Room of the Day: Girl’s Bedroom Gets a Little More Grown-Up

The teenage years can be tricky to design for. In the case of this room, the girl who lives here was ready to have it grow up — her room was still baby blue, and she’d had the same bedding since she was a toddler. Because of the layout of the house, this only child scored a great space. The bedroom opens to a sitting area and workspace, giving her lots of room not only for sleeping but also for lounging, visiting and doing her homework. Interior designer Galeana Younger started with a neutral base on the walls and floors that flows with the rest of the house, then added lively and youthful color through furniture, custom bedding and accessories.

Photos by Mark Menjivar

Room at a Glance
Who lives here: A teenage girl
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Size: 500 square feet (46.5 square meters)

A second-floor renovation combined two bedrooms to create a big master suite with large closets, which left the couple’s daughter with a 300-square-foot bedroom and a 200-square-foot sitting room. She also has closets off the sitting area with a built-in workstation (not photographed).

“We wanted the room to look grown-up but not too adult. I designed it to last her at least through her college years,” Younger says. She also kept the idea of the room’s serving as an inviting guest room during those college years in mind with her design.

A key choice was the tone-on-tone zebra wallpaper, a sophisticated take on a dynamic print. “It’s so subtle, and it’s really pretty,” says the designer.

Wallpaper: Kravet; wall paint: custom to match wallpaper


“It was important to me that the room still fit in with the rest of the house,” Younger says. Because the house is fairly traditional and historic, she freshened up the room with contemporary updates but made sure that it still flowed with the rest of the home’s style.

“I am all about balancing the high and low and making wise investments,” Younger says. For example, she splurged on special fabric with colorful raised velvet circles from Jonathan Adler for the custom accent pillows, bed skirt and shams. The teen’s mother wanted to have two duvet covers for wash day, so Younger ordered them in plain white and then had trim added instead of buying more expensive covers.

Chair: custom, available via Galeana


She also saved by purchasing two of these side dressers and a longer version of them from Ikea, adding the overlays and painting them. Glass tops add an elegant touch.

The plantation blinds were existing, as was the carpeting. “I’m a big believer in keeping what works,” the designer says. Both items help create cohesiveness with the other rooms in the house.


A hot-pink chaise adds a big burst of happy color and provides a comfortable reading area. “I really like to use a ‘story’ fabric and then build around it,” Younger says. In this case she began with the raised-velvet ring fabric she used on the bedding, and then upholstered the chartreuse chair (seen in the first photo) and the chaise in cotton velvet, in colors picked up from the bedding.


Younger chose a clear lamp and clear nesting tables to keep from crowding or cluttering the area while providing light for reading and a spot for setting down a drink and a book. Now this lucky teen has a colorful, happy room that will grow up with her.

Chaise: custom, available via Galeana; lamp: Target; nesting tables: CB2; “Love” pillow: Happy Chic by Jonathan Adler

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