This organized tween hangout room is full of brilliant storage solutions to keep it neat, tidy, and FUN all at the same time! Come take the grand tour!
Today I am SO excited to share our boys’ newly organized and decorated “tween hangout room” with you!
We used to call this space their “playroom,” but as they have gotten older (11 and 8.5 at the time of this writing), they began to outgrow the systems that we had put in place, and the room started to get pretty cluttered.
I approached the boys with the idea of turning this space into more of a “hangout room” where they could still play with the toys they like but also have a better area for crafts, have easier access to books and board games, and also have a spot to play their video games.
They loved the idea, so we set to work to create a space that would meet all of their needs. C’mon in and I’ll give you the grand tour!
An Organized Tween Hangout Room: The Reveal!
A huge thanks to IKEA for sponsoring this post! My favorable opinion of awesome furniture and accessories that help me stay organized is 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.
The LEGO Wall
Although the boys have started to outgrow a lot of their toys (Tear!), they still like to build with LEGOs, so I knew we had to include a spot for that in this space.
We decided to use four IKEA TROFAST units– two on the floor and two on the wall— to hold their LEGO collection. I added baseplates on top of two of the units so they could build right there and easily access all of their bricks.
Related: My LEGO Organization Strategy
Since we had to hang the wall storage units fairly low so Caleb could reach them, I was left with a big space above them. I grabbed two large RIBBA frames and filled them with cute map prints– one of the world, and the other of the US.
Organizing Books and Displaying Finished LEGO Sets
On the back wall of the room, I needed a way to store the boys’ books and display a few finished LEGO sets that looked nice but didn’t take up too much space. IKEA’s LACK floating shelves ended up being the perfect solution.
We used three of the 74″ shelves, with the bottom two holding books and the top one displaying the boys’ creations.
Now, will their books stay this perfectly organized by color all the time? Definitely not. But it sure was fun to style them that way and grab a few pretty pictures!
We had previously been displaying the boys’ finished LEGO sets in the closet, but while it could hold a lot, it also became a mess easily. Having a higher display shelf still allows a few favorite creations to be seen, but it is also less likely to collect clutter since it is out of their reach!
Creating an Organized Craft Station
I definitely still wanted the boys to have a place to create in this room, but I knew I needed more storage than the single rolling cart and magazine rack that we had been using previously.
I ended up keeping the same LINNMON/ADILS desk and ODGER chairs, but I brought in two IKEA KALLAX cube units to help keep their art supplies organized.
(The sign above the pegboards was a DIY! I’ll share a tutorial for it soon!)
The boys’ crayons, markers, and other art supplies are in the KALLAX drawer inserts. And a KVISSLE letter tray holds the their construction paper so they can grab it easily.
All of their coloring books and workbooks fit neatly on one of the shelves as well. And four colorful DRONA bins keep the few toys the boys wanted to hang onto tucked away tidily. I added bookplate labels so they could easily tell what was in each one.
I love, love, love the IKEA SKADIS pegboards— we already have them in our mudroom and garage— so I was excited to be able to incorporate a few in the boys’ space as well.
They’re great for displaying artwork and also keep a few of their art supplies within reach.
A Night Sky Accent Wall
The final wall in this room had me scratching my head a little bit. I knew we had to keep the keyboard here because Caleb plays piano. And the boys were excited about the possibility of bringing in a TV for playing video games. But neither of those things are exactly what I would call “pretty,” so I wanted to find a way to camouflage them a little bit.
I had the idea to paint the wall dark so that the TV and keyboard would blend in.
But rather than just leave it plain, I used a paint pen to add “stars,” and the wall became a fun focal point!
While I was making tweaks, I also recovered Caleb’s beat up piano bench with a black fabric that includes little white plus signs, which kind of mimics that black and white wall.
An Organized Game Closet
Finally, I needed to organize the closet! Once we moved the LEGO sets out of it, I was left with the amazing IKEA ALGOT closet system that we had installed a few years back, so I had great bones to work with.
The biggest category I still needed to store was games– board games, video games and accessories, and a few bigger toys like Nerf guns and stuffed animals.
I grabbed a bunch of stackable IKEA KUGGIS boxes, which ended up being perfect for card games and video game accessories. I also used a FJALLA bin to hold the video games and controllers. And of course, everything got a label!
The little boxes that held our card games were pretty beat up, so I got a few zipper pouches and stored the decks of cards in those instead.
They fit perfectly in the KUGGIS boxes!
To make the most of my closet space, I filed the boys’ board games vertically. My original plan was to use bookends to help them stay up, but they stayed up well, even when we removed some of them from the shelf, so I didn’t have to add anything!
Organized Tween Hangout: Before and After!
So that’s the grand tour! Connor and Caleb are loving their new hangout space, and I’m loving that it’s neat and organized rather than a cluttered mess!
He has his intense gaming face on! 😂
Let’s take a look at a few before and after photos…
Yippee! Thank you so much for popping over to check out the boys’ newly organized tween hangout room! If you are looking for any of the items we used in the space, I will leave a source list below.
Organized Tween Hangout Room Sources
LEGO Manuals Storage Container
Thank you so much for following along! Have a wonderful day!
A huge thanks to IKEA for sponsoring this post! My favorable opinion of awesome furniture and accessories that help me stay organized is 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.
Beautiful, Abby! I really like the Kallax towers framing the desk. It all works so well together!
Thank you so much, Heather! You are so sweet! Hope you have a wonderful week!
So much work put into this! I can only hope that it’ll stay looking that good ^^ I love how the closet looks now and the storage for LEGO. And hey! We wanted to get that Super Mario chess ^^ lol ours is glass and has so many cracks now. The King is missing his crown lol. Thanks for walking us through, it’s beautiful.
Aw, thanks so much, Rose! I am excited about it and so are my boys! Hope you’re having a great week! <3
~Abby =)
Looks awesome!!! Well done!! 👏👏👏
Thanks so much, sweet friend! Hope you’re having a great week! <3
~Abby =)
I love how functional and intentional you make all of your spaces! This one is no exception. Blending the TV and keyboard into the starry wall was genius!
Aw, thank you sweet girl! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! <3
~Abby =)
My 8 year old shares so many common toys & games… this gave me some great ideas! We keep our cards in baggies, which works but they look so much neater and will stand the test of time in the zippered pouches. I really need to do this but keep hanging on to some of the toys he’s no longer interested in… possibly denial on my part lol. Thanks Abby!
So glad it was helpful for you, Misty! Have a great weekend! <3
~Abby =)
This looks great! Curious what you do with the old furniture? Will they be repurposed somewhere else in the house? Put in storage, or donated/sold?
Hi, Kim! For this project, I was able to pass down a lot of the furniture to my sister. She has young kiddos so they were perfect for their playroom! If there are things that I think I will end up using somewhere else in our house, I will store them in the basement. I often donate furniture as well to Goodwill or to our yearly church yard sale!
Have a great weekend!
~Abby =)
The black wall looks awesome!!! I love how it matches the piano and TV.
Aw, thanks so much, Julie! Happy Friday! <3
~Abby =)
Once again Abby you hit it out of the park! What a great transformation of the room – it looks so sleek and “grown up” now. I can’t believe how grown the boys have become. Have I been following you for that long lol? Always love seeing your reveals and the little touches you do to make it so amazing.
You are too sweet! Thank you so much, Barbara! Time really flies doesn’t it? I can’t believe how big they are either! Where did my babies go? 🙂
Hope you had a great weekend! <3
~Abby =)
Incredible job Abby ! I love how you worked with your boys to determine what they want/need..
You gave me some great ideas for my home office – which was a total disaster but is now up to a work in progress….
Too bad you don’t make house calls !!! Have a great weekend.
So glad it was helpful for you, Carolyn! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! <3
~Abby =)
You may have already mentioned those somewhere else, but what color is the wall paint? Looking for ideas that are neutral and this one fits the bill.
Thanks!
Hi, Rachel! It’s Behr Dark Secret. It’s linked at the very bottom of the post too!
Thanks!
~Abby =)
Loving those zippered pouches for the card games. I think I will do that for some of our games. Where are the bean bag/poofs from? They look so fun and comfy. Thanks for all of these ideas!
Hi, Nicole! They’re from Bed, Bath, & Beyond! They’re linked at the very bottom of the post if you need help locating them.
Thanks!
~Abby =)
Beautiful! Functional! Super job! Wondering what you did with previous storage units, etc.? Wondering how you decided what storage units to keep and what didn’t work any more? Often feel stuck when considering that more money has to be spent. Did you have a budget? Getting ready here to do similar makeover. You are Awesome Abby!
Hi, Tina! We donated any of the units that we were no longer using in this space. All of the items we decided not to use had been purchased for our previous house, so we had had them for many years, and our style and space needs had changed since then! I believe the cost for the new items we used in this space was around $500. Best of luck with your makeover!
Love, love, love this! You did an awesome job. I remember making my kiddos hangout when they were young teens and it was so much fun. My boys are now almost 25 and 22 😞 but I’m a grandma now and I can’t wait to make a special area for my grandson. Thanks for doing what you do. I love your blog! Take care.
Aw, thank you so much, Julie! I’m sure your grandson will love that! Hope you have a great week! <3
~Abby =)
Love this re-do Abby! And I especially love the black wall that you lightened up with stars. Great job!
Thanks so much, Martha! It was a fun project! Hope you have a great week! <3
~Abby =)
I really like some of the ideas here. We’re getting ready to build a new place and I’ll have to use some of these. Thanks!!
So glad they were helpful for you, Amanda! Have a wonderful week! <3
~Abby =)