From Kids to Tweens to Teens – Making my kids bedroom a little less Kid-ish

My daughters let it be known that although they are a few years away from being teenagers, they are already a world away from being babies.

Their Christmas list for the first time ever, didn’t even include doll babies for my two older girls, Mikaela and Kaitlin! It’s all about electronics like the Nintendo Ds, IPads and IPhones even though these girls are truly just Tweens.

My daughters are in that middle ground, the murky years where they come into their own, know confidently who they are and who they are not. And right now, they are letting me know in very certain terms that they are NOT babies. And frankly they are pretty darn tired of sleeping in a dollhouse bed.

Yeah, the bed I paid $1,200 for just 4 years ago. The bed I was so excited to get because, well, I probably wanted it for myself since as a kid I surely would have never gotten a bed that cost this much! But I’m a mom who believes in spending money where it matters– in the home. I’d rather drive an old, raggity car, without a car note and live in a fab home, than to drive a $50,000 fancy car and live in the hood or my momma’s basement. But that’s just me.

Anyway, I hear my kids loud and clear. And no, they are not spoiled brats. They are very appreciative, sweet and funny girls who I adore. And it’s my pleasure to be their mom and give them everything that my heart desires. So, I have SOLD the dollhouse bed and now I am in the middle of transitioning their room from kid-ish to a more mature tone.

So here’s what I’ve done to make the room all about them and less about being a “baby.” I am still in the middle of changing the room, so I will walk you through what I have done and when my girls get their NEW beds I will post part TWO of this post in a few months. 

INCORPORATING ARTWORK

• I think it’s very important to save artwork your kids have done in school and then put it all around their room. It gives them a sense of pride and they LOVE to see that their parents appreciate it too.

Mikaela won an art award for this picture she made last school year.

This is a handprint from Milan, my 6yrold, when she was in Kindergarten

And of course this is a poster of my bookcover, Goony Goo-Goo and Ga-Ga Too! What better art than the cover of a book where the feature characters are based on my kids!

Kaitlin made this beautiful butterfly in school last year

This is a beautiful poem with a picture of Kaitlin when she was in 1st grade. She is now in 4th. I save a lot of their work.

SELF-REFLECTION

• Why have pictures of OTHER little girls and boys when you can decorate your child’s room with their OWN pictures. They are their OWN models and are beautiful enough to grace the walls of their room. This is a big esteem booster for little girls when they look at the beauty of THEMSELVES and LOVE all that they are!

I found colorful picture frames at IKEA and have various pictures of my girls through different stages of their lives.

Also Kaitlin used to do ballet so I have her ballet picture and a picture of a ballet dancer’s slippers hanging above. I plan on getting some real ballet slippers to hang beside it too.

FUNKY FLAVOR

• Grant it my girls have never seen a real record player, but I want them to know and appreciate things from the days of old. I found these records in a thrift store. Three of them are real Disney records AND story books that go with them!

I decorated above my girls closet with real records. I remember this as something everyone used to do in the 70s. Kinda funky. Actually three of these albums are from Disney: Alice in Wonderful, The Little Engine that Could and 101 Dalmatians. (I wonder if these records are worth something?)

One of the dolls they don’t play with anymore. We just dressed her up with a tu-tu!

And there’s a Chandelier that hangs in the room and gives off low-light. Great for when I tell them to cut off the overhead light. Found this at Hobby Lobby.

WORKSPACE

• For me, it’s important that my girls have a room that’s colorful and lively BUT also has space where they can do homework or other activities. That way it keeps clutter out of the dining room and other areas in the house because they can resort to their bedroom and work.

This is their desk and computer. There is a pencil/pen/marker holder, conveniently placed on the top level of the desk. There’s a pink basket with paper, the zebra basket has their Nintendo Ds games, and on the bottom level they have space to move their mouse and storage under the top bar where essential books and workbooks are. (The brown desk cover will be changed to a zebra print.)

Here is the side space that has all of Kaitlin’s sewing materials. While she probably won’t sew in this space, at least it’s stored nicely in her room and not all over the place like sewing materials sometimes ends up.

I’ve already SOLD the dollhouse bed so that bed will be gone this weekend. So I’ve decided to do a plain top bunk bed (IKEA), which will be full size like this:

And under it since there will be so much space, I will put this funky and colorful Union Teal futon (Target) that pulls out and lays flat:

This way I am saving them lots of space. In the daytime my girls will have a room where the bottom space is not taken up by a big old bed. They can fold this up and the room turns into a lounge area which is just what tween and soon-to-be teens love and adore. And since I went overboard and got a fancy dollhouse bed the first time, I am definitely keeping it plain and simple this time, just in case they change their mind when they turn 15! That way I won’t lose too much money next go round!

Also I have an extra empty bedroom in my home that no one sleeps in. Right now Kaitlin is too scared to sleep in there alone, so for now all three girls will share ONE room! So saving space is a must. Once Kaitlin musters up the nerve to sleep in the extra bedroom alone, then the room above will just be for Mikaela and Milan. My son has his own room. The joys of being the only boy.

When I finish the room in the next few months, I will update and post pictures. Making your child’s bedroom functional and fun will make them very happy campers.