Teen Boy Rooms

by Chris on September 14, 2011

My husband left for training abandoned me for a week right in the middle of my son’s bedroom transformation. Since I can’t really cut through 11 pallets by myself, it has been stalled. Bummer. How do I make myself feel better? I find pictures of rooms that are decorated in the direction I wanna go.

masculine room

You want a tween girl’s bedroom? There are currently 3,771,893 pictures of them on the internet. You want a tween boy’s room? There are 12. No more.

masculine bedroom

Perhaps I should clarify. There are plenty of boy tween rooms if you want a bunch of football jerseys on the walls or a huge mural behind the headboard–both of which I do not.

tween boy roomLa Dolce Vita

So for those of you that are in the same dilemma as me…I give you a little condensed search. It is at this moment that I will declare my undying love for the room below. It’s my favorite but not my son’s. I tried to explain to him that he could sleep in one bed, and I could sleep in the other. We could stay up late telling ghost stories, toss a baseball back and forth, and come up with cool code names for our walkie talkies. For some reason that didn’t sell it.

boys room

boys teen roomRai Designs

hanging beds boys roomDigsDigs

boys roomBest Home Designs

If you can’t tell, I’m a “classic look meets industrial” girl for this project. It’s coming together (slowly but surely), and we should be back on track this weekend!

Unless otherwise noted, pictures are from Pinterest.

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{ 30 comments }

Vanessa September 14, 2011 at 10:44 pm

I love the pictures you put up on teen boys. I can relate to your frustration about not getting any ideas for you teen son. I had the same problem with my son. I am in the middle of changing his room again. I love funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com. She took an vintage sign (it was a large size) and used it as a headboard for her son’s room. If you have not see her blog you should check it out. Very cool ideas.

Have a great week.

Vanessa

Alison September 14, 2011 at 11:28 pm

I feel your pain–I don’t want to do my boys’ room in sports-mania theme b/c that’s not who they are. Hope your husband gets back soon.

Jill September 15, 2011 at 12:05 am
Annika September 15, 2011 at 12:05 am

Forget tween boys rooms! I want some of these for my own twenty something girls room!

Kristen @ More Than Mulberries September 15, 2011 at 12:08 am

A friend of mine built those floating wall beds for his nephews…three boys share a room and it turned out fantastic. So much fun for them! I love the idea of “this is where mom can hang out….” Graham wouldn’t go for it either if it makes you feel any better. I hate this getting older stuff. I really liked the architect/eye doctor room – a little cold but very cool. I can see Graham choosing that one for sure.

Kahli September 15, 2011 at 12:23 am

I agree with Annika forget a Tween boy. At 24 I’d move right into one of these. What lovely selections!

Emilie September 15, 2011 at 2:03 am

That’s it. We have to be friends.

For reals.

I have three boys and one girl and have been FOREVER lamenting the shameless disproportion of sophisticated boy anything (clothes, fabric, decor, etc.) vs. their girl counter part. Why is it that you can find classy, “grown up” decor for girls, but all you can find for boys are sports, surf, or boring-nothing-to-look-at themes?

Thank you for this collection.

Marianne@Songbird September 15, 2011 at 2:38 am

Classic with and industrial touch, sounds good.
Did you have your boy do a search for inspirational pictures too? Would be fun to see what his favorite rooms on the internet are….. and how much overlap there is. But then again, the room you are creating for him will be the best example of that, won’t it.
Can’t wait, wish your husband hadn’t abandoned you, then the wait wouldn’t be this long….

Sherry September 15, 2011 at 3:56 am

This post makes me so glad I subscribed to your feed. I am in the same boat with my 12 year old son who is not a sporty/jock guy. I love these rooms! Thank you!

Sharon, aka OKI StampQueen September 15, 2011 at 8:01 am

Hang in there! It will happen! I feel your frustration though and understand completely. I am waiting on shelves now for my craft room re-do—that means at least 3 rooms in the house are torn up at once! Breathing. It will happen…it will happen…it will…! Can’t wait to see the finished room! I am sure it will be great!

Michelle (LemonadeGal) September 15, 2011 at 9:11 am

I am in the EXACT same dilemma! Plus, I have to deal with an extra picky tween boy. Thanks for doing some searching for me. :) Can’t wait to see your final project.

Amy September 15, 2011 at 10:04 am

That is so true!!!! I have been searching for the past 6 months and there is nothing. My favorite is when you search for a teen boys room and girly stuff pops up – I can’t figure out how that happens. We like a lot of the same things. There are some pictures up there I hadn’t found though – good job!

Katherine September 15, 2011 at 10:58 am

It has been years sine I had to worry about decorating for children. My daughter was easy to decorate for though. Hugs P.S>I’m having my very first blog hop today Please stop by and link up your lovely blog.

ToTheMoonandBack September 15, 2011 at 11:42 am

Wow, those rooms area AMAZING! I can’t wait for your reveal.

Chris, I subscribed to your posts via email, but for some reason I’m not getting them.

Gina September 15, 2011 at 12:06 pm

This is true for younger boys’ rooms, too! I’ve been scouring the internet looking for inspiration since my 8yo wants to redo his room. He doesn’t want a theme like football, and I want something that will grow with him. Everything online or in books is for babies/preschoolers, or for older teens. Mine’s not even a tween yet!

Tanya Anurag September 15, 2011 at 1:19 pm

I love those beds in the second last picture. I feel like jumping on them ;)

Shelley @ Calypso In The Country September 15, 2011 at 4:33 pm

You are SO right! I need inspiration for my son’s room and can never find any photos online that inspire me. He is almost 8 and his room is pretty baby-ish. Thanks for the beautiful pictures you posted! I love the look you are going for! I am now your newest follower!
Take care, Shelley

Dream Mom September 15, 2011 at 4:50 pm

You are so right about boys rooms. Sometimes, you get some great ideas by asking the kids what they want in the room and use that as a jumping off point for other ideas. When you say, classic with an industrial touch, I am thinking of a loft type design where there are classic elements in a rustic or unfinished type space. Sometimes, I get my best ideas by just walking through a home improvement store and looking at items that I think are cool and trying to figure out how to use them in new ways. Antique stores/fairs are a great idea. Lots of cool industrial type stuff there for a song.

One other idea might be to use pipes. You can using plumbing type pipes to create bookshelves. It’s easier than you think. Get some pipes and spray paint them any color you want, let’s say red for this example. Then take some maple shelving and start the pipe on the floor with a flat piece (all technical terms of course!), then run the pipe up to the first shelf. You’ll run the pipe up on the outer edges of the shelf on each side. You don’t need to attach it per se to the shelf but rather, put a flat piece on the end of the pipe and then rest the shelf on it. Next, add a flat piece on top of the shelf, then another pipe, then a flat piece and then another shelf. Finish at the top with a curved pipe to make it look like it came out of the wall. When you step back, it will look like the pipe actually went through the shelving and is holding it in place when in fact, the shelves are just resting on the pipes. The red pipes provide a great contrast against the maple shelving. For a more rustic touch, you could use the wood pallets over a piece of MDF for the shelving. Or heck, even laminate flooring. The possibilities are endless!

You can also do umpteen things with brushed stainless steel or metal grates. I found some hammered aluminum (it had “x” hammered in it) in Home Depot a few months back that I wanted to use for a project. You could use that as a border for a mirror.

Classic subway tile is another great item you can use. I have some other ideas for that.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Kayla September 16, 2011 at 10:36 am

I love all of those that you’ve picked…you have some great inspiration!!! :)

Rachael September 17, 2011 at 11:10 am

LOVE this! I have 4 boys and we are not a very sporty family. Decorating boys rooms can be tough, so thanks for all the great ideas.

Miss Ash Tuesday September 17, 2011 at 9:56 pm

Ooooh I like your style!

Linda @ Lime in the Coconut September 18, 2011 at 1:11 pm

Oh Glory BE! Those are some swanky cool rooms! I just did a post on a bathroom turned BOYS only in our casa. Best of luck to you on that!!!

Barbara Grooms September 18, 2011 at 1:21 pm

Nice pictures! From your blog comments, sounds like designers and marketers should take a hint that there is a need for more masculine design choices. I too like a boys rooms that is not just sports oriented. When Jackson’s room is done, (for your sake, soon) you’ll be able to share what others need too. Love ya… Mom

Julie Winder September 19, 2011 at 3:10 pm

It is my husband’s homemade cooking I miss most when he leaves. I am spoiled to have a good cook around who enjoys sharing his skills. We bring out the mac and cheese when he is gone:) I love the Dolce Vita room. Those signs rock! Looks like you will be already to get your groove on in designing your son’s room when he returns.

Chris September 19, 2011 at 10:40 pm

He returned Friday, and I’ve had him working ever since. :) We’re getting there! Thanks for stopping by and sharing!

Layla September 19, 2011 at 8:12 pm

Literally GASPED when I saw that pic of the boys room with the two twin beds!!!
HOLY PERFECTION BATMAN.

Off to pin it!
;-)

Carrie September 22, 2011 at 10:47 am

I love the inspiration photos you shared on teen boy’s bedroom. I recently redid my son’s room and it was a great experience for both of us. Listen to your son because they really have great ideas. My son had a vision for how he wanted his room. Here’s a link if you would like to browse through the transformation of his room. http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/search/label/boys%20Bedroom
Maybe we can provide you with some inspiration :D

Melissa October 2, 2011 at 2:34 pm

I hate to be the gray cloud, because I love the look of weathered pallets made into headboards, tables, shelves, etc., but pallets are bad news. Do the research, pallets potentially contain a host of nasty chemicals, molds, bugs, seriously bad stuff that off gases. We watch what we eat, clean with, cook with, paint with, then we decorate with pallets?? There are other ways to get that “look”; pallets for interior decor are just a bad idea.

Chris October 3, 2011 at 7:27 pm

Thank you, Melissa. I did do the research. I called around to different places and asked about chemically treated pallets, etc. There seems to be a misconception about general pallets. When I spoke to different people, they said that it was not common practice to spray pallets anymore, and they didn’t know why people were still thinking that. As for bugs…I didn’t see it as any different than any other lumber I deal with. I sanded it and sealed mine, so I don’t know how dangerous they can be. I would like to think that most people are taking precautions when using pallets, but I appreciate your concern about them!

Monica January 21, 2012 at 3:24 am

These are great! Even though my little guy is a mere 15 months, I am still planning for his “big boy room”. So lovely to actually come across some very nicely decorated tween rooms for future decorating!

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