Dylan smiles as he sits on his bed. There is an Olive Twinny behind him and rust-coloured linens on the bed.

How Becca upgraded her teen son's bedroom

October 27, 2023

Take a tour of Dylan's Ocean-colored bedroom after a teenage-friendly refresh (with plenty of lockers, of course!)

Teenagers are known for breaking the rules. So it's pretty appropriate that Dylan's freshly spruced-up room breaks one of the old 'laws' of color: blue and green should never be seen (who came up with that doozy, anyway?) With the co-founder of Mustard, Becca as his Mum, Dylan had the green light to lean into the colors of nature for this calming yet colorful space!

Dylan's bed sits against an Ocean blue wall. There is a lego shelf mounted on the wall next to a graphic poster.

by the sea

For Dylan's bedroom, Becca had the paint color matched to our Ocean lockers. It's a handy trick that gets the color just right so the matching locker blends right in. "Ocean is the perfect shade of soft, gray-blue that changes with the light," Becca says of this gentle, soothing color. "I've been loving the color-drenching trend of painting the trims to match the walls so we went all in with blue all over." Want to do the same? Check out our blog on color-matching your paint.

Dylan's desk is accessorised with an olive boucle chair and a Sage Shorty. On the shelves above the desk are an assortment of intricately assembled Lego projects.

teen room must-haves

There are a few things that Becca considers essential in a teenage bedroom. One is a desk space — for obvious reasons! Becca designed Dylan's desk and had it custom-made to make maximum use of the wall space and to be the perfect spot for a Sage Shorty underneath. With the trusty Shorty to hide away all the study-related clutter, Dylan uses the shelving above his desk to proudly display his extensive Lego collection.

A small TV is mounted on top of an Ocean Midi and there are brown and white gingham curtains visible next to the locker.

The other essential? A TV! Dylan's sits above his Ocean Midi, with all the wires and cables tucked neatly out of view and his console safe inside the locker. "With two little brothers in the house, it's nice for Dylan to have a bit of a retreat space in his bedroom," Becca explains. "Things can get chaotic out here so I don't blame him for wanting to shut the little ones out sometimes! Actually, I'm tempted to join him."

A small Yoda figurine sits next to Dylan's bed and there is a poster reading 'get real kid' on the wall. An Olive Twinny has one door open to reveal Dylan's clothes hung inside.

earth to Dylan

To ground the serene blue wall color, Dylan's room uses a palette of earthy, rust-colored bedlinen from Society of Wanderers with a trio of Olive Skinnys for a wardrobe. One for his clothes, one for school uniform and sports stuff and one for board games (yes, he has a lot!) With lots of beautiful block colors in the room, they added some pattern in the form of gingham curtains and a striped rug to tie it all together. By keeping the main features of the room pared back and uncluttered, Dylan's personal touches really shine — like his quirky blue Lego shelving and the vintage letterpress drawer mounted above his bed for those little treasures. The VJ panelling and picture rail were added to give texture and create a more balanced sense of proportion in the room, and nod back to the original style of the house.

The bed is a subtle star of the space. It's a compact plywood design that has a huge drawer (full of Lego of course) underneath. Bringing in some greenery in planters by Capra Designs gives the room that lift of life — and something else for Dylan to add to his chores list!

Becca stands smiling in front of Dylan's desk. She is wearing rust coloured linen pants with a white T-shirt and black belt.

goodbye, clutter

As anyone without it knows, storage is the key to keeping clutter at bay! While Becca loves her home's character-filled cottage style, like many older homes built-in storage is nowhere to be seen. That's where lockers come in! "Mustard was born from my own storage needs. As a mum of three boys, I have to say that I love that I can throw things inside a locker and shut (or lock!) the door," Becca says. "Instant tidy, instant calm!" Plus, unlike most of their things, kids don't outgrow lockers. "I love that a Mustard locker will last a lifetime and still be useful as the kids grow up. It's an investment piece that works just as well in a teenager's room or dorm room" — case in point — "and hopefully will be that piece that they'll want to take with them when they move out!"

So, what does Dylan think of his new bedroom? In true teenager style, he was effusive with his praise and said, "It's good."

Shop Mustard Made Lockers

Looking for furniture that will grow with your little people? Check out our blog Lockers for life

Love a home tour? Don't miss this one: The home that Mustard built

A little note for our US locker lovers:

If you spied the Shorty and Skinny in these images, no you didn't! We're really sorry to say these styles are currently unavailable in the US. We've explained more here.