Remember all those moments you wished for more privacy and some space from your child who followed you everywhere, including into the bathroom? Well, you are about to get you wish, as they start to retreat into their bedrooms. One minute your kid is obsessed with PAWS PATROL the next, they are watching Sydney and the Max. It happens overnight and as a parent, the change from one stage of development to the next can be jarring. The transition from kid to teen can be difficult for a parent, as one minute they are your cuddly little guy and the next, ten feet apart isn’t far enough for them. Every day, friends are becoming more important and being accepted by their peers means things can change in a heartbeat and what was once cool, is now “So lame mom.” It can be hard for a parent to keep up.
Tweens need their own space. A place they can go to shut the door on mom and / or dad to chill out either alone or with friends. A room they feel is theirs. Decorating a tween’s room is a special time where you can learn more about your child, their every changing taste, and what is important to them when it comes to making their space their own. As they grow into their teens, they will include you less and less in their room’s décor decisions. Enjoy this time and make a memorable adventure out of the experience.
Including your tween in the process is important, after all it is the room where they will be spending a lot of time. Guiding them through the decision-making process will teach them how to make design decisions and work within a budget.
Start with the budget. How much are you willing to spend on updating their room? Let them know the budget and come back to it when they are deciding on what to purchase and which items to leave on the store shelves.
Do you have a theme in mind? Decorating kids and tweens rooms can be fun because we are able to bring fantasy into the room and be adventurous with the décor, unlike in the rest of the house. Does your tween have a favourite activity? A favourite story? Are they into sports or music? Here are some theme ideas to consider:
1. Romantic Princess
2. Urban Skatepark
3. Punk Girl
4. Soccer / Hockey / Football / Basketball
5. Snowboarding
6. Bohemian
7. Glamour
8. Film Noir
9. Techno nerd
10. Book nerd
When it comes to a Tween’s room function is important because they will be spending a lot of time in their rooms over the next few years. Since Tweens still have some toys or stuffies they don’t want to let go of yet, but they don’t want their friends to know they still have them, their room will need storage and the odd hiding spot. Shelving on the walls, in the closet, or as bookcases to hold storage boxes full of their stuff will fulfill this need nicely.
It is at this age where schools start to send them home with the dreaded homework, which ends up being one more task on your to do list of parenting. Consider putting a desk in their room for studying and that future computer they will need to complete homework assignments. Whether or not you agree to a computer in their room, they will need a desk to organize their schoolwork along with the little nick knacks that seem to appear.
If your child’s room is short on space, consider a loft bed with the desk underneath it and bean bag chair or a comfy chair. They will need their own hang out seating area, be it a window seat, a hanging rattan bubble, an armchair, or a pile of pillows, they need something to relax on while they contemplate their future or chat with friends.
Are you going to paint the walls? Take your tween to the paint store to peruse the swatches to pick and put up on the wall to see which colour they like. Giving them the option to choose the colour of their room will bring them into the process, teach them how to make choices, and generate a sense of pride when the job is done.
Time to go shopping with your tween to find all the pieces to bring the room together. Make sure you remember to take some of the paint swatches with you so you can see if the bedding will go with the colour of the walls. It will be interesting to see which bedding, sheets, and pillows your teen picks out. If they don’t match the colour of the paint, take the teaching moment to help them understand how to bring a room together. They will find lots of bits and bobbles to put into their room, ensure they understand how each decision affects the budget.
Want to save some cash? Check out thrift stores and restoration places where you can find old pieces of furniture and some funky retro lighting fixtures. Old furniture can be sanded and painted to fit with the room’s new colour pallet. Stick some wall stickers on and cut them where the drawers open to make the piece unique or attach some unique drawer pulls, like old skateboard wheels or hockey pucks. Spray paint old lighting fixtures and add glass beading for a funky chandelier.
Make sure your tween helps do the hard lifting to put the room together, being a part of the process will give them ownership and a sense of pride in a job well done. Not to mention, the wonderful memory you are about to make.
Have fun with the walls. Hang a whiteboard up or paint a portion of the wall space with chalkboard paint so they can make notes and doodle. Either find wall stickers or paint a mural on the wall. Think a mural is outside your skill set? Do you have access to a projector? Project a simple image onto the wall and trace it out with a pencil, then paint over the pencil marks – Voila one instant mural.
Worried about resale? Unless you are going to be selling in the next 6-12 months, go nuts and be unique. You can paint the room with a neutral colour before you list and move on to your next home. In the meantime, give your child a space as unique as they are.
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January sales were the highest they have been for the month since 2014, as housing market momentum from the end of 2020 carried over into the start of 2021.
Sales activity improved across all product types and across all price ranges. “Discount lending rates are exceptionally low, which is likely attracting all types of buyers back into the market,” said CREB®chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
“New listings in the market were also slightly higher than what was available over the past two months, which is providing more options to purchasers.”
January’s new listings were 2,246 relative to the 1,208 sales in the market, causing inventories to edge up over December levels. These types of movements are typical for January, but 2021 is starting the year with 4,035 units in inventory. This is far lower than the past six years.
Benchmark prices remained at levels relatively consistent with prices recorded at the end of 2020, but they reflect a year-over-year gain just below two percent.
For those of us who are fortunate to still be working, many of us have been forced to work from home during the pandemic. Work spaces can be anything from a private, dedicated office space with doors that close, to a fold up table in a bedroom. Wifi can be strained due to the demand of many devices because of home schooling or couples working from home. We’ve all been in those Zoom meetings where screens freeze, pets and children wander in and out or embarrassing comments are made because someone has forgotten to mute. (Search for Zoom Meeting Fails on You Tube for some guaranteed laughs!)
Many companies have determined that they no longer require their employees to work from a downtown office building every day. This has created a new housing trend. Some home office workers are finding that their inner-city apartments are too small so they look for larger condominiums and those with families who no longer have to commute look for larger homes on larger lots further away from the core.
In either scenario the home office has become more important than ever. Which is why we have created a curated list of properties for sale with a variety of home office spaces in Calgary and area.
If you are looking to design your perfect home office, we found a great article on Entrepeneur.com entitled “How to Design the Ideal Home Office” by Professional designer Jo Heinz.
The article offers many tips – such as:
What are the most common mistakes people make when they’re setting up a home office?
There are five:
Thinking you can “tune out” the plasma screen on the wall. Don’t hang it anywhere near where you’ll be working.
Inadequate storage components
Lack of space for reference materials
Slow and inefficient equipment
Inadequate wire management (cords and wire spaghetti everywhere)
Ready to start looking at Calgary (& area) properties for sale with home offices?
If you would like us to create a customized search for a property with the ideal home office space for you, including the location of the office within the home, please let us know.
We would love to help! Use the links below to book a no obligation consultation:
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