This Designer’s Client Was Her 10-Year-Old Son

Turning 10 is a big deal, and interior decorator Cathy Zaeske wanted to mark the milestone with a new room for her son, Jack. “Two months before his birthday, we announced to him that in honor of this huge double-digit event, we would like to give him a new room,” she says. She involved Jack in the project all the way through, from using Houzz for inspiration to choosing furniture, and from sitting with Mom while they figured out the furniture layout on the computer to helping his grandfather with the new ceiling fan.

Reusing the dresser and bed, doing the work themselves and shopping for antiques and bargains kept the budget at $1,400, and making smart choices means they won’t have to do a complete makeover again. “The room needed to be balanced with enough color and energy for a fun-loving tween boy but not too bright and childish that it wouldn’t work as he matures,” Zaeske says. A few quick and easy swaps can change the room when he’s in high school.

While the primary colors and stars were great for Jack when they moved in at age 3, lots of things in his room had become too babyish.





AFTER: The cube ottoman’s bright colors served as inspiration for the room’s colors, including the large turquoise corkboard behind Jack’s dresser. Zaeske used leftover paint from her powder room to save money.

“It is important for a child/teen to have a place to represent himself, to display what he feels is important,” she says. Jack helped paint the corkboard roll. The cork is the same width as his dresser (4 feet by 6 feet) and is ¼ inch thick.

Bedding, ottoman: Target; area rug: Crate & Barrel


“The decor that was appropriate for a young child — for instance, the Winnie the Pooh embroidered art — just wasn’t floating his boat anymore, so he started to accumulate and add his own art projects over the years, and we ended up with a mishmash,” Zaeske says. “We were both over that and ready for an overhaul.”

She knew she needed to come up with a strong plan for storage and organization for Jack’s growing book and rock collections, magic tricks and other favorite things. “You know you need an overhaul when the sweet glider once used for nursing has evolved into a place to store bins of art and school supplies,” she says.


AFTER: The open floor space in the middle of the room gives Jack plenty of space to play with his magic tricks, various building sets and invention sets.

Ceiling fan: Menards; artwork: HomeGoods





AFTER: After deciding upon tie-dye, Zaeske explained to Jack that the drapes needed to tie the room together. He chose the colors and patterns from an Etsy artisan. The custom window treatments added only $60 to the costs.

The bookcases were just under $100 each at Target. Zaeske added sheet metal to the back of each one for a “nice industrial tough-guy feel,” she says. He can also use magnets to hang comics and drawings on them.


Zaeske shopped at Target, Ikea, HomeGoods, antiques shops, Etsy, clearance sales and other low-cost sources to keep the budget under control. The Nido Chair shown here is from Overstock.com. Jack does not let clutter fill this chair up, because it’s such a great lounging spot.


Zaeske scored the arrow sign at an antiques store in Wisconsin. She hid special items like this under her bed to keep some surprises for the big reveal on Jack’s birthday.


While careful to keep away from theme-iness (she even introduced Jack to Houzz to show him ideas and to help him see why he wouldn’t want a Super Mario Brothers room in a year or two), Zaeske did add geometry, geology and a few contemporary futuristic touches. The next few photos provide a closer look at some of the details.


Jack’s rock collection had been strewn all over his room because he lacked one good space for viewing and storing them. Now they are gathered together in a basket beneath acrylic tables from CB2.


Jack helped assemble and paint the bookcases. Some of his favorite origami projects are displayed with pride on top.


Hexagonal shelves give him a spot for favorite books and toys, like a Cubebot puzzle.


Zaeske scored these Brazilian geodes at the same antiques store where she found the arrow and used them for bookends.


Other details for the geologically inclined Jack include these fantastic rock drawer pulls, found on Etsy.


The main color on the walls is Coventry Gray at 50 percent by Benjamin Moore. It’s a great complement for the metallic touches around the room. One such touch is this fantastic coat hanger, which is actually an expanded pot lid rack from Ikea.





The weekend of the installation, Jack was sent to his grandparents’ house to give the family a chance to create a big-reveal moment. As you can see, he was thrilled with his new space. “He had a vested interest in the outcome, as he helped to create it along the way,” Zaeske says.

He’s been spending much more time playing in his room. “His younger brother wants to go in there too. It’s really sweet … he’s already placed a list of items he wants in his new room when he turns 10,” Zaeske says.

I hope she’ll share that process with us when he does.


Have you or your teen reinvented his or her room? Please post before and after photos!

More: See more inspiring kids’ spaces

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