Sweet Teenage Escape

Sweet Teenage Escape

Last summer, my church asked me to give their youth space some style. They wanted it to be an “Escape.”

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Here’s how it looked at the beginning.
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First, that green wall to the left was painted a dark gray and three distinct spaces were created. The youth pastor, John, wanted each space to have a different feel and look. The goal of these spaces was to provide a place that teenagers would love to come hang out, play games, do homework, and hear about the good news of Jesus Christ! I had about a week to give to the project before I had to move on, so I was happy to have some of the teenagers there to help bring things together. It was great to see them take ownership of the space. Let’s take a look!
Space #1- This space utilizes a dining room table and chairs to create the perfect place for cards or board games. The cluster of chandeliers add ambiance and their light reflects beautifully off the golden fish scale wall. I love the way that wall glows when the room has it’s “coffee house lights” on. Coffee house lights= all soft lamp lighting and no hard fluorescent light
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Space #2- This space was created with a bunch of flea market finds. I created two set-ups in this area. The first is a group of four chairs surrounding a table. This layout encourages conversation and I can just picture 4 gals sitting around drinking lattes (yes, high schoolers drink coffee now) and sharing their lives with each other. The other set-up is a steel countertop against the back wall which is a perfect place for finishing homework. Somehow I bet this area gets the least amount of use. 🙂 The backdrop includes boards with varying widths and stains as well as some homemade art. The “flowers” are made out of fabric and were created by some talented teenage gals!
2nd room
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Space #3- This space has a modern and minimal look. I found the cool vintage couch on craigslist and it just happened to be the perfect color for the rusted steel panel that I wanted to use in the space. I also made a custom “wood” rug with some leftover material I had. It says “everyday student ministry” and has the logo on/in it. As you can see the shelving unit could be filled with more books or other accessories, but for now the minimal look will have to do. 🙂 And just so you know, the folded books (also done by teenagers) are only there for the photo. I really needed a pillow and a blanket to break up the orange, but I didn’t have them on hand.
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So, that’s it! Have a wonderful weekend!!!

This article has 16 comments

  1. DomesticJenny

    Fabulous! Are you going to share details on how to do that fish scale wall? I’m in love with the look, how amazing would it be behind a sofa in a living room?!

  2. Kara Paslay

    Hey Girls! So, I will do a tutorial on the fish scale wall and the fabric flowers here in the near future. Glad to know you ladies like it! 🙂 Was there anything else you were interested in?

    Cait- The white shelf was actually a piece the church had in a back room and wasn’t using, so no I didn’t build it. And my mom drank coffee as a teenager too. 🙂 She and my grandma would drink it together so I don’t think you’re weird at all!

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