ROOMS FOR GROWTH TEENS BRING THEIR OWN SENSE OF STYLE TO INCREASINGLY PERSONAL HAVENS.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Staff Writer

Teens are soaking up the sun of the tropics and climbing the Eiffel Tower - from the comfort of their own bedrooms.

``Teenagers want to be someplace else these days,'' says Valencia interior designer Cynthia Piana. ``I think their stress levels have escalated. They have more pressures from school, sports and parents than ever before, and they're often decorating their room with a location theme.

And the hot spots? Paris, tropical islands, Asia and Africa, say decorating experts and local teens who want to feel like they're on vacation without leaving home.

``Unfortunately we're at a funny time at the moment. Teens are bruised by the elements of war, and the security thing is very important, so the tropical or desert oasis doesn't surprise me,'' says Claire Brooks, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Lambesis Research Group, which tracks the trends of youth across the country for its quarterly L Style Report.

Brooks, who's been talking to teens for almost 20 years, says they have always wanted to escape to their room but no longer are as interested in creating an anti-establishment or Goth statement with black walls and posters as they were in the '90s. ``Drugs are fairly prevalent, but they are not so linked to bedroom decor as they once were,'' Brooks says, adding that it's a good time to be a parent because many teens are expressing themselves with good taste and symbols of places they want to go - or have been.

Headed for Hawaii

For 16-year-old Kerry Medina of West Hills, the location is Hawaii. When she returned from a family vacation to the Big Island, she brought home a suitcase full of memories and tropical print fabric. With her mother's help, she painted the room a bright aqua, sewed a bedspread and pillows, and added beachy bamboo shades. And instead of posting a ``Keep Out'' sign, she hung a ceramic surfboard sign that says ``Aloha.''

``It's hard to fit your whole personality into one little room. If it were only bigger, I'd have a tropical print sofa and maybe a real surfboard, but I have plenty of leis and hibiscus flowers around the room that show a welcoming spirit, and I have noticed that when people leave my room they are happy and uplifted,'' says Medina of her little sanctuary.

Next stop: Paris

Even before the movie ``Moulin Rouge,'' Ashley Benning had started decorating her bedroom with a Paris theme that includes an Eiffel Tower clock, Monet prints, and lots of pillows and heavy draperies inspired by Louis XIV's extravagant reign.

``I went to Paris in the ninth grade and liked the castles,'' says the 19-year-old from Woodland Hills, `` so I tried to bring the architecture into my room.''

To create her own little Paris apartment, Benning and her mother sponge-painted the walls in lilac and green for a European effect, then they found a chandelier at a garage sale and picked out the rest of the furnishings at Target; Bed, Bath and Beyond; and antique stores.

``It's turned out to be a little more grown-up than other teens' rooms, but I wanted something that I could appreciate for years to come, and now my little sister Kimberly has given her room a hip New York look,'' says Benning with a chuckle.

Shooting for the stars

She's never been there, but Cynthia Inman of Saugus dreams about what it's like in a distant galaxy. Almost a teen (she's 12), she's always liked the space theme in the bathroom of her dentist's office and is crazy about the Griffith Observatory, so she talked her mother into painting the room dark blue and purple with splashes of glow-in-the-dark paint to create a starry-night effect that she can see as she lays in bed. She added purple curtains to make the room darker and also a black light to intensify her artistic touches.

``I love my room, and I really like outer space, but I wouldn't have been able to decorate like this if it weren't for my aunt (who works for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge) because she gets me all these posters and space and planet information that are on the ceiling,'' says Inman.

It's a family affair

``Decorating a room is a great way for teens and parents to communicate. When kids participate, they have more respect for their space and are more likely to take better care of their stuff, and if they're part of the shopping process, they learn about the cost of things,'' says Randi Fabrick, a social worker at the Teen Center at Kaiser Permanente in Woodland Hills.

Fabrick adds that the decorating experience can also help the teen learn how to negotiate, a skill she says is best learned at home.

Interior designer Piana, who has decorated youthful bedrooms for the Assistance League of Southern California's Design House, says extra-comfy bedding is a high priority among today's teens and that if money is an issue, they want to spend it on the bed.

``It's usually a double or queen size so a friend can sleep over and has a pillow-topped mattress with goose down comforter and pillows, which is almost like a haven,'' comments Brooks.

Other items up for negotiation include painting murals on mini blinds, wall colors and posters that reflect the teen's tastes in movies and music. And what about TVs and computers?

``Teens need to know that telephones, computers and televisions are something you earn due to good behavior and grades, and that they can be taken away when they no longer deserve them,'' says Fabrick.

And parents need to remember that although their teens are too young for a bachelor pad or the lifestyle on MTV's ``Cribs,'' they have outgrown Hello Kitty or pink ruffles.

Teen wish list

--Luxury bedding

--Travel theme decor

--TV, computer, telephone

--Posters reflecting tastes

--Space for collections, souvenirs

--Throw rugs

--Nonwhite walls

--Eclectic furnishings

Teen decorating tricks

When you want a designer look but have to make do with your imagination, consider these tips from Debbie Travis' book ``Kids' Rooms'' (Potter; $19.95) and ``Katie Brown Decorates'' (HarperResource; $32.50):

--For a disco look, cover a heart-shaped plywood headboard with silver reflective Con-Tact paper cut into tiny rectangles to look like mirror tiles.

--To make your ceiling seem higher, hang curtains far above the window, as close to the ceiling as possible. Long curtains add drama; short curtains are cutesy.

--To make a room appear more spacious, paint the walls a light color and hang mirrors.

--Create a feathery lampshade by spraying shade with adhesive and wrapping with feather boas from craft stores. Use double-sided tape to secure completely.

--Turn a sawhorse and hollow-core door into a metal-finished desk using metallic spray paint and acrylic varnish.

--Turn worn-out skateboards (or surfboards) into shelves with a pair of brackets. --Use ordinary things, such as broomsticks or tree branches for curtain rods, a picket-fence panel for a headboard and scarves as curtains to save money and add decorative interest.

--Create the illusion of a bed canopy with a piece of gauze draped over a bamboo rod suspended from ceiling on two hooks; decorate with beads.

- Barbara De Witt

Shopping for style

Privacy and panache are hard to come by, but retailers have addressed both issues. In search of teen trends - and trendy accessories - we hit the malls. Here's what we found at the Glendale Galleria, Westfield Shoppingtown at Topanga in Canoga Park and the Promenade in Woodland Hills, as well as Fallbrook Square in West Hills:

At Limited Too, the hot tickets are beaded curtains, disco balls and several items directed at privacy issues. Among them are a plush doorbell shaped like a cat face that buzzes and purrs; a bedroom door alarm that beeps when intruders enter, and personal-size lockers.

More privacy-inspired accessories were spotted at Claire's. The loot included ``Keep Out'' signs framed in leopard and plastic door bells shaped like frogs. The teen outpost also carries '70s butterfly chairs, which seem to be favored most by pre- and post-teens.

For the Hawaiian-themed room, check out the Hula collection of bedding by Tommy Hilfiger at Robinsons-May, and the tropical lifestyle collection now at Mervyn's. You'll find island-themed sequined throw pillows at Z Gallerie stores.

So you'll always have Paris, dine on Eiffel tower plates from Macy's, read by an Eiffel tower lamp at Target (and check out the Swell-brand bedding and rugs) and watch time go by with French-themed clocks at the new Kohl's department stores (one is located at Fallbrook Square).

Teens may think they're too old for Charlotte's Room, but the store stocks inexpensive accessories that could add a little color to dreary digs.

- Barbara De Witt

CAPTION(S):

8 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- cover -- color) ON THE COVER: Ashley Benning of Woodland Hills fell in love with Paris and made it the theme of her room. Key details are fanciful drapery treatments, Eiffel Tower accessories and furniture found at garage sales, above.

(4 -- 5 -- color) Cynthia Inman of Saugus turned her bedroom into a mini observatory with posters of the planets, left, glow-in-the-dark stars and curtains of purple beads, above.

(6 -- 7 -- color) Kerry Medina of West Hills brought memories and fabric home from her family trip to Hawaii. The location theme was a mother-daughter project that provided lessons in budgeting and decorating, right and far right.

(8) Location-themed bedrooms such as Kerry Medina's, left, are big on self-expression and collectibles. Note her imaginative use of a grass skirt.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) Teen wish list (see text)

(2) Teen decorating tricks (see text)

(3) Shopping for style (see text)