Designing a bedroom for a young teen is a unique opportunity to create a space that reflects their personality, supports their growing independence, and evolves with them over the years. It’s not just a place to sleep—it’s where they’ll study, relax, hang out with friends, and express themselves. Here’s how to create a teen bedroom that’s both stylish and practical, with room to grow.

 

Start with their Personality and Interests

The most important part of designing a teen’s bedroom is making it theirs. Talk to your teen about what they love—colours, hobbies, music, or favorite themes—and use that as the foundation. Whether they’re into sports, fashion, gaming, or art, their room should be a reflection of their identity. This is essentially what us interior designers do during our design consultations and I followed this same process when I “interviewed” my 11 year old son before I started to design his room. It made him feel part of the process and he loves and respects his room more because of it. This also teaches them about design, decision making and budgeting.

Tip:

Create a vision board together with colours, textures, and inspirations from Pinterest, Instagram and magazines.

Layout is key

Teen bedrooms need to work hard. Plan the space on paper before you buy anything new.

Measure the room accurately and draw a scaled floor plan. Then create hand drawn cut outs of the furniture that you can move around until you have the optimum layout. Having zones for sleeping, studying, relaxing and storing their stuff is really important.

Bedroom layout
Double bed with bedside

Bed choices

The bed is often the focal point of a teen’s room – as they spend rather a lot of time in it! Go for the biggest bed that will fit in their room- whilst leaving enough space for storage and some floor space. This is especially important if you want it to be suitable when they are young adults. Think about a bed with storage underneath – or at least space for storage boxes. And don’t skimp on the mattress – invest in a good one.

Add cosy, layered bedding and plenty of cushions for that laid-back, lounge-worthy vibe that teens love. Don’t forget a bedside table for their alarm clock and bedside essentials.

Smart storage

A clutter-free room is essential for focus and relaxation – and whilst most teens won’t keep it this way, those with better storage will at least have a chance. Use multifunctional furniture like beds with drawers, ottomans with storage, wall-mounted shelves, tall wardrobes (making use of wall height) and drawers under desks for stationery.

High bedroom shelves in teenroom

A dedicated study space

Homework gets more serious in the teen years. If you can create a desk area that is both functional and inspiring then you’re doing well. Ideally a desk size of 140cm wide by 60cm deep should see them through some pretty serious studying. A comfortable desk chair is vital to prevent back ache. Task lighting will ensure they can see what they are doing and a cable organiser keeps all those messy wires neatly hidden under the desktop.

Make it fun with desk accessories in their favorite colours or themes.

 

Nanoleaf light teen room

Personal touches

It’s really important for your teen to feel this space is an extension of them – a sanctuary where they love to spend time. But that can be hard as they change so much through the teen years. The best way to personalise the space is through framed prints that can be changed up as their tastes change. Picture ledges are great for propping posters on without the commitment of banging hooks into the walls. My son LOVES his wooden LED Nanoleaf “smart” lights that move in time to music he’s playing. If he grows out of them they are easy to remove as they are stuck on the wall with adhesive. Bedlinen, throws or cushions in their favourite colours is an affordable way to put their stamp on the space.

As they grow, it’ll be easy to update the space without starting over.