Gianna Henke's preteen bedroom was a study in boring -- a matching, if uninspired, mix of tan walls, tan carpet and leopard-print bedding. Then came high school, and with it Henke's burning desire to shed her room's parent-approved color palette for something more reflective of the teen she had become.
Out went the carpet, and in came the hot pink throw rug. Gone were the yawn-inducing beige walls, repainted with eye-popping yellow and orange. The animal-print comforter was swapped for a Hawaiian theme, the glare of megawatt overhead lighting replaced by the ambient glow of star-shaped lights dangling in the corners.
The days when a new beanbag chair, bedspread and pop poster sufficed as a remodel are long gone. Today's teen rooms reflect a decorative savvy that rivals their parents'. If pictures of Ashlee Simpson or Orlando Bloom are present, they're often on the back of the door, overshadowed by purple walls and black lights, tie-dye bedding, tattered curtains and markered walls -- designs that could prompt well-meaning parents to double-dose on their Xanax but appeal to adolescents' evolving sense of self.
Earlier generations weren't subjected to the nonstop eye candy of quick-cut commercials and effects-laden video games that today's teens experience. They weren't bombarded with TV decorating shows, youth-oriented home furnishings stores or magazine articles on how to customize their own space. Celebrities weren't same-age peers buying and decorating their own homes.
Today's teens can't escape the cultural tilt toward design and decor, and their bedrooms show it.
"What we're noticing now is that teens are very, very advanced. They're more adult than teens of previous generations," said Rob Callendar, senior trends manager for Teen Research Unlimited in Illinois. "Instead of putting up concert posters or cutting things out of magazines, some are very interested in the very adult idea of getting furniture that reflects their own personality. Part of it is their own savviness. Part of it is there seems to be enough money that the parents can afford to and are willing to do this."
And part of it is that home furnishings companies are finally opening their eyes to the $170-billion annual spending power of the country's 35 million 12- to 19-year-olds.
