Living abroad in a rental home has its perks and disadvantages: Room decorating comes with limitation. In this post I hope to demonstrate that it is possible to change a room without undertaking major changes.

Prior to redecorating my children’s rooms, we decluttered their rooms. My most recent 5 blog posts are about the 5 stages of our tidying up process. Please take a look if you are interested. It’s much easier to make changes to a room once it is tidied up.

Decluttering Kids’ Rooms Part 1 Clothes
Declutter Kids’ Rooms Part 2 Komono/Miscellaneous
Declutter Kids’ Rooms Part 3 Papers
Declutter Kids’ Rooms Part 4 Toys
Declutter Kids’ Rooms Part 5 Bookshelves

CREATING YOUR HAPPY SPACE AT HOME

During the lockdown in April and May, my teen daughter complained to me that her room felt somber. Since many of her friends had evacuated from Manila to go back to their home countries, it wasn’t surprising. I realized that she needed her room to be the place where it would lift up her spirits.

Towards the end of May, my husband and I also came to understand that traveling during the summer may not happen at all. Change of scenery was not possible. However, changing the design of my kids’ rooms was a possibility. Giving my children’s rooms a facelift to create more relaxing and happy-vibe seemed to be a good investment and alternative to traveling.

My daughter voluntarily searched for room inspirations on her own and made a list of items to buy for her room. When the lockdown finished in June and shopping malls in Manila started to reopen, I went out to purchase the items that she requested. It was quite interesting!

I love that my daughter and I were able to work on this redecorating project together. The new design of the room made it feel brighter and more cheerful to her liking. As a result of the transformation, our teen became happier to be home. She was even fine about not having a social life outside of home. If you have a teenager, you know what that means for parents!