You love neutrals. Your daughter loves color with a capital C. How can you find common ground when redecorating your teenager’s bedroom?  Karen Rutman-Weiss, owner of Cleveland-based Karen Rutman-Weiss Interiors. offers some sound advice.

3 Tips for Redecorating a Teen’s Bedroom:

1. If it’s not permanent, let it go.

“Remember, paint is just paint,” says Rutman-Weiss. “Compromise on the more permanent choices.” Like carpet. Look for a color that complements your teenager’s decorating scheme but also works with a toned-down palette for when she moves out.

Explaining your reasoning to your daughter and providing examples of some colors that might work for both you might help the conversation along. “For example, chocolate brown can look amazing with bright red or pinks, pale lavenders, greens, and blues,” she notes. “But it’s also lovely with sage, taupe and camel.”

2. Let your teenager pick her bedding and accessories.

Again, bedding and accessories (think pillows and throw rugs) don’t need to be a major expense. If your daughter’s leopard-spotted black and purple sheets are not your style, then send them off to college when she goes and replace them with more adult patterns after the big move.

3. Keep wall decor on the neater side.

“Consider poster frames, which look a bit more polished, or large bulletin boards covered in patterned fabric,” Rutman-Weiss recommends. “Wall decals are another inexpensive, nice-looking option for redecorating a bedroom.” All of these help minimize damage and contain what is being hung up, which will make things appear neater and more organized.

Most importantly, though, let the decorating process be a learning experience for your teen – one that encourages her to express her tastes and make lasting decisions. “Letting your teenager redecorate their bedroom and create the room of their dreams is a wonderful thing,” says Rutman-Weiss. If her tastes and yours totally diverge? Remember, you can always shut the door.

By Karen Rutman-Weiss, Your Teen for Parents

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