Off the Walls of Teens

By Lini S. Kadaba, For The Inquirer

Posted: June 21, 2013

Want to know everything there is to know about the resident teenager? Walk into her room.

"Three minutes of observation in my bedroom will tell you more about me than three hours of conversation," Valerie Lenzi, 18, a senior at Owen J. Roberts High School, wrote in her Common App college essay. "Walk through the heavy, metal kitchen door, up the mauve-carpeted staircase . . . and stop directly in front of the last door on the left. You have reached my tangible soul: my bedroom."

Episcopal Academy seniors Audrey Regillo (left) and Lauren Murray used objects from classmates' rooms for an exhibit called "The Art We Sleep With." (CHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer)

Covered in posters and art prints, Lenzi's room showcases her musical tastes (The Kooks, Jonas Brothers - a nod to her younger days, she allows), her favorite movie ( Breakfast at Tiffany's), her love of all things French (the Eiffel Tower), and her interest in religion ( The Last Supper). Two cherished paintings - a tea party and dragonfly - were made by her grandmother. Even the sloped ceiling above her bed has personality: cutout block letters spell We could rule the world/On a silver platter, lines from fave British singer-songwriter Mika.

"My room expresses me," Lenzi says. "It's my sanctuary."

Experts say the teenage bedroom, more than ever, has become a highly personalized retreat from the outside world. At the same time, many share this most private place with any and all - whether through essays to college admissions officers, videos at the recently launched Do Not Enter Diaries website, or the wider worlds of Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Christine Clay Gorka, an adjunct professor of art and design at Villanova University, notes many teens choose iconic images of old-time movies or classic rockers, selected not only for individual interest but, she thinks, for the universal vibe. "They want somebody that everybody else recognizes," she says.

In many ways, teen bedrooms feel familiar, echoing the decor of bedrooms from a generation ago - their boomer parents'. Sure, the record player is replaced by an iPod, and a laptop is a necessity. But teens still make wall collages, line bookshelves with knickknacks, trophies, and pics, and value those Beatles posters (alongside Britney Spears) and beanbags.

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