When your kids are young, it is easy to bundle them and their friends all together into shared spaces. However, as they enter the teen years, that need for a sense of independence becomes very important—at least to the teen! Our clients have a family of three kids, two girls and one boy. As their son, who is the eldest, began having friends over, our clients decided it was time to give him his own space away from his sisters. Their little-used lower level offered the perfect opportunity to create a teenage boy bedroom suite.
The goal was to design a space that reflected their son’s personality. Whenever we work with a client, we take the time to get to know them, ensuring we create a space that reflects them. For this young man, we asked him about his interests and what he wanted to be able to do in his new bedroom suite. He is a masculine and athletic person, so we played those traits up in our design.
His love of basketball weighed heavily in our design of the more public parts of his bedroom suite. The entry to the space was large enough for an activity area, so we laid rubber flooring intend for use in a recreational area and placed a hoop on a wall with a large basketball graphic for him to play a bit of indoor hoops. We included a beverage and snack station area as well to keep him and his friends hydrated and full—not an easy task as any parent of a teenage boy can tell you!
From the basketball area visitors enter a hall into the main gathering space. Here we took advantage of an empty wall and brought in another one of the teen’s interests—collecting athletic shoes. We installed a display unit custom-designed for his collection. The shelving was built into the wall to keep it from invading the walking space, and included lighting to highlight the colorful collection. This feature turned out to be the highlight of the design by not only bringing in a large visual impact, but by making the teen feel like his space truly supported his interests.
The main lounging area centered around a large sectional in a durable neutral fabric for TV-viewing, video gaming playing and hanging out. We added a table and chairs to a side area as well for games, homework, etc.
The bedroom is a separate space off the TV area and was designed to support his downtime. Since he was clear about the look he was going for—dark colors with a sleek, modern feel—we painted walls dark gray and installed wallpaper with silver geometric patterns on one wall to balance the rich color. Modern furniture pieces like a platform bed and simple computer desk and chair support the masculine vibe and were chosen by the teen and his mom from mail-order catalogs. Cantilever shelving above his bed provides plenty of room for his many trophies as well as an opportunity to hang artwork. Fortunately, the space has a lot of light from an egress window which keeps the dark colors from getting gloomy. His mom even planted a lovely garden in the space outside the window so his view would not feel like the basement.
Our clients felt it was important to create a comfortable space for their son to express his interests and entertain his friends. We had a lot of fun helping him discover his style, and bringing his personality into his bedroom suite. Questions about this project? Send us an email, or give us a call at 317.253.8986.
