Redecorating from little boy or little girl to a tween room

If your children are tired of dancing teddy bears and ballerinas, perhaps it's time to redecorate their rooms.  After all, they don't want to invite friends over for sleepovers to a room designed for a preschooler.  Therefore, consider these options when you plan:

1. Go through a box of 64 crayons with your son or daughter and pick out three colors they really like.  Then ask him or her to pick out a favorite color.  This will create your palette.
2. Next, look at the room and decide (with your child) what can stay and what needs to go.  Finances probably won't allow you to redo everything in the room, so your child can learn how to set priorities with this exercise.
3. Next, go to several stores, starting with the least expensive first.  If that means you go to the thrift store, first, then you might just get lucky with whatever you find there.  Remember to wash everything thoroughly when you get home. 
4. Stop at the paint and wallpaper stores.  Take the crayons with you.  Match the paint and patterns to your child's preferences.
5. Finally, put it all together ... together!  Let your child help paint, make the bed with the new bedspread, and add the other decorative touches.  He or she will be more likely to take care of the redecorated room if he or she had an active part in the process.

Then sit back and watch your maturing child enjoy the new room.  Remember, your child's room doesn't need to be a designer showcase; it simply needs to be a space he or she can call her own.
For more tips go to Parents.com. Oh - you remembered to take pictures of the baby room, right?  :-)