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Designing Children's Rooms: From Kids to Teens
Just when you think you've got your kid figured out a little bit, your pre-teen goes and changes
yet again. Whether it's your daughter who suddenly hates the
butterflies she was crazy about a month ago, or a son who
suddenly loves green beans, keeping up as your child grows can
prove pretty demanding.
The approach of the teen years can at least be anticipated, and
as rocky as these years can be, you have a little bit of an
advantage in that you can know that plenty more changes are
in store, even if there's no way of knowing exactly how those
changes will manifest themselves.
You can be sure that you'll have a recurrent tug-of-war over who
is really in charge of this person who once so readily cuddled up
on your lap for story hour. You'll see your child revert to wanting
stuffed animals even as, in the same breath, she insists she's not a
kid anymore and should be allowed to stay out until 10 at night.
Of course, the room your child inhabits will become the physical manifestation of all this
change, and you can go some way toward smoothing the road to adulthood with some
foresight and planning as age 11 clicks over to 12 and 12 over to 13.
This is a time in which your kid will be looking for ways to assert his increasing maturity, and to
separate from you a little bit more. The more you can allow her to have some say in room
decoration, the more she'll feel you're granting her that responsibility, and the less she'll have
to act out her separation from you.
If your teen or pre-teen is starting to make noises about getting a room make-over, you can
begin by setting aside a weekend afternoon for a giant
throw-away party. Go through everything, from clothes to toys to
books to jewelry, and get rid of everything too "babyish" or simply
too small. This will make for much more room, for one thing, so
you may discover that you don't really need to buy a new set of
dresser drawers, now that they're not stuffed with old t-shirts in
size 6.
Plus, you can make a few dollars to put toward financing the
room make-over by taking much of the stuff to a consignment
shop, or by having a yard sale.
Of course, you can keep your kids' special items, either on a shelf
dedicated to memorabilia or in a box that goes in the attic. This
will allow your child to feel that he's able to maintain his
connection to the past even as he plunges headlong into the
uncertain furture of adolescence.
Once you've cleared out the old, it's time to bring in the new. Probably the most immediate
need as your child grows will be for a new bed; all too often parents skimp on the quality of a
kid's mattress, and this might be a good time to replace Old Saggy with something that will
give your child more support for those growing bones. If you invest in a high-quality, adult size
mattress now, you'll be able to use it later as a guest bed, once Junior is safely away at
college or living in his own apartment. You don't need a queen bed; they still make good old
double or full-sized mattress and box-springs, which take up less room but can still comfortably
sleep a couple - when you use it as a guest bed years from now, not for Junior and his
girlfriend.
While you're at it, a new headboard and footboard can give a more grown-up feeling to the
room. Something in wrought iron or brass can feel feminine and sweet, and something more
plain and dark can give a more masculine tone to the room. Either one feels more grown-up.
Bear in mind that the function of your child's room may be changing now, too. If your kid is
involved with sports, you may need to provide more room for hockey sticks or other gear. A
serious student, or a student in whom you want to encourage serious studying, could benefit
from a well-organized desk area in the bedroom, where she'll be able to concentrate better
than in the living room with the t.v. on and the adults' conversations swirling around. Your
child might also now want more privacy for long chats with her girlfriends, or she might want
more room for sleepover parties.
Helping you pre-teen develop a sense of independence is important for both of you, and the
more your child sees that you really do want her to grow up, the more likely she'll be to trust
you during the next years. And having that trust sure beats installing a spy camera in the
corner of the kid's room to monitor every move.
Copyright © Sheffield School of Design. Written by Sarah Van Arsdale. Reprinted with permission.
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