/comforters and call it a day.

[kimkdmm]

we decorated my daughters bedroom a couple months ago...she is 10
I found this fun website to get ideas on theme rooms for all ages...

Theme Bedroom Index - Theme Beds - Girls bedrooms - Boys bedrooms - Teens bedrooms - Teenage Bedrooms - Baby Nursery Toddler bedroom decorating ideas for the home - Theme Beds - Theme rooms - kids theme bedrooms

have fun!!!