Budget Teen Boy Bedroom Reno – Our Makeover Plan

How do you do a Budget Teen Boy Bedroom Reno with little to no money? Here’s our plan to makeover our son’s bedroom on a tight budget in just 6 weeks time.

WARNING! Scary photos ahead! Photos filled with teenage mess so bad that you quite possibly can smell the stench through the screen.

Or if you have a teen son under your roof, then you may feel right at home.

There comes a time on the parenting journey when you start to see your baby bird try to stretch their wings to get ready to fly, pulling away as they prepare to take on this big world by themselves. That’s what I started noticing with our oldest son.

My gentle giant.

We’ve lovingly given him this moniker that he wears proudly. At 14 years of age, he stands at 6 foot 5 inches tall with his heart on his sleeve. This separation began this past Christmas, when he asked for a game room instead of gifts. A room to hide away in just as any teen wants to do. We find him choosing that space instead of family time more often than not.

Recently, he came to me and said, “Mom, you’ve made over most of the downstairs, but haven’t really done anything upstairs yet. Can your next room reno be my room?”

Be still my heart! My son is asking for me to hang out and help him create a room for him?! Trying to hide my obviously giddy glee from scaring the idea out of him, I nonchalantly said, “I dunno… We’ll see.”

Of course, I was immediately online looking up ideas, but he didn’t need to know that!

When we first moved into our Almost Farmhouse, the only makeovers we did in his room was remove the window treatments, install a ceiling fan and freshen the paint.

After hours of searching online, I was so excited to totally flip and trick this room out with such grandiose plans.

And then life happened. I shared earlier this week how Trent’s job hangs in the balance, and any decor budget right there along with it.

But instead of feeling discouraged about not being able to replace the carpet or creating an awesome feature wall, my creative juices went into overdrive to find a way to give my son the room he wants for the few remaining years he’s under my roof.

Here’s our plan for this Budget Teen Boy Bedroom

First – the MUSTs – the repairs we have to tackle that go above and beyond the fun decor stuff.

• Repair the Bifold Closet Doors. They have fallen off the track and one of the pegs has broken. We need new hardware to hang those doors back up.
• Fix the Closet floor and build a better closet system.

All the closets in this home had a weird, angled shoe shelf installed in the floor, making storage impossible. We removed that oddball a few years ago, but never repaired the exposed subfloor underneath.

And since Mr. Gentle Giant is sooooo tall, the distance between the top and bottom bars makes hanging his long clothes almost impossible without snagging the clothes from up top. We’re planning on redesigning the closet layout to fit his clothes.

• Fix the door to the room. As you can see, it’s currently taped together. We aren’t sure why, but the glue has separated causing the door to fan out from the frame. This should be an easy fix.

So those are what has to be tackled for sure, but now for the NEEDs.

• Fix or build better bookshelves. These are two side shelves that we temporarily screwed together to create storage for him. The center unit is what we used for our Mudroom Makeover we did a few years back! By the way, can you guess which one is my son’s self-titled “Nerd Shelf”?
• A new dresser. Hopefully I can score something at a garage sale or goodwill to keep it on the cheap, but his current tall dresser doesn’t provide enough storage for his man-sized clothes.
• New Paint. My son wants a very dark room. In fact, he first requested black which was vetoed. To give you a taste of his humor, he said in full sarcasm, “I want my walls as dark as the thoughts in my mind.” He’s anything but dark and already has us laughing. This is going to be so fun!

• Finish the faux brick corner. We had some extra brick paneling laying around and I thought it would be fun to add to this jut out in the corner of the room, but we never got around to finishing it.

Do you notice anything missing?

Usually, I share a design plan that I have in mind. This room does not have one.

Not that I haven’t tried! It’s the fact that the idea and the bottom dollar don’t line up. I’ve been back to the drawing board a half-dozen times to create something, and you know what? It’s not working this round. So guess what we’re doing?

We’re winging it!

Lots of repurposing and creative stuff is going to have to happen in order to create this room. I know I have to address bedding, lighting, and storage while creating an aesthetic feel that suits our teen.

But here’s what I don’t want to miss  – the memories I can create by doing this with my son.

We only have our children in our charge for a little while, and as they get older, those tender moments grow farther and farther apart. I’m going to try to make this a fun experience for my boy while finding opportunities to build a bond that will last a lifetime.

And I’m already seeing it happen! So will you follow along with me for these next six weeks? I promise to share any juicy details that are sure to tug at anyone’s heart strings! And hopefully this might encourage you to create a space with your stinky, angsty, hormonal teen and find a moment or two to share.

I always enjoy linking up to the One Room Challenge each Spring and Fall, and with our current circumstances, I almost passed it up. Boy, am I glad that my son asked me to do this and I hope that it not only turns out to be a fun Budget Teen Boy Bedroom makeover, but that it also leaves an indelible mark on his heart.

This is my fourth time participating in Linda’s ORC and I always leave amazed and wowed by what everyone accomplished in a short period of time. This season, we aren’t knocking out walls or making huge renovations, but it’s sure to be a fun journey doing this together with my son.

Be sure to head over and find other blogs to follow along on their journey.  You are sure to be inspired.

Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Final Reveal

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To see our other rooms we’ve made over in the past – check out the pics below!

Vintage Inspired Laundry Room

Vintage Farmhouse Powder Room

Making Over Our Master Bedroom

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