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Tween Room Makeover

Tween Room Makeover

Girl’s Tween Room Makeover

My 11 year old daughter, has been enjoying having a bedroom to herself for a couple of years.  But seriously, this tween room needed attention!  Yes, this is what it looked like for a long time!

Read on to find out what we did and see how much it has changed!

Tween Room Before

Ok it needed a bit of help!

Laminate Wood Flooring

To start off this tween room makeover, I pulled up the carpet and then laid laminate floor boards (maple) over the concrete.  It was my first time laying floorboards on my own and using the drop saw!  

This was the last room in the house to have the carpet removed and replaced with floor boards.  To finish it off, we glued and nailed skirting to cover the edges of the floating floorboards.

Wall Color

Next the walls and trim were painted in Dulux Hog Bristle (a warm neutral) and Antique White USA. These are the same colors we are using throughout the house.  Water stains on the ceiling were patched and primed but still on the to do list is to paint the ceiling!

Paint Colors For Kids’ Bedrooms

I prefer my kids’ bedrooms to have neutral wall colors now despite the kids’ desire for bright colors. (Update – What happened? Check out this dark teal wall color we have just painted my son’s room.)

I think it is better to have fun with the colors and patterns of the accessories and bed linen instead.  The rooms are visually calmer that way and it’s easier to change out decor than repainting walls.  

So with this tween room, my daughter chose a new doona cover in her favorite colors.  Similar to the color of the curtains and a few other pieces in the room.

Painted Chest Of Drawers

While there were a few changes with furniture, one thing I decided to keep was the second hand pine chest of drawers.  Originally a dark brown stain and varnish, it got a makeover.  

I did keep the original brass handles on it as they were really lovely! Then used that as inspiration to include some gold tones in other parts of the room.

Check out: Painted Girls Dresser

Every Girl Needs A Dressing Table

After a lot of deliberating, about how to make this small bedroom feel bigger, I decided to move the rest of the furniture out.  My daughter started to panic at this point and I had to reassure her that I wasn’t getting rid of everything she owned.

There was a method behind Mum’s madness!!

In such a small space, I was having trouble working out a floor layout that made sense.  Less bulky furniture in the room helped with that!  

In the end, the bed, this vintage dressing table below, a small stool and other small bits and pieces, was all that came back in.

tween girl's bedroom dressing table

I had originally purchased this vintage dressing table for $150 second hand.  Mainly because I thought it was so pretty!  But also with the intention of reselling it.

 I think it has a walnut burr veneer and I am drawn to anything that has Queen Anne style legs.  I liked that there was quite a bit of drawer storage in it too.  It had been sitting in my carport for a long time.  Maybe secretly I didn’t want to part with it.

In my daughter’s room, it functions as a desk area most of the time and a dressing table occasionally.  I love that she gets to enjoy a piece of furniture that has history and is beautiful as well!  

Tip For Small Rooms:  Keeping the floor space open with your furniture choices will make the room feel and look more spacious than it actually is.

Choosing Not To Have A Wardrobe

tween girl's bedroom ideas

None of the bedrooms in our house have built in storage which means we use a free standing wardrobe, drawers or tall cupboards instead.

In the past, I had a wardrobe in this room but it used up a lot of floor space and made the room look and feel poky.  

This time I decided to put a wooden vintage hat rack on the wall for hanging my daughter’s dresses on rather than a wardrobe.  It has worked well so far!

Can you believe the vintage hat rack above was a freebie I originally picked up off the side of the road?

Happy Accident!

tween girl's bedroom ideas

The vintage oak shelves above were a last minute addition to this tween room.  I had originally been using them for storage in the laundry room.  However they were no longer needed there!

On the way to add them to my donate pile I walked past my daughter’s room and spotted the space above her chest of drawers.  What do you know?  The shelving makes great book storage.  

Especially important for one who constantly has her nose in a book.  And I love that it provides a limit to how many favorite books she can keep!

Decorating Tip:  Shop the house first before going out to buy new items for your kids’ bedrooms.  What do you already have that you could use for storage or decor.

Tween Room Decor

tween girl's bedroom ideas

One thing I was adamant about, was not having posters stuck directly onto the painted wall.  The compromise was having two pin up boards for her to display whatever she liked on them.

Related Post: How To Easily Hang Kids Posters Without Blu-Tack

The one above the head of the bed came from foam packing material from the new oven in my kitchen makeover.  I glued it to a cheap canvas print frame and covered it with scrap cloth I already had.  Total Cost = $5.

The other display board was an old wood poster frame I picked up of kerbside.  Another freebie!!  

I simply gave it a good clean and painted it in white.  Then drilled a few holes through the backing board, threaded some rope through and tied at the back.  Totally Cost (for the miniature pegs and rope) = $6

More Vintage Finds

As you may have noticed, a lot of the furniture and decor in this tween room is second hand or freebies. One reason is because I am decorating on a small budget.  

Another reason is that I like the look of old things.  Why not reuse and re-purpose as a first option to buying new.  That way there is a whole lot less stuff going into landfill.  Even if something is not perfect to begin with, it’s amazing what you can do with a bit of glue and paint!

The sheer curtain behind the block out curtains was second hand.  Less than $10 from my local op shop or thrift store.  

Originally I had tried using a bamboo blind there because I liked the look in bedrooms I had seen online.  In reality it was a pain to roll up and down, and way too fiddly.  The sheer curtain was a much better option!  

It just hangs and looks pretty, hiding an ugly fence outside! The curtain was initially too long for the window.  I simply cut the extra length off the bottom with a pair of scissors after I had hung it.  I haven’t bothered to hem it!

curtains in a tween girl's bedroom

The pendant light shade (see photo below) I picked up for $4 secondhand too.  When I bought it, it was wrapped in miles of black sheer ribbon.  

I removed the ribbon and covered the black metal frame with gold spray paint.  Then, after failed attempts to cover it with fiddly gold ribbon I had purchased, I used some of the sheer curtain material.  

I cut it up into large wide strips and wrapped up the frame.  The glass drops were re-attached and using a DIY screw in pendant kit, up it went.

tween girl's bedroom

My Favorite Room

I tease my daughter about moving into her newly made over bedroom.  While I was joking with her, I do think this room has become one of my favorite rooms in the house.  

It has a feeling of rest and sitting on the bed, there are so many beautiful and interesting things to look at.  

While this is a tween girl’s bedroom right now, I can see it being appropriate too for a teenager in a few short years to come.  Oh my goodness, I don’t want to think about that yet!

tween girl's bedroom

Sometimes beautiful and functional spaces just happen! That is, we have the all the ideas and pieces from the start and it all just works.

Other times rooms evolve over time!  My way of decorating is definitely more the second. Yes, this bedroom took its time but thankfully I think it’s pretty much arrived now!

More Ideas For Kids Bedrooms