| How many square feet would you say a room needs if you're hoping it will be a desirable "hangout space" for teens so your kid and their friends spend a fair amount of their time at your house? |
| It’s not the house, it’s how welcoming you are. Food, games, etc |
| I know it's not the most important factor, but surely the physical space matters at least a little? Is there a room size that"s too small to be workable? |
| Ours is about 15 x 20, but being welcoming and accepting is more important. |
| For boys you need just need snacks, a tv, and a good video game system. If you can hang two tvs, even better. |
| My husband and his friends hung out in a glorified crawl space when they were in high school. Dirt floor, low ceiling, about 100 sq. ft, etc…. but it was private and their own. |
| They just want somewhere unsupervised. |
This. Call it welcoming if you will. They want privacy and not to see adults. Food helps. Gaming system a must. Can really be any size if it fits a couch and screen. |
| It needn’t be any bigger than the phone in their hand. |
Nope. My son's room is 9x10, and he's had 6 or 7 guys crammed in there having a blast. There are other places in the house they could hand out, but his room has a very college dormroom feel to it, loft and all. So they seem to like it. |
This. |
| Am I the only one the cringes at the idea of adults putting lots of thought and money into making their house a hangout spot for teens? |
Not if you have the money and space but usually it's more about the parents than the kids. Usually they do it so the kids cannot be seen or heard. |
Or it might be because the parent wants to keep their kid close and under their watch. That can backfire because they will gravitate elsewhere if you are hovering or weird. |
Good parents supervise what goes on. |