Vintage-Inspired Teen Girl’s Room

Today I’m sharing a vintage-inspired teen girl’s room that is far more stylish than the teenage bedroom I grew up in.

The funny thing about this story is that I don’t have a teenager.

At least, not for awhile. I won’t have a teenager in the house for another 29 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes four weeks or so, but who is counting?

Not me.

Ah, denial. Such a comforting cloak to wear.

The truth is I’m not freaked out about my baby girl growing up. She’s going to be fine. She’s smart, creative, and has a good head on her shoulders.

It’s me!

This very natural change where kids want more independence and you are no longer the center of their world does not feel very natural.

How’s that for irony?

What I do know is that we humans are adaptable creatures. The relationship with our children might evolve over time, but in no way does that mean it is any less special.

Plus, I do want my kids to leave the house someday. So there’s that.

Well, this therapy session has been GREAT. You are a fantastic listener. What would I do with out you?

Let’s not find out.

I can hear someone mumbling, “I just came here to some before and after photos of a bedroom. GET ON WITH IT, already.”

Alright, alright. Your wish is my command. Here are some before and after photos of our vintage-inspired teen girl’s room.

Vintage-Inspired Teen Girl’s Room – BEFORE 

The room started out with some lovely flowered wallpaper. In a surprising, but welcome plot twist, this was the easiest wallpaper to remove.

It must not have had much glue. Either that or the glue had completely given up the ghost.

Vintage-Inspired Teen Girl’s Room – DURING

Once the wallpaper was down we entered the “it gets worse before it gets better” phase of the makeover. When I pulled the wallpaper down, this bright orange paint was hiding underneath.

My daughter was not super thrilled to spend time sleeping in an orange bedroom.

I’m not sure why…that bright color gave her complexion such a lovely glow.

Vintage-Inspired Teen Girl’s Room – AFTER

Now, after several coats of paint, the room is light and bright.

The direction this soon-to-be teen girl’s room took had nothing to do with me.

This is all my daughter’s idea.

She wanted a neutral room with warm wood tones and white bedding. This is a far cry from the years of bright colors and My Little Pony everything, so who am I to complain?

This bedroom happens to be one of the oldest rooms in our Colonial Farmhouse.

When the home was built in the 1780s it was a two room house with one room downstairs and one room (this bedroom) upstairs. They were connected by what I now know is colloquially referred to as a Jersey winder. This is an extremely steep, curved staircase.

The ceilings in this oldest part of the house are very low – around 7-feet tall.

It has a cozy feel! Especially for those of us that are hovering around 6-feet tall.

Thankfully, there are plenty of windows in this area of the house to emanate natural light.

Very little in this room was a new purchase. Most of it was thrifted or DIYed.

The headboard was $10 and the nightstand was $20-ish. Both were thrift store finds.

The headboard just needed cleaning up with some Restor-a-Finish to repair a few scratches. This is my favorite way to hide scratches or bring a wood finish back to life because barely any effort is required. Wipe on, let it dry.

The nightstand needed a little sanding and re-staining as it originally had two different wood tones.

If you want the softest sherpa comforter that will still fit in the washing machine, I can’t say enough good things about the one we found on Amazon for our daughter’s room. She has a twin-sized bed, but we sized up to a queen so that the comforter would drape over the sides of the mattress. My daughter is really into soft textures in her clothing, so it makes sense that she’d want the same thing for her bedding.

We don’t have a jumbo-sized washer, so the queen-sized blanket barely fits in our machine. We make it work with a little cramming. Ha! I would not be able to fit a king-size blanket in our washer. Be mindful of that if you decide to purchase one.

We are still on the hunt for a rug for her room. She wants a soft, white rug. All I can think of is “maintenance nightmare,” so I’ve been avoiding that purchase.

There is no overhead light in her room. This is a common problem in old houses. Someday we’d like to modernize the electrical situation in our house, but until then lamps will do! Her turned column lamp is from Target. I tried a brass lamp first, but she didn’t like it. “Wood tones, Mom!”

Alright, alright.

The personalized punch this room needs is the art on her picture ledges.

Handy Husband made the picture ledges YEARS ago. They’ve been repainted at least six times.

My daughter could spend hours a day drawing. She’s experimenting with different techniques and subject matters. All of this art is hers and this is a great place for her to display her work.

She had a painting instructor in Ireland who told me that painting and drawing are slow activities. Slow activities are critical for brain development. In a world where kids have instant access to so many things, they need to learn how to slow down and really invest time in a project.

A painting, for instance, doesn’t happen instantaneously. It requires layers upon layers of paint applied to a canvas. Sometimes you have to stop and wait for the canvas to dry before additional paint can be applied. It can take hours, even days, to complete one painting.

The instructor’s point was that when these kids grow up she sees them getting quickly burnt out in their jobs. They are so used to instant gratification and everything around them happening quickly. However, that’s not how things work in the real world when it comes to making big changes in commerce, government, society, etc.

In reality, big change happens much like a painting – one small change at a time over the course of many, many sessions.

I have no doubt this room will change many times in the next few years – as it should. All of our spaces should evolve with us.

Right now, this is my daughter’s sanctuary. She would happily spend ALL DAY in her room with her books, her drawings, and her guitar.

Huh.

Now that I think about it, maybe we did too good of job on this room.

Vintage-Inspired Teen Girl’s Room – Room Sources:

Turned Column Wood Lamp – Target

Gold Heart Sheets – Target

Headboard, Nightstand, Art – Thrifted

Egofine 11×14 Picture Frames 4 Pack Light Brown color – Amazon

AmazonBasics Ultra-Soft Micromink Sherpa Comforter Bed Set – Amazon

White Picture Ledges – DIY

Quilt at End of Bed- Wedding gift from a family friend

Bed Wall Paint Color – Bit of Sugar by Behr

*affiliate links in this blog post*

Here are some other kid spaces you might enjoy reading about! 

Boy Room Vignette – with dresser, book rack, arrow art

Hubcap Art for a Boy’s Room

Colorful Wall in a Girl’s Room – blue guitar, rainbow butterfly art