Make Your Room Look More Grown Up

As you grow up, your surroundings should grow up, too. You can easily transform your room into a more mature space by making some simple tweaks to the room’s color scheme, moving and updating the furniture, and doing a little reorganization. Many modifications can be made on a tight budget, and some of them won’t even cost you a dime.

Steps

Updating Color Scheme and Design

  1. Choose the right color scheme. Since your color choices for the walls, bed, and curtains are going to create the main vibe of your room, stay away from pastel colors like pink and yellow. Pastels tend to create a "nursery" atmosphere. Go with darker and brighter colors instead.
    • Gender neutral colors to consider are purple, orange and green.[1]
    • Choose contrasting colors that look trendy, youthful and really pop, like rich dark purple with yellow.
    • Bright red also goes great with purple, and so does black.
  2. Work with the color scheme you have. Instead of a full color revamp, you could instead try playing off the color scheme that's there already. By updating and accenting the current color scheme, you can vastly change the appearance of your room.
    • For instance, if your room currently features a lot of pastel pink, update it by adding accent colors like fuchsia, hot pink and chocolate brown.[1]
    • If your room currently features a lot of pastel blue, update it by adding some royal blue accents and maybe even hunter green.
    • Whatever you end up going with, strive to choose colors that contrast and play off one another.
  3. Paint an accent wall.[2] Since you’re going darker with your color theme, paint only a single “accent” wall in your newly chosen shade. Dark paint on all four walls can make your room feel much smaller and more cramped than it is.
    • Streamlining in any way that makes your room look bigger and less cluttered will make it appear more adult.
    • If your parents are reluctant to let you paint your walls, they will be a lot more willing to allow you to paint just one.
    • Make sure that the paint job is done neatly so that everything looks nice and crisp.
  4. Add a pop culture flair.[1] As a teenager, pop culture is around you all the time and you probably have evidence of it all over your room already. Use that to your advantage! For example, if you’re really into music, collect all of your past concert ticket stubs and display them in a mountable case on the wall. Get rid of band posters unless they are nice enough to frame, then get nice frames for them.
    • You could also use a guitar rack to neatly display your instruments, and maybe even put a keyboard somewhere in your room as a final dash of style.
    • Check out your garage for cool items that you can re-purpose and display in your room.
    • For example, old surfboards, sporting equipment, and typewriters could be painted or hung, and even displayed as-is for a mature, vintage style.[1]
  5. Acquire some adult items. Get nice frames for anything hanging on the wall. If your walls look bare, try buying some art prints and putting them in matching frames. If you don't own a desk or bookshelf and there's enough room, get one or both of them.
    • Add a throw rug that matches your new color scheme. Throw rugs pull the look of a room together and look very adult.
    • Get a plant for your window sill. Choose something low maintenance, like a fern or potted aloe vera plant.
  6. Choose a comforter and curtains with a mature pattern. Get rid of the teddy bears and firetrucks and go with patterns like bold stripes, simple plaids, or tasteful polka dots.
    • If you aren’t sure what kind of design works best, choose bedding and trimmings that are solid colors.
    • Add a dust ruffle to your bed that matches your new color scheme, which will hide any storage and clutter you might have underneath it.

Modifying the Layout

  1. Move or revamp the less mature furniture. For instance, if you have a very childish looking dresser, position it somewhere in the room that hides or deemphasizes it. Consider revamping childish furniture, as well. A new coat of paint in a different color can make a world of difference on even the most insignificant of items.
    • Always get permission before you permanently alter any furniture in your room.
    • If possible, try to get pieces of furniture that match each other or are part of the same set.[3]
  2. Create texture and layers. Add vibrant accent rugs and well-constructed bean bag chairs to your floor to provide an additional pop of color and to give the space a little more texture. Stack a few bright throw pillows on your bed and nestle a few into the bean bag chairs.
    • Stack a few warm colored blankets on your bed in the wintertime for a cozy look.
    • Try hanging colored lights (like Christmas tree lights or Chinese lanterns) around a window, your bed or a bookcase. This can add a fun dimension to your room.
  3. Make a nice desk or bookcase the focal point of the room. If you have a nice piece of furniture, such as a bookshelf or desk, move them around into the more visible areas of your room. Clean up and organize your desk or bookcase so that it looks its very best. This will give your room a much more mature vibe.
  4. Reposition your bed. While it usually depends on the size of your room, your bed is probably the current focal point.[4] The traditional place for a bed is on the wall opposite the door, so this would be the most mature looking choice.[5] If you have a nice bed frame and headboard but your bed can't be seen from the door, move it so that it becomes the focal point.
    • If you aren't sure, go with the arrangement that makes your room look the least cluttered. Open spaces are streamlined and more adult-looking than a cramped room.
    • If at all possible, don’t put your headboard against the same wall as your bedroom door, since this can have a disorienting effect on anyone who enters.[6]

Organizing and Maintaining the Room

  1. Move or remove your stuffed animal collection. Put your stuffed animals out of sight in your closet, gift them to a younger sibling or store them in the attic. The last thing a mature-looking bedroom would ever have is a pile of plush dolls on the bed or lined up on the window sill.
    • Also remove any dolls and put visible toys out of sight. Store them in your closet or give them away. The same goes for childish books.
    • In order to make your room look more grown up, you have to be willing to put away some of your favorite childhood things.
    • However, you don't have to get rid of everything! Keep a favorite item out and store the rest away.
  2. Eliminate extra clutter.[6] If you have too many chairs, too many photos on the wall, or too many clothes bursting out of your closet, sort through them and get rid of some things. Consider donating the items that are in good condition to a local shelter or Goodwill.
    • Simplifying and organizing your room will lend it a sleeker, more mature vibe.
    • Use brightly colored storage boxes to organize your loose items. You can organize your room and add a pop of additional color at the same time.[3]
  3. Tidy your closet. Hang up all of your clothes neatly instead of leaving them in a pile on the floor. Get a hamper (bonus points for getting one that matches your room’s color scheme) and always put your dirty clothes in it. Keep the hamper in your closet unless you’re doing laundry.
    • Sort through your closet and get rid of any clothing and items that you’ve outgrown.
    • Get a new set of clothes hangers that are sturdy and identical. Get rid of any mismatched or broken hangers.[6]
    • If you want to go a step further, organize your clothing on the rack by color or by function.
  4. Vacuum and dust at least once a week. Keep everything clean and put away any loose items on the floor. Store your backpack, school items and sporting equipment in the closet and vacuum in there as well. Remove any loose trash and empty your trash can.
    • Keeping your room tidy definitely gives your bedroom a much more mature vibe.
  5. Make your bed every day.[6] Incorporate this into your daily routine and do it every morning. It's a simple act, but also a very adult one. Making your bed will instantly give your room an orderly and more mature atmosphere.
    • If you've moved your bed to be the focal point of the room, making it every day is a must.

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 http://www.decoist.com/2012-09-09/how-to-add-life-to-your-teenagers-outgrown-room/
  2. ↑ https://vanwinkles.com/how-to-make-your-bedroom-look-more-mature
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.hercampus.com/diy/decorating/how-decorate-your-first-grown-apartment
  4. ↑ http://freshome.com/2010/09/07/10-tips-to-make-a-small-bedroom-feel-larger/
  5. ↑ http://www.womansday.com/home/decorating/a1537/10-commandments-of-furniture-arranging-106885/
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 https://vanwinkles.com/how-to-make-your-bedroom-look-more-mature
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