As a parent, no one knows better than we how quickly our children grow from toddlers to teens.  Transitioning a child’s bedroom from all the familiar, comforting items to a teen’s bedroom with new interests and hobbies calls for a delicate touch.  The process always goes easier when you consider a daughters wishes, value her opinion, and find out beforehand how she would like her space to feel and look.  Often, the hardest part is respecting that she will have her own individual taste and style.

For instance, my daughter was emphatic that she wanted to be rid of the “petal pink” color scheme that graced her nursery and childhood bedroom.  She wanted to replace it with her favourite colour—purple—a task I didn’t relish as she had chosen one of my least favourite colours with which to decorate.  Next, there were certain furniture items that she wanted to remain and others that she was impartial to.  The overall feeling she wanted to achieve in her special space was that of a cozy, uncluttered area with enough room for friends and of course sleepovers.

So, off I went—minus a bit of enthusiasm where painting was concerned—to transforming a lovely pink colour palette to one that suited my teenage daughter better.  After hours and days of designing and shopping, I finally came up with three choices that I felt I could live with, and that she would adore. To my delight she chose the linens, paint swatches and layout that happened to be my favourite.

As my children are lucky enough to have a room off their bedrooms that has evolved over the years from childhood playroom to a roomy homework space with a computer and work-space, their bedrooms are kept for sleeping, hanging out, listening to music, or just having some alone time. Whereas, their study room has ample shelving, drawers and memo boards to address the ever-changing organizational and homework needs.