Just when you think you've got your kid figured out a little bit, your pre-teen goes and changes yet again. Whether it's your daughter who suddenly hates the butterflies she was crazy about a month ago, or a son who suddenly loves green beans, keeping up as your child grows can prove pretty demanding.

The approach of the teen years can at least be anticipated, and as rocky as these years can be, you have a little bit of an advantage in that you can know that plenty more changes are in store, even if there's no way of knowing exactly how those changes will manifest themselves.

You can be sure that you'll have a recurrent tug-of-war over who is really in charge of this person who once so readily cuddled up on your lap for story hour. You'll see your child revert to wanting stuffed animals even as, in the same breath, she insists she's not a kid anymore and should be allowed to stay out until 10 at night.

Of course, the room your child inhabits will become the physical manifestation of all this change, and you can go some way toward smoothing the road to adulthood with some foresight and planning as age 11 clicks over to 12 and 12 over to 13.

This is a time in which your kid will be looking for ways to assert his increasing maturity, and to separate from you a little bit more. The more you can allow her to have some say in room decoration, the more she'll feel you're granting her that responsibility, and the less she'll have to act out her separation from you.

If your teen or pre-teen is starting to make noises about getting a room make-over, you can begin by setting aside a weekend afternoon for a giant throw-away party. Go through everything, from clothes to toys to books to jewelry, and get rid of everything too "babyish" or simply too small. This will make for much more room, for one thing, so you may discover that you don't really need to buy a new set of dresser drawers, now that they're not stuffed with old t-shirts in size 6.

Plus, you can make a few dollars to put toward financing the room make-over by taking much of the stuff to a consignment shop, or by having a yard sale.

Of course, you can keep your kids' special items, either on a shelf dedicated to memoribilia or in a box that goes in the attic. This will allow your child to feel that he's able to maintain his connection to the past even as he plunges headlong into the uncertain furture of adolescence.

Once you've cleared out the old, it's time to bring in the new. Probably the most immediate need as your child grows will be for a new bed; all too often parents skimp on the quality of a kid's mattress, and this might be a good time to replace Old Saggy with something that will give your child more support for those growing bones. If you invest in a high-quality, adult size mattress now, you'll be able to use it later as a guest bed, once Junior is safely away at college or living in his own apartment. You don't need a queen bed; they still make good old double or full-sized mattress and box-springs, which take up less room but can still comfortably sleep a couple - when you use it as a guest bed years from now, not for Junior and his girlfriend.

While you're at it, a new headboard and footboard can give a more grown-up feeling to the room. Something in wrought iron or brass can feel feminine and sweet, and something more plain and dark can give a more masculine tone to the room. Either one feels more grown-up.

Bear in mind that the function of your child's room may be changing now, too. If your kid is involved with sports, you may need to provide more room for hockey sticks or other gear. A serious student, or a student in whom you want to encourage serious studying, could benefit from a well-organized desk area in the bedroom, where she'll be able to concentrate better than in the living room with the t.v. on and the adults' conversations swirling around. Your child might also now want more privacy for long chats with her girlfriends, or she might want more room for sleepover parties.

Helping you pre-teen develop a sense of independence is important for both of you, and the more your child sees that you really do want her to grow up, the more likely she'll be to trust you during the next years. And having that trust sure beats installing a spy camera in the corner of the kid's room to monitor every move.

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Recommended Reading: The Smart Approach to Kids' Rooms - My husband and I have 3 children ranging from age 11 to age 7. We had several ideas about what we wanted and this book helped us to refine our ideas. The kids were very excited because they could look at pictures and discuss what they liked and didn't like about the suggestions. (courtesy: Amazon)

What's Related: Decorating Bedrooms | Decorating Children's Rooms | Decorating a Boy's Room | Decorating a Girl's Room | Making a Neck Roll Pillow

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Reprinted with permission from the Sheffield School of Design