wall

October 31, 2006 12:46 PM

I have a giant blank wall in my new rented bedroom and I'd like to do something awesome with it, but nothing permanent so I lose my security deposit. What should I do?
posted by adrober to home & garden (21 comments total)

blik surface graphics
posted by plokent at 12:53 PM on October 31, 2006 [3 favorites]

I once turned a wall of my bedroom into a giant photo collage. Tape up big sheets of paper first so the pictures aren't taped to the wall, then start cutting them out--magazines are good, and a lot of times you can get those giant books of photography from the super-cheap discount tables at Border's or Barnes & Noble. I found it worked best to start at the top and work my way down.
posted by EarBucket at 12:55 PM on October 31, 2006

Is it white? A Digital projection TV!
posted by Gucky at 12:59 PM on October 31, 2006

It's fairly normal for people to paint their rented bedrooms. Many landlords repaint after a tenant leaves, anticipating things like this to happen, and do it without dipping into the security deposit. As long as whatever you're doing will be covered by a normal coat of paint, you should be free of problems. (And even then, you can get a reasonable approximation of the original paint to cover your modifications.)

Ask your landlord, but painting should be fine.

As for cool things to do, I've seen:

- Painted silhouettes of yourself/your friends in various poses
- Giant, blown-up images that were printed on a color printer on standard paper and carefully assembled to create the illusion that they were one large printed image
- Various license plates/other found things
- Foreign coins (though these tend to fall off)
- Playbill-type things -- if you're in NYC, you should see these all over the place
posted by kdar at 12:59 PM on October 31, 2006

Paint a mural on it? Of course, your work of art would be tragically temporary since you would have to paint over it before you move out.
posted by amro at 1:00 PM on October 31, 2006

overhead projector + transparency photocopied out of a cool coloring book + pick your own color scheme = life-sized awesome mural. couple coats of high-hide white before you move out and everything is punky brewster. you can find neat pattern books in a lot of different styles, shop around.

alternately: chalkboard paint!
posted by sonofslim at 1:03 PM on October 31, 2006

Rasterbate it
posted by djb at 1:05 PM on October 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

post-it mosaic
posted by LobsterMitten at 1:08 PM on October 31, 2006

Moon Pans
posted by bondcliff at 1:12 PM on October 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

Fabric wallcovering using starch

N.B. I have never used this and would be concerned about bugs being attracted by the starch. But it seems like a cool idea.
posted by katemonster at 1:18 PM on October 31, 2006

magnetic paint
posted by cgs at 1:37 PM on October 31, 2006 [3 favorites]

Get photos from thrift stores, yard sales, etc, and start to build a wall - use tacky stuff to put it up randomly or in nice rows or whatever.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 1:38 PM on October 31, 2006

Paint with laundry detergent and use a blacklight. Once you take the blacklight down you won't see anything.
posted by zek at 1:40 PM on October 31, 2006

I've seen people buy wallpaper-based, whole-wall pictures and then glue them with spray adhesive to some foam core and tack that up on the wall. This way they can take the mural or whatever with them when they move out and don't damage the wall by putting wallpaper up in the traditional fashion.
posted by HiddenInput at 1:40 PM on October 31, 2006

In college I put a bunch of those trippy taperisties up.
posted by bleucube at 1:46 PM on October 31, 2006

Wow I meant Tapestry
posted by bleucube at 1:46 PM on October 31, 2006

I always wanted to make a bunch of cardboard tiles in various geometric shapes and attach them to the wall in such a way that they "float" off the wall a few inches, with gaps between them, then install colored lights behind them.
posted by jimfl at 2:50 PM on October 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

Second the rasterbator. Just did it myself, looks pretty good (though I butchered it with my cutting). Most printing paper is flourescent too, so a nice big blacklight combined with a rasterbated image makes for a bad ass dorm room =D
posted by pwf at 4:03 PM on October 31, 2006

Personally I'd put up a whiteboard. A giant, classroom-sized whiteboard. *drools over whiteboard goodness*.

Then again, I'm a college student, and an engineering one no less, so maybe that's just me.
posted by !Jim at 6:18 PM on October 31, 2006

If you like the idea of the Blik wall adhesives mentioned upthread, but don't see a design you like, you can also check out the ones at Dvider. Modern Seed has some other of the wall graphics, too, including some that are chalkboards. Those could be great if you're at all artsy. If you want one of the removable stickers of a favorite quote or poem, you can check out Wonderful Graffiti or Wallwords.

I originally found these links when I was reading Apartment Therapy, so you can always browse there for additional ideas, as well.
posted by diamondsky at 7:13 PM on October 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

Army wives used to talk about putting up big sheets of fabric on the walls in base housing-- inexpensive and you can take it with you without leaving a mark. Soak the fabric in starch, wring out so it's damp, then apply like wallpaper. Google instructions before you do this-- I've never done it myself.
posted by orangemiles at 9:29 AM on November 1, 2006