For anyone who has ever lived with a teenager or pre-teen, you know there are two things they can never have enough of - STORAGE SPACE and MONEY.  Let them sweat about the money - maybe they'll learn the value of hard work and effort.  But give them storage, lots and lots of storage.

While baskets look great on bookshelves and will never go out of style, they just don't work for kids.  Colour plastic bins, on the other hand, will stand the test of time.  They're also pretty durable when it comes to being kicked under the bed and stacked haphazardly in the closet.  Best buys for everything from CD racks to make-up bins?  You guessed it - IKEA.  They also have sturdy metal bins in bright colours which kids love.

Typically, a teenager's room is littered with clothing.  Definitely no need for fancy rugs here !  The key is to get everything else off the floor.  Maximize your vertical wall space with shelves and CD racks, add some hooks on the back of doors, hang mesh bags from the ceiling.  It will make laundry day easier.  When your teen scoops up a handful of clothes to toss in the wash, you'll know that it's ONLY clothes going into the machine.  This really saves wear and tear on running shoes, school books and the family cat - all of which are not water friendly.

Bean Bag chairs have also made a big comeback.  Some things DO look good tossed in a corner.