Post grads give their childhood bedroom a makeover

Yesterday we showed you how to decorate your Milwaukee home after your children moved away from college. But what happens when your once empty nest is now invaded by your college grad? According to CollegeGrad.com, around 80 percent of college graduates return home in order to save money during these tough economic times. Deemed the "boomerang generation," this trend does not seem to be ending any time soon. We've listed a few helpful tips to make this transition period easier on you and your adult child, as well as decorating hints your grad can use to reinvent his or her childhood bedroom:

• De-clutter: Eliminating unwanted items will help your grad start fresh. Encourage him or her to host a yard sale or donate unwanted clothes and stuffed animals from childhood. Purging will give you room to redecorate a space with modern finishing.
• Mature Furniture: Although bean-bag chairs and futons are popular dorm room furniture, once your student graduates he or she is going to want a bedroom to exude maturity. Swap these plastic items for classic wood furniture or modern pieces with a metallic flair.
• Update color: Pastel colors and wallpaper were acceptable when your child was growing, but now that he or she is grown up, you may want to consider updating his or her room with a more mature color pallet. Swap baby blues for Pantone's top shade of "dazzling blue" and trade light shades for popular metallic. Bazaar Home Decorating Center can help change a room from childlike to sophisticated with our custom drapes and curtains.