Sunday, October 11, 2009

Tween Oasis

One project that was particularly important to us was ensuring that our nine year-old's room was his personal enclave- a place he can retreat and be himself. Flipping through a few design magazines with him, I was hoping to gauge what this soon-to-be tween thought of as a cool bedroom. I came across a picture of a teenager's room- complete with dark mood lighting and lots of music paraphrenalia. "That," he informed me as he pointed at the picture, "is cool." I realized then that he had outgrown the adorably bright primary colors of his last room. His new space would have to be a bit more mature and encompass his unique interests and style rather than just be 'cute'. Defining his new space was challenging, if not extraordinarily rewarding for this tween oasis. A guitar enthusiast (the kid plays a mean guitar and idolizes Angus Young) who also loves hockey, reading and art, we made certain that these interests would take center stage in his new room. Lots of comfy spots to hang with friends or solo while participating in his favorite activities was imperative, so that's what we gave him:

Looking In
Lighting plays a key role in Keag's room. We chose to use dangling IKEA light cords which we carried up in an industrial way along the wall- one of the few rooms of the house where that might actually be considered cool. Installing dimmer light switchplates makes the mood go from bright and active to relax and subdued whenever he wants.
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An avid guitarist, it was mandatory to include a spot to house his amps, guitars, picks and tab books. Various rack and rail systems at IKEA were the inexpensive way to offer up little containers, hooks and magnetic boxes for extra storage. Combining this area with the new lights and a few fun stripes of orange and grey paint brought the look together.
Mobile + Art
Painting more grey and orange race stripes on the opposite wall, over his bed, matched his new Target brand bedspread perfectly. We also put to use an old orange wall shelf (I deliberately matched the orange paint to this shelf) and we hooked up an old IKEA spotlight underneath to give him a personal reading lamp.
The artwork was done on the cheap and turned out fun I think. I ordered guitar amplifier cloth grill (almost 3 yards for $15) and stapled it to blank canvasses I bought at Michael's for an equal price. I then affixed a couple of the cheapest volume controls I could find ($2.50 each) with a hot glue gun and voila!
HandMade Art
I similarly covered smaller canvasses and frame stretchers with IKEA fabric to integrate the orange theme again and brighten up any bland walls.
Repurposing an old red mobile over his bed made the tall ceiling corner come to life. A few more little add-on's for cheap proved to make his new space a fun retreat for our growing man:
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As always, check in to our photo site for the full sized versions and more pics: http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m70/MotoSvetka/Our%20New%20Home/

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