Congratulations! You got your kid through infancy, the toddler and young child years, and into their tweens. But now you’ve got a teenager, and their bedroom probably no longer reflects their maturing personality, interests or needs.

Everything changes with a teenager. Everything is bigger — their clothes and shoes as well as their appetite for independence. So, their living space should reflect their burgeoning vision of themselves.

Designing an updated bedroom with them could be an opportunity for some life lessons, as well as some fun. It’s an opportunity for them to think about what makes a space their own, how to budget, how to collaborate (with you or a designer), and perhaps how to create or repurpose objects to put their own signature on their most intimate environment. Fortunately, I got lots of insights on how to do this from two interior design firms with lots of experience for my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home & Garden section.