Entering Planet Room.
May 23, 2011 9:16 PM Subscribe
I'm getting tired of how my room currently looks. The walls cannot be painted. I want to pretty the room up with lights of various colors, patterns, and effects, so at night, when I enter my room, it feels like I'm entering a different space entirely. What ideas, suggestions, examples can you lend me?
I'm definitely a beginner when it comes to lighting design. As of now, I live in a small space, four white walls, two east-facing windows, and barely any furniture. I cannot paint the walls. That doesn't mean I can't cover up the walls with sheets, and paint said sheets. The focus should be on lights, however. I'm a bit averse to blacklights, but not completely against it.
I'm definitely a beginner when it comes to lighting design. As of now, I live in a small space, four white walls, two east-facing windows, and barely any furniture. I cannot paint the walls. That doesn't mean I can't cover up the walls with sheets, and paint said sheets. The focus should be on lights, however. I'm a bit averse to blacklights, but not completely against it.
Vinyl wall decals. Think Geek no longer carries this thing, but whatever the right search term for those are, they are cool.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:41 PM on May 23, 2011
posted by DarlingBri at 9:41 PM on May 23, 2011
Make your own artistic fabric panels - make a big frame(s) with inexpensive 1x1's and staple fabric you like to to and hang on the wall (or buy a stretcher frame at an art supply store). Put uplights on the floor under the panels to spotlight them.
posted by cecic at 10:15 PM on May 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by cecic at 10:15 PM on May 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
Curtains and your duvet/bedspread are huge visual parts of your room - colourful/patterned/pretty ones can have a HUGE visual impact on your room. They can change the whole feel.
Framed prints or posters or photos above your bed make a huge difference too - it's almost always the largest empty wall in a room, and filling it with something visually interesting will make your room feel 'decorated' and like 'a bedroom' instead of just 'a room with a bed in it'.
Also: a big potted plant.
Done!
posted by Kololo at 10:16 PM on May 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
Framed prints or posters or photos above your bed make a huge difference too - it's almost always the largest empty wall in a room, and filling it with something visually interesting will make your room feel 'decorated' and like 'a bedroom' instead of just 'a room with a bed in it'.
Also: a big potted plant.
Done!
posted by Kololo at 10:16 PM on May 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
Like cecic suggests but try attaching fairy/string lights to the back of the fabric instead so it looks like a light picture. Having task lighting instead of overhead lighting makes such a huge difference to a room. I never use the overhead light in my bedroom as I have a couple of lamps instead and it feels much softer and more welcoming.
posted by Wantok at 10:19 PM on May 23, 2011
posted by Wantok at 10:19 PM on May 23, 2011
Seconding the cloth panels and the wall decals (Blik).
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:51 AM on May 24, 2011
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:51 AM on May 24, 2011
Seconding uplights! Even if you don't do the wall panels.
posted by vitabellosi at 4:41 AM on May 24, 2011
posted by vitabellosi at 4:41 AM on May 24, 2011
If you want to play around with different colors of lights to see what kind of effects you can get, Amazon carries LED lightbulbs that change color by remote control. I got one for someone as a gift, and the range of colors is pretty nice. (I actually got it mostly because they were looking for a dimmable LED bulb, and figured the colors would be a fun bonus. The color range was much better than I expected.) I think you can use multiple bulbs with one remote.
posted by pie ninja at 5:53 AM on May 24, 2011
posted by pie ninja at 5:53 AM on May 24, 2011
A mirror ball makes patterns. Gels add color, though I can't tell if this set has gels.
posted by Francolin at 6:26 AM on May 24, 2011
posted by Francolin at 6:26 AM on May 24, 2011
Tissue paper pom-poms are super-easy to make and hang from the ceiling. If you tack up some white christmas lights along with them, it instantly creates a portal to a fairy world. Black or metallic tissue paper could be used for a less frighteningly Martha-esque effect. You might even acquire lights with a twinkle effect, if you aren't easily distracted by motion.
posted by sally onion at 8:49 AM on May 24, 2011
posted by sally onion at 8:49 AM on May 24, 2011
These lanterns are really cool, I just made some myself. And using different colored yarn, or even food coloring for the glue, could yield pretty results. To buy all of the ingredients, it'd be about 15 dollars, and would yield about 40.
They're under the category of "lightless lanterns", but if you wanted to make them be illuminate, you could just hang them from these
posted by shesaysgo at 10:56 AM on May 24, 2011
They're under the category of "lightless lanterns", but if you wanted to make them be illuminate, you could just hang them from these
posted by shesaysgo at 10:56 AM on May 24, 2011
If you have a bed with a dolid headboard, or better yet with interesting cut-out of any sort, backlighting the headboard can look very cool. But somthing like this takes special furniture.
posted by aimedwander at 11:25 AM on May 24, 2011
posted by aimedwander at 11:25 AM on May 24, 2011
(oh, found it! Here's the photo I was thinking of when I started writing that!)
posted by aimedwander at 11:27 AM on May 24, 2011
posted by aimedwander at 11:27 AM on May 24, 2011
I have never tried this myself, so take it for what it's worth... You can cover a wall with fabric panels by using liquid starch rolled on with a paint roller. It's water soluble, so you can remove the panels when you move out.
posted by annsunny at 2:30 PM on May 24, 2011
posted by annsunny at 2:30 PM on May 24, 2011
Dear god, please do not paint sheets and call them wall decorations...
What is Blik has awesome wall stickers, they come off anything.
Posters will work, although if you are out of college you won't look mature with these.
Pictures of your friends organized neatly will fill space and provide an area that draws people in.
Good luck!
posted by darkgroove at 5:51 PM on May 24, 2011
What is Blik has awesome wall stickers, they come off anything.
Posters will work, although if you are out of college you won't look mature with these.
Pictures of your friends organized neatly will fill space and provide an area that draws people in.
Good luck!
posted by darkgroove at 5:51 PM on May 24, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Also, colored translucent lampshades.
posted by 5ean at 9:36 PM on May 23, 2011