Teen Vogue Bedding from JCP.com Room Makeover
1/17Hot Seat Here’s a bright idea: Add zing to a neutral piece of furniture with a blast of neonspray paint. (This chair from Wisteria was originally black.) For extra credit, reupholster the cushion with a fun fabric. Sounds hard, but it’s not—all you need is a stapler and elbow grease! (Desk by West Elm.)
All A-Board Organize and show off photos, awards, magazine clippings and just about anything else that can be pinned down with a chic bulletin board, like this linen one from Pottery Barn. (Glass desk lamp, West Elm).
2/17One look at Teen Vogue Room Makeover contest winner Paola Henriquez’s revamped room and it’s not hard to figure out the fourteen-year-old Floridian’s favorite color. "I’ve always been in love with pink," she says. Lucky for the high school freshman, then, that interior designer Tori Mellott used Teen Vogue’s rosy-hued bedding (available at jcp.com) to set the tone for Paola’s new space. But Mellott was careful to strike a balance. "I didn’t want it to be too Barbie," says the interior designer, who avoided over-the-top frills with pieces like a geometric-print rug and simple Roman shades. The finished product was a home run. "I cried when I saw it," says Paola, who submitted her entry for the contest just two days before the deadline. "If I had a fridge in there, I’d stay in my new room for the rest of my life." —AMANDA FITZSIMONS
Garden State
Talk about flower power! Blown up to graphic proportions, this pretty peony print bedspread (JCP.com) makes a major impact.
Self-Reflection
Make a small space feel big—or a big space feel even bigger—by hanging a mirror, like this papier-mâché one from Stray Dog Designs.
Magic Carpet
Mixing patterns is A-OK, as long as you stay within the same color scheme. This geometric rug from Madeline Weinrib (over white wood flooring from Armstrong) matches—not clashes—with the rest of the room’s floral pattern.
Center piece
Chandeliers can be too fussy—keep things fresh and youthful with a funky overhead lighting fixture, like this one from Ikea.
3/17Light years
Cast white on white. This sleek Vizio TV (available at Target.com) keeps with the mod theme of CB2’s floating shelf unit, and virtually disappears into it.
5/17Lucky contest winner Paola Henriquez, 14, in her new room in Port St Lucie, FL.
6/17Art Class
Create a gallery-style environment on a budget. These chic prints from buzzed-about illustrator Danny Roberts go for just $20 a pop (igorandandre.blogspot.com).
Neat Idea
Who says storage bos have to be unsightly? Banish clutter and add a pop of color with stylish containers (themacbethcollection.com).
Night Light
Late night reading sessions are sure to benefit from a stylish bedside lamp (like this one from Stray Dog Designs).
7/17Before: Paola's old room (complete with broken bed!).
8/1717 year-old Magica Darabundit in her new room in New York City.
9/17An all-pink bedroom is any girl’s dream—at age ten! Fast-forward seven years, and like most teenagers with evolving taste, high school senior Magica was ready for a change. Not one to shy away from vibrant color combinations in her wardrobe, the Upper East Sider, who describes her personal style as "New York tribal," welcomed the edgier palette introduced by room stylist Anne Koch. Hello Kitty pinks were swapped for more-sophisticated tones—graphic gray walls, an aquamarine patterned area rug, and Teen Vogue’s tie dye bedding (jcp.com)—pushing the limits of beachy cool. The fresh look accurately reflects Magica’s sparkling personality and diverse interests, which range from writing for her school’s fashion magazine to traveling across the globe to Bangkok, Thailand. She may be venturing off to college next fall, but Magica can now rest assured she has a comforting home base to return to—one that’s as dynamic as she is. What more could a girl want? —ANA DRAGOVIC
Assigned Seat
Have a seat! A bright satin throw pillow makes a simple chair more inviting (both from Ikea).
Water World
A whitewashed Ikea bench and swimming pool blue area rug from PBteen keep with the beach-shack theme and add a loungelike feel when friends come over.
Surf City
Who says you can’t bring the beach to the city? Hang loose with Teen Vogue’s tie-dyed bedspread and comfy throw pillows (jcp.com).
Blue Lagoon
Make late-night studying more fun with these turquoise bedside lamps from PBteen and matching accordion side tables from Urban Outfitters.
Name Tag
Set the stage with a cool cutout chandelier (Urban Outfitters) and personalized art. Magica’s was made using canvases prepped with gesso and hand-painted with acrylic paint. Walls in Benjamin Moore’s Aura Colorado Gray provide the perfect understated backdrop.
10/17Cartoon Network
Fancy yourself a designer? Put your skills to the test with this Urban Outfitters Hello Kitty sewing machine.
Sitting Pretty
Make a no-frills desk more inviting with a rocking purple chair, like this one from Uhuru Design. (Desk accessories, PB Teen.)
Groundbreaking
Separate your sleep area from your work and hangout zone with a second area rug. This flower print one from PB Teen adds a girlie touch.
11/17Before: Magica's (drab) old room.
12/17If Blithe Parsons’s room looks more like the cool, downtown loft of a 20-something than the bedroom of a suburban seventeen-year-old, that’s exactly the point. "The last thing I wanted was a really girly-girl room," says the fine-art and drama enthusiast and the second Teen Vogue Room Makeover contest winner. "I wanted something mature and sophisticated." Interior designer Tori Mellott set out to achieve this look with mod shelf units (Blithe owns more than 200 books), chalkboard closet doors, simple sconces, and a ruby-red metal desk. "It’s a mishmash of styles," Mellott notes. What holds it all together is the room’s trundle daybed, outfitted with Teen Vogue’s sweet floral comforter (available at jcp.com). "You can’t get more girly than a British floral print," Mellott says. "But the set’s graphic pillows counteract that."
It’s a big change from Blithe’s old room, which she describes as a "smorgasbord" of Goodwill finds and hand-me-downs from her older brother. ("My family is very financially aware," she explains.) The new setup is definitely more her speed. "This room is bursting with my personality," Blithe says. In fact, the transformation was so dramatic that Blithe is still wrapping her head around the entire process. "Who would have ever expected that this would happen to me?" she asks gleefully. "And somehow it did!" —A.F.
13/17The Write Stuff
Hudson Paints’ chalkboard finish paint lets you turn any surface into a to-do list. (For extra credit, try creating your own wall art, too. This hand-print painting is Blithe’s own.)
Basket Case
Hide dirty clothes in a cool hamper, like this one from Swahili Imports.
Stacked!
Blu Dot’s handy add-on shelf units allow you to expand your storage space as you build your vintage-jewelry and classic-record collections.
14/17Morning Glory
Polka dots, stripes, and florals, oh, my! The magic is in the mix, which is why our sweet floral bed set—available at JCP.com—comes complete with playful throw pillows in every print your heart desires. (Trundle bed by Ballard Designs.)
Guiding Lights
Having multiple sources of light is good for your eyes—not to mention the ambience. Give yourself options by combining overhead fixtures (like this minimalist one from Ikea) with sconces (CB2) and custom window treatments (Smith + Noble).
Rainbow Connection
It may seem like it would clash with everything, but a rainbow striped rug (like this one from PBteen) actually harmonizes with a surprising number of items, including the floral bedspread and throw pillows.
Study Buddy
Wake up your brain with a brightly colored desk, like this ruby-red one from CB2. An understated chair (Ikea) keeps things from getting too loud. (HP Pavilion dm4 laptop available at HP.com.)
15/17Shelf Life
Blu Dot’s floating shelf units blend into the wall and let your tchatchkas have the spotlight.
16/1717-year-old Blithe Parsons, the second contest winner, in her new room in El Paso, TX.
17/17Before: Blithe's 'smorgasbord' room.
