Minimalizing My Teen Daughter’s Room

My teenager is 13 and is very artsy and creative.  She finds beauty in all things and I love learning from her point of view.  I knew minimalizing her room would be a balance.  I want to respect her artistic eye and creativity, and allow her to keep things that make her happy and feel at home in her own space in this great big world!

But…her room was becoming a health hazard!  Keeping all things that are beautiful to her eye quickly ends up in clutter.  Plus she is your typical girl teen that loves makeup and girly stuff.  I had to get creative with how to corral all of this type of stuff so we can get in there to even dust!

I did her room while she was at school (much more peaceful that way if you know what I mean!) but kept reminding myself to respect her stuff.  The items I thought she could get rid of I placed in a small bin and had her go through it when she got home.  When she was younger, I would just get rid of stuff on the sly, and she never knew. Now that she is older I want to respect who she is and keep trust in our relationship, so I made sure I didn’t get rid of anything but trash….which really cleared up the room!

We will start with some “before” pics so you can appreciate the “after.” {smile}

We only have 2 bathrooms and the 2nd is very small and upstairs, so Teagan gets ready in her room.  The mirror area is where she does her makeup/hair.  By having her desk so close to this area, it constantly was being used as a catch all instead of for homework or getting creative.  I knew we needed to remedy this problem.

Under her bed?  90% of it was trash.  Easy to clean up.  I also grabbed a bed frame that was in our garage that sits quite high so sweeping under her bed is now a breeze.  It is high enough to see under from the door so I will know if things start getting stuffed under there.  {smile}

Ok, enough before pics.  Here is what I did with her desk.  I moved it over to a different wall, away from her beauty area.  She now uses it for her duct tape business, creating & studying.  Do you love how she made a smiley face on her plant pot?  That made me smile.

I topped her desk with things that I knew were important to her.  The beaded elephant was her special purchase from Disney.  The white pot she made herself.  The wooden piggy bank she also made in shop class at school.  Her little water fountain is a fun touch to the room.  Those baskets hold crafting supplies.  Isn’t the stool cute?  She painted that one day & I just love it.

See how high up her bed is now?  Very helpful for keeping it clean.  I put her table and lamp right by the bed and a little catch- all bowl.  Right now it has packages of gum and mints in it.

If I would have taken “before” pics of this area, you would see all kinds of stuff (scarves, necklaces, whistles) hanging from those shutters.  I couldn’t stand the clutter so I found creative ways to deal with those things, which I will share later in the post.  I did allow her to keep her Roo’s hanging there.

Oh if only you could have seen the “before” of these shelves.  It looked very much like the “before” of her desk.    I found those plastic drawer organizers on sale at Target for 2 bucks each.  So perfect for all the little things my girl values but has no place for.  Can you see her creative brain working on the top of the bookshelves?

The little wooden sticks in the bottom left corner with goggly eyes belonged to her Great Grandpa.  I love how special they are to her…she is the perfect person to cherish such a fun and quirky object.  She made the gargoyle in clay class, and drew the dragon a couple years ago.  In that box is her wand from Harry Potter World.  All things that matter to her.

She has a business called Twisted Tape.  These two shelves hold her tape and inventory.  There are cabinets under these shelves that hold her mailing supplies.

I had to get a system for her accessories.  They were just scattered and made dusting impossible.  I brought in little platters, one for bracelets, one for rings, one for bobby pins and hair elastics.  I took a good look what made up the bulk of her clutter and made little homes for those items.

I took my own advice from my post 14 Ways To Organize A Bedroom, and used #2 to organize her 10 scarves.  I also used the idea of #7 and put a tension rod across the bottom shelf of her bookshelf where her necklaces now hang.  I didn’t get a photo, but both have been working really well!

It is helpful to use platters to corral beauty products, too.  I’m so glad I had these on hand.  Garage sales and thrift stores are great for finding these.

I only allow one collection displayed per girl.  This is Teagan’s snow globe collection.  She has been collecting since she was itty bitty.  Also a couple clay pots she made in school when she was younger.

More containers to organize her makeup.  I did her room a few weeks ago these little containers make the world of difference.  She has been able to keep her room quite clean…and if it does get messy, she knows exactly where to put things.  Everything has a home in her room now.

The finished product.  She was happy with it and ended up getting rid of most of the stuff in the bin.  I would not call her room minimal, but it is organized and she feels happy when in there, and it is no longer a health hazard!

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