Recently my 9 1/2  year old daughter came to me asking if she could re-decorate her room. It was time to move out of the pale pink and into something a little more mature (vibrant). My daughter loves the color blue, but the challenge here was finding a blue that didn’t look too boyish. I was having a hard time parting from the sweet pinks with purple accents, but aren’t we suppose to encourage our kids to express themselves? Yes, according to Scott Sicari and Jordin Ruderman in a post  A Tween and Teen Guide To Decorating  they say,

"Because
a teenager’s room can seem a haven, as a child grows, it’s important
for parents to encourage their youngsters to express themselves in a
space they can call their own".

They also go on to talk about how painting can be a quick, inexpensive and easy way to change the appearance of a room…

"Painting is one of the quickest ways to freshen up a room. If a
teen’s favorite color is orange, say, he or she can be surrounded by it
every day. Try two or three colors on different walls or in patterns or
stripes and don’t forget the ceiling".

So off to the paint store we went and grabbed every paint swatch that possibly resembled blue. Then we headed to the neighborhood bedding stores to see what comforter set she would like that would work with blue. She picked one that she liked and the room unfolded from there. She picked a bright Teal blue with lime green accents. Yikes I thought! My baby is now a tween and I don’t think I am going to like this. She decided that her ceiling would be lime green and her walls would be teal blue. She also wanted polka dots to play in somehow.

She grabbed her best friend, a couple of paint rollers, and LOTS and LOTS OF DROP CLOTHS! Project bedroom remodel had begun! With just a little help from mom on rolling the ceiling and a little help from dad on the trimming, they tackled the rest all by themselves. I was so impressed with their tenacity and abilities. I expected that they would start, roll for 20 or 30 minutes and then get bored leaving the rest for me to complete. But that wasn’t the case. They loved it and took pride int their accomplishment.

The next week, my daughter ran down to my office and asked me to come upstairs and take a look at something she wanted to surprise me with! Uh, oh I thought. What did she do? She had been begging me to put polka dots up on the walls but I just wasn’t sure that was the way to go. I had bought one package

back when we picked up the paint but just wasn’t sold on the idea. As I rounded the corner rehearsing in my head how to tell her it looked bad with out deflating her, I was amazed at what I saw. She and her friend did a phenomenal job with the peel and stick decor. Her room looked complete.

Tackling tween decor can be a challenge, so here are four
tricks of the trade from Kaelin Tripp at Better Homes and Gardens :

• ~Add bold colors
• ~Do away with a theme
• ~Give your
  tween a say
• ~Create a hangout space.

Here is a terrific idea using regular coasters as well as over sized coasters (the kind you put under

planters) to create this darling pin up board. This just may be the next project at our house!