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February 10, 2020 By Abby Lawson 32 Comments

An Awesome and Organized Tween Hangout Room!

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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!

An Awesome and Organized Tween Hangout Room

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.

Cluttered Playroom Before Photo

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.

Organized Tween Hangout Room with Art Station and Beanbag Chairs

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.

IKEA TROFAST Bins Used to Organize LEGOs

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.

Little Boy Playing with LEGOs

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.

IKEA RIBBA Frames with Map Prints

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!

Books Organized by Color on IKEA LACK Floating Shelves

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!

IKEA LACK Floating Shelves Holding Books and LEGO Sets with Beanbags on the Floor

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.

Organized Art Station

(The sign above the pegboards was a DIY! See the tutorial here!)

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.

Construction Paper Organized by Color in an IKEA KVISSLE Organizer

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.

Coloring Books in a Rainbow Pattern and IKEA DRONA Bin with Bookplate Label

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.

IKEA SKADIS Pegboards in an Organized Tween Hangout Room

They're great for displaying artwork and also keep a few of their art supplies within reach.

IKEA SKADIS Pegboard Accessories

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.

Night Sky Wall

But rather than just leave it plain, I used a paint pen to add "stars," and the wall became a fun focal point!

Star Wall Detail

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.

Little Boy Playing Piano

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 (now called BOAXEL) 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.

Organized Closet Using the IKEA ALGOT System in a Tween Hangout Room

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!

Labeled IKEA KUGGIS Bins in an Organized Closet

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.

Card Games in Zipper Pouches

They fit perfectly in the KUGGIS boxes!

Zipper Pouches in IKEA KUGGIS Box

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!

Board Games Filed

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!

Boy Playing Video Game, Sitting on a Beanbag Chair

He has his intense gaming face on! ?

Let's take a look at a few before and after photos...

Organized Tween Hangout Room Before and After
Organized LEGO Station Before and After
Organized Books Before and After
Piano Before and After
Organized Art Station Before and After

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

TROFAST Floor Storage Units

TROFAST Wall Storage Units

RIBBA Picture Frames

LACK Floating Shelves

KALLAX Cube Units

KALLAX Drawer Inserts

DRONA Boxes

KVISSLE Paper Organizer

ODGER Chairs

LINNMON/ADILS Desk

SKADIS Pegboards

BOAXEL Closet System

KUGGIS Larger Boxes

KUGGIS Smaller Boxes

FJALLA Box

TJENA Storage Box

Beanbag chairs

LEGO Baseplates Large

LEGO Baseplates Small

World Map Print

US Map Print

Bookplate Labels

Zipper Pouches for Card Games

Striped Round Bins

LEGO Manuals Storage Container

Light Gray Paint Color

Dark Wall Paint Color

Paint Pen

See the projects that went into this room by clicking the links below:

Planning an Awesome and Organized Tween Hangout Room

DIY IKEA LEGO Table with Storage

How to Make a DIY Wood Sign

How to Make Vinyl Labels with a Cricut Machine

Easy Painted DIY Star Wall

Awesome and Organized Tween Hangout Room: The Reveal (You're here!)

[Psssttt… Get 100 brilliant ideas for organizing every room of the house here!]

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.

Filed Under: Organization Tagged With: organized kids, playroom

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. HeatherB says

    February 10, 2020 at 9:49 am

    Beautiful, Abby! I really like the Kallax towers framing the desk. It all works so well together!

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 10, 2020 at 10:44 am

      Thank you so much, Heather! You are so sweet! Hope you have a wonderful week!

      Reply
  2. Rose - MomLife Organizer says

    February 10, 2020 at 2:29 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 11, 2020 at 8:06 am

      Aw, thanks so much, Rose! I am excited about it and so are my boys! Hope you're having a great week! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  3. Karen @ a house full of sunshine says

    February 10, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    Looks awesome!!! Well done!! ???

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 11, 2020 at 8:05 am

      Thanks so much, sweet friend! Hope you're having a great week! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  4. at home with Ashley says

    February 11, 2020 at 11:14 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 14, 2020 at 9:24 am

      Aw, thank you sweet girl! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  5. Misty | Home Money Habits says

    February 11, 2020 at 11:26 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 14, 2020 at 9:23 am

      So glad it was helpful for you, Misty! Have a great weekend! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  6. Kim says

    February 11, 2020 at 2:22 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 14, 2020 at 9:22 am

      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 =)

      Reply
  7. Julie Geiss says

    February 11, 2020 at 6:44 pm

    The black wall looks awesome!!! I love how it matches the piano and TV.

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 14, 2020 at 9:19 am

      Aw, thanks so much, Julie! Happy Friday! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  8. Barbara says

    February 15, 2020 at 7:10 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 17, 2020 at 1:05 pm

      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 =)

      Reply
  9. Carolyn says

    February 15, 2020 at 3:04 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 17, 2020 at 1:04 pm

      So glad it was helpful for you, Carolyn! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  10. Rachel says

    February 16, 2020 at 8:47 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 17, 2020 at 1:03 pm

      Hi, Rachel! It's Behr Dark Secret. It's linked at the very bottom of the post too!

      Thanks!

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  11. Nicole says

    February 17, 2020 at 10:00 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      February 17, 2020 at 1:02 pm

      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 =)

      Reply
  12. T says

    March 07, 2020 at 7:35 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      March 30, 2020 at 3:15 pm

      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!

      Reply
  13. Julie Rogers says

    March 07, 2020 at 7:55 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      March 09, 2020 at 1:47 pm

      Aw, thank you so much, Julie! I'm sure your grandson will love that! Hope you have a great week! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  14. Martha Kessler says

    March 07, 2020 at 10:12 am

    Love this re-do Abby! And I especially love the black wall that you lightened up with stars. Great job!

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      March 09, 2020 at 1:46 pm

      Thanks so much, Martha! It was a fun project! Hope you have a great week! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  15. Amanda Polson says

    March 10, 2020 at 4:07 pm

    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!!

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      March 16, 2020 at 10:15 am

      So glad they were helpful for you, Amanda! Have a wonderful week! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  16. Angie says

    December 19, 2020 at 9:03 am

    Hi! Where did you get the big cushion seats from? They look amazing!

    Reply
    • Abby Lawson says

      January 13, 2021 at 8:41 pm

      Hi, Angie! I got them at Bed, Bath, & Beyond but I'm not sure if they're still in stock.

      ~Abby =)

      Reply

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