We’ve been updating our teenage son’s room for the last few months. It started with a total reorganization plan since he had accumulated a lot of things he had collected over the years and wasn’t ready to let go of. To honor that, we had to add extra storage in the form of shelves and dedicate his closet to storage too.
Teens need their private space to relax and sleep and get ready for school and work and also have a space that reflects their personality decorated in the colors and patterns they prefer. When I asked my son what colors he wanted for his room refresh he said “brown, gray, and black”. Okay then.
His little boy room was a teal blue for ten years and we repainted it in a mid tone taupe. A few years ago we traded his twin for a full size bed. Recently we made added more shelves to store keepsakes and upgraded his bed linens.
Like a lot of boys, my son was obsessed with Legos in his younger years and spent a lot of time building ships. He has a shared interest in aviation with Matt and they’ve built a lot of model airplanes together. He also loves music and martial arts so his room reflects all the things that make him who he is.
The IKEA dresser we’ve had for years (long time readers will remember I used it for this project). I moved it into my son’s room, painted the trim dark brown, and swapped the knobs for an oil rubbed bronze button style.
The wall shelves and brackets are from Lowe’s and fit the space inside dresser niche nicely. He needed a place to store his Lego builds from years ago, they’re cool and he’s proud of them so we added two wall shelves for displaying them up high.
Above his bed he liked the idea of movie posters, these favorites of his are framed in inexpensive black poster frames from Michaels. The nightstand cabinet I picked up at Home Goods and the linens and headboard I purchased for him online (sources below).
The DIY board and batten wall treatment we installed years ago still looks so good. I’d repeat that method again if I was installing board and batten in another space.
His closet doors were the ubiquitous bypass contractor doors like these installed in so many homes. Instead of replacing them, we paneled over the front of the doors with a thin sheet of plywood attached with brad nails. Then I stained them walnut, the same color as the wall shelves across the room, and I added sleek black elongated pulls.
If you’re curious what his little boy room looked like ten years ago in this same space, see this post and this project.
Now the space is a “brown, gray, and black” as requested and a reflection of who he is today.
sources: gray bamboo sheets / striped pillowcases / tweed lumbar pillowcase
gray faux leather headboard / striped panel curtains / plaid comforter
closet door pulls / ladder shelves / shelf boards & brackets / poster frames
upper wall paint color: Benjamin Moore ‘Urban Sophisticate’