September 10, 2015 /

Creative and Affordable Lighting For A Teen Bedroom

Last year I talked about transitioning my daughter’s tween room into a space that functioned better for her teen years.

I admit I have been dragging my heels on this because 1/ I have bigger design issues to deal with in this house (hello threadbare wood floors and 80s tiled foyer), 2/ I don’t want to spend any money on this room (see #1) and 3/ I’m not so good at letting my kids grow up.

( #3 is really THE issue 🙂)

When my mom offered Hannah her full-size, brand new guest room bed, I on a whim listed Hannah’s twin bed on our local Facebook yard sale site and it sold immediately, and now we suddenly find ourselves knee deep in a teen room makeover frenzy.

One of the new things we’re incorporating are lights over Hannah’s new bed and we’re weighing our options. There are SO many fun and inexpensive things you can do with lighting!!

At less than $2 for a 16″ globe, paper lanterns are super affordable and easy to hang from the ceiling with fishing wire. A remote controlled LED light eliminates the plug-in cord and streamlines the look, and at $7.75 it still keeps the total light cost under $10.

{Luna Bazaar}

Paper lanterns don’t give off a ton of light but they do give a room a soft cozy feel.

I think they are cute on their own but there are SO many creative and pretty things you can do to modify them.

{Artist: Linda Albrecht for Glue Arts}

Dyed coffee filters cut into petals to create a chrysanthemum.

{Aunt Peaches}

{Crafty Nest}

{Martha Stewart}

This is a coffee filter covered paper lantern.

I love how oversized and unexpected it is in this dining room!

{Parlour Home}

I talked my friend Jackie into making a couple of these coffee filter paper lanterns for her daughter’s 13th birthday room makeover.

This was the inspiration room that her daughter Alli loved,

with the Shimmer Pendants from PB Teen ($179 a pop!)….

{PB Teen}

….and here are the coffee filter lanterns – a fun (and much less expensive!!) alternative!

(I mounted a sepia photo of Alli as Clara in the Nutcracker using this method.)

Along the same lines, this is another great DIY – a pendant light converted to a globe made out of doilies. I love how feminine, pretty, and boho chic this is.