Teen Boy Room Makeover

4 Materials
$60
5 Hours
Easy

When I was a teenager, I always wanted a bedroom makeover. I was lucky enough to have parents that would support me if I wanted to change something. I would design what I wanted, and my dad would make it happen. So, when my son gave me permission to update his rather boring room I jumped at the chance! And of course, my dad was there to help make it happen!

We scrolled through the internet to get ideas and my son showed me what he liked and disliked. After the initial discussion he left it in my hands. I was not buying any new furniture for this makeover, just updating with paint, wood and a few things around the house. This is the blank slate we were working with. Decent furniture but BORING!!

I started off by painting the bottom 2/3 of his room black!! Yes black, basically cause my dad had the paint left over!! When it was done everyone had their own opinions of it. ‘It looks like a jail cell’, ‘it’s so depressing’, and I do admit I had a moment of ‘what have I done’ enter my head. But I had plans to soften it up, so I just had to trust myself.

To break up the harshness of the black I wanted to add a wooden boarder. I wanted the wood to match the desk my son had bought himself a month back so I tried a few different stains and washes.

The best one was just whitewashing the raw pine. I watered down the white paint I had used to paint the top half of his room 50/50 with water, painted it on and wiped it off straight away. It was a pretty close match.

I cut the pine to size and used my brad nailer to attach it to the studs on the wall. I then used wood filler to fill the nail holes. Once dry, I sanded it all back again and found I had to re whitewash it on the wall as I had sanded it all off!

My next step was to give his chest of drawers a makeover. I undercoated the drawers and then just used normal wall paint. I picked a colour I wouldn't normally use but it contrasted so well with the black and made if feel less 'jail like'. It made a huge difference.

I then decided to make a headboard for his bed. These are the products and tools I used for the headboard.

I used simple pine strips to create the base of the board and thin mdf to form the backing. I measured how high I wanted the board to sit and attached this all together with my brad nailer.

I then used an old quilt base to cover the head board to make it soft, attaching it with a staple gun.

I covered it with a light grey material as it was going against the black wall and I wanted it to contrast and soften up the room. I also used a staple gun to attach this.

After putting all his furniture back in the room I added a few prints that meant something to him and a few little fun accessories.

I loved how it turned out and most importantly it got my sons tick of approval.

An easy, simple room make over using existing furniture and paint.

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  2 questions
  • FdLNana FdLNana on Feb 01, 2021

    I would add some kind of a cork board above the desk. Who wants to look at a black wall when you’re doing homework?!?

  • Michelle Ortega Lewis Michelle Ortega Lewis on Feb 03, 2021

    How did you refurbish the dresser ? I have one to do as well ..

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