Siobhan Murphy
Ikea Bedroom

BRIEF - IKEA Bedroom

To design a bedroom for a female teenager, attending secondary school, particularly in an exam year.

Work, rest and play are all factors that must be addressed in this bedroom. The interior will address these three factors through the use of tones and textures borrowed from our very own Irish countryside !!

Colours and Tones:

• Green and various shades of green emulate calmness and relaxation of the mind thus the reason for its use.
• Brown is earthy and keeps us grounded, while red and orange are bright, youthful, exciting and warm!

Textures:

• Oak flooring creates a feeling of warmth
• Natural fibres such as cotton, wool and hessian may increase an appreciation of nature through their endearing qualities!

The Three Factors:

1. Work: as a teenager, whether in an exam year or not, you are placed under immense pressure to learn quickly and well. The amount of information you are required to take in can sometimes be overwhelming and requires 100% concentration if you are to remember most of what you learn. Any teacher, examiner or study support groups will tell you that an organised working environment is vital in helping you to learn successfully. This bedroom will address this issue by providing a neat workstation that provides shelving for books plus an area for a computer, printer and for writing. The neat Ikea workstation is perfect as it provides its function well and is neat enough to sit comfortably in a bedroom and compliment its style. Ample storage for clothes is also essential in providing organisation above and beyond work alone!

• Rest /Relaxation: Irish teenagers have demanding educational and social lives, particularly when in an exam year. Relaxation is vital in aintaining both our physical and mental health and inevitably without our health we cannot learn and achieve our goals. As a teenager your bedroom is your main domain, the one and only place you can call your own. It is important to have such a place in which you can fully relax and regenerate. Colours and lighting play an important role in creating an atmosphere of relaxation, as do fabrics and their textures. Colours, their position, lighting and fabrics have been carefully chosen to emulate this state of relaxation for this particular bedroom.

  The bed is low and minimalist and provides a comfortable platform on which to lie and contemplate and more to the point to sleep. As a futon it lends itself to be transformed into seating for friends, when visiting!

1. Play: An important part of growing up in your teenage years is the establishment of your personality and the main way that you can explore yourself is through play or leisure time. It is important to explore music, books and movies as it opens your mind to new and exciting ideas, provides an outlet for your emotions and develops your social abilities! Leisure time is also a good contrast to all the schoolwork and is essential in creating this much-needed balance between the two! A TV bench with shelving and storage drawers provides an area in the bedroom that will house CD's, stereo, tv, dvd player and playstation etc.

It is purposely positioned away from the functional side of the room i.e. the workstation and clothes storage, in order to differentiate and separate the two psychologically as well as physically! The leisurely side of the room will also provide a female teenager with an area to mess around with make-up and hair, a much required pass time !!

Conclusion:

• Above all this bedroom should be fun while at the same time addressing the essential three factors as discussed above.
• A personal haven that any teenage girl could enjoy and be proud of!!