Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with decoration

A Campy Christmas

bigmusic — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:23:20 -0800

I'd like to decorate my apartment in the most campy way possible. What must I have?

Holiday lights: hang 'em high!

Bardolph — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:58:49 -0800

How can I conveniently and safely affix a string of Christmas lights to the edge of a second-story roof? Halloween's over, and it's officially time to start planning holiday decorations, hurray! My challenge this year: to get a string of lights (preferably icicle, but standard C4s in a pinch) hung along the eave of a ~22'-high roof.

It sounds simple, but the roof is really too high and treacherous to go with the standard plastic light clips that have to be manually stuck on and pulled off the gutter every season. I think I could probably make it up there once, to install whatever hanging hardware may be necessary, but after that the lights will have to be hangable from the ground exclusively.

My current thought is to screw metal hooks into the underside of the eaves, then hoist a string of lights onto the hooks using a tall pole of some sort-- but without any way to close the hooks, I worry that the lights might blow down in a gusty wind. Ideally, there'd be some more secure way to make sure the lights stay attached, but can still be hung and removed easily by someone reaching out a window or standing on the ground.

So what might be some clever alternatives for hanging long strings of lights across high places? Has anyone had any success with pulley/clothesline-type apparatuses? Or with these dodgy-looking lighting tracks? Any other bright ideas?

Details:
--There's a small dormer in the middle of the roofline which it'd be nice to outline as well, although in theory the lights could be strung straight across that.
--The gutter is also accessible at wide intervals from second-story windows, as shown in this crude drawing.

Any and all suggestions welcome-- thanks!

Help me identify these ceramic wall tiles...

momentofmagnus — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:08:09 -0800

Help me identify these ceramic wall tiles... Was looking at a ridiculously expensive bathroom supplier catalogue (Boffi). Can't afford the bathtubs, but rather liked the wall tiles you can see in this image. There's another shot I couldn't find on the web which shows them from a different angle - looks like they're quite reflective, and each tile is a little irregular in surface, i.e. not entirely flat.

Oh wonderful hive mind, do you have any ideas where I might find such things?

Help me create a lovely little bedroom!

nicolas léonard sadi carnot — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:21:22 -0800

I need advice on how to make more warm and inviting my tiny little bedroom. It's dominated by a mahogany finish queen bed with black and white linen, which I absolutely love; there's about a foot of clearance to one side of the bed and about two feet at the foot. A mirrored built-in wardrobe faces the foot of the bed. The only other furniture is a little nightstand tucked up alongside the bed.

The walls are white; the light is bright, and the cumulative effect is depressingly Spartan. How best can I make this functional sleep venue in into a cosy retreat?

Please design help me design a functionally medieval bedroom

jalexc — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:30:47 -0800

Please help me find tasteful, grown-up fantasy-themed decorative and design ideas for a bedroom. Longer explanation inside. I have a large bedroom that I'm considering decorating with some kind of medieval/fantasy theme. It shouldn't be too cute, but I also don't want it to be too severe. I'm not looking to go overboard on this, and don't want to put dragons and suits of armor all over the place. I've tried searching MeFi, Google, and various home design sites (like apartment therapy), but I'm having trouble finding descriptive terms for what I'm looking for. "Fantasy" might not be it.

The end result I'm going for is something where these three pictures (Joanna Newsom's Ys, Mastodon's Blood Mountain, and the Arnolfini Portrait) could all hang on the walls. I especially like the geometric patterns in the background of the Blood Mountain picture, and was thinking I could try to find some fabric with a similar design to stretch over wood squares and put up. Runes might also be good (something like this).

About the room: it's long, with hardwood floors and dark brown wood furniture. One long wall is all windows, so there's plenty of light. There are curtain rods, but we're just using blinds for now. There isn't a lot of space for free standing stuff, but there is a lot of open wall space and a lot of surface space and empty shelves.

Do you have any suggestions for nature/fantasy/magic decoration that won't make my bedroom look like a Spinal Tap show?

Or, do you have any suggestions for how I should phrase this so I can have more successful searches? ("watered down elder scrolls" "middle earth lite" etc. aren't turning up much) Is there a term for that geometric design, for instance, that would let me find similar things?

Happy to provide more info or clarity if needed. Thanks in advance.

Something nice for the walls

amethysts — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:03:18 -0800

Any suggestions for large-size, office appropriate wall art? The walls in question are that institutional cream-colored cinder block. Can't be too girly or too grim. Online and budget-conscious a must. I know Blick art stores sell those nice poster-size prints and patterns but I can't seem to find them online. I'm also trolling through Etsy but that is a needle-haystack situation and could take forever. I could use a few pointers in the right direction..

Help me fill this large white wall! (Spending as little as possible).

madeinitaly — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:18:30 -0800

Help me fill this large white wall! (Spending as little as possible). One of the walls of my living room is 5 meters long and more than 3 tall - the couch lays below it (see it here).

It has been white and empty for a while and whatever solutions Ithought of, would cost me a fortune.

Here you can see the rest of the walls (1, 2, 3) to understand the style: it's white and metal (it's messy in the photos but it is supposed to be very minimal overall) and my tastes are mainstream nerdy with a trendy eye.

Let me know how you would fill that white wall (and how to do it cheap, knowing i need to source stuff in Europe, so shipping a 4x3 meters frame probably is not cheap) !

What goes on my wall?

erikgrande — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:29:59 -0800

What long, decorative item (say, 12'x4') can I hang on my empty wall? If it happened to absorb sound from the opposing speakers, that'd be great. Here is a very rough diagram of my situation. The area in question is the red line at the bottom. The walls are flat drywall, painted light brown. It seems all the rugs I come across are either too wide (i.e., tall when turned sideways) or are runners that are too skinny (often 2 or 2.5 ft wide). I've been leaning towards a rug to reduce reflections from the speakers, but I'm open-minded. Thanks.

Are the small mirrors on the outside of apartment buildings in San Francisco always Feng Shui Bagua Mirrors?

bottlebrushtree — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:45:50 -0800

Are the small mirrors on the outside of apartment buildings in San Francisco always Feng Shui Bagua Mirrors? From time to time I'll see small circular mirrors on the outsides of apartment buildings in San Francisco. Doing some web research I came across things called Feng Shui Bagua mirrors which look similar to some but not all of the mirrors I've encountered.

Are there any other purposes for small mirrors like that on the outside of buildings or are what we are seeing Banua mirrors?

Hey You, Get Your Damn Hands Off Her.

Brettus — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:05:31 -0800

Looking for a copy of the Enchantment Under the Sea poster that was in Back to the Future. It's where they kiss for the first time... Back to the Future is my favorite movie of all time, without question. I recently moved into a new home and I want to do some tasty decorating in my office. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of movie posters, too obvious. But I would like to have something from Back to the Future up on the walls. I thought the Enchantment Under the Sea Poster might look pretty cool. However, I cannot find one for purchase anywhere.

I have searched a few places on the web - and if all else fails, I am not opposed to making it myself - but a replica of some sorts would be the bees knees. Anyone have one or know where to find one to buy?

Thanks in advance for your help - even if this doesn't exist, suggestions as to other things I could put up would be welcome (even consider things from II or III).

Pimp my yurt?

ajarbaday — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:18:50 -0800

How can I make my yurt time special? What should I do with my new yurt?

I just moved into a tiny yurt, about 10 feet by 10 feet big and 6 feet tall. It's made of wood and sits in the West Virginia mountains. The ceiling is slanted, so there is crouching to get in and out of it. It's the smallest place I've ever lived, and I'll be living it for another six months. Does anyone have ideas for making it both more functional and / or special? There are a few small quirks:

1) It's drafty. There are many gaps in the boards, since the boards are set together and it's only one layer thick. I've thought about covering the walls in old blankets, cloth, or just tarping it, but I might just try to tough it out until spring.

2) There is storage space underneath the yurt, but it's not waterproof.

What would you do to make a small space with low ceilings feel like home? I have almost no carpentry skills, but I'd be willing to try simple projects. Are there any other ways that people have made their small, non-traditional spaces fun to be in?
I can give more specs on my new pad if people would like. Also, I do not have electricity. There is a larger yurt that has a kitchen, library, etc., so my smaller yurt is mostly like my bedroom.

Any and all suggestions welcomed, from the weird to the practical.

Thanks.

Where to buy blood splatter posters?

Joakim Ziegler — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:48:20 -0800

Where can I find blood splatter posters, or other technical diagrams/posters, to decorate my office? I was just watching an episode of "Dexter", and the main characters, who's a blood splatter analyst with the Miami PD, has several posters of blood splatter examples in his office. One is divided into several smaller images, showing blood drops aither in different states of running, or at different angles, another has what looks like a drag pattern.

I'd like to get some of these posters for my office. Where can I get them? Preferably somewhere that ships internationally and accepts international credit cards. Other highly specialized/weird technical posters and diagrams in poster form might be interesting too, areas like medicine, forensics, science, architecture, etc.

Sorry, love, there is no color that would match that floor.

halogen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:36:33 -0800

What color should I paint a bedroom with a swirly brown-black-reddish stained concrete floor? I will be staying with my parents in Houston, TX for five months. They just got a great deal on a townhome, and in order to give me more privacy, suggested that I can have the first-floor bedroom if I like it. I love it!

Since the house was a forclosure, dad will be painting all rooms before any furniture is moved into the house. Unfortunately, I won't be in Texas when he does that. He's keeping the original paint colors everywhere in the house since he likes them and doesn't want to bother with more than one coat. However, I am somewhat sick of beige and white walls, so I get to pick the colors I like for my room.

Normally, I'd go with a pale pastel blue or sage green, but the first floor of the house has brownish stained concrete floors, and I am not sure what would look good with them.

I love brown, and I love the combination of brown/light baby blue, but the floors look somewhat more reddish under artificial light than in the pictures and I can't tell whether that would look good or bad. The sheets and pillows on my bed (pretty much the only furniture for the time being) are baby blue with a brown and blue duvet cover (none of those crazy pillows), and the doors and window frames will stay white unless I am very persuasive as to why they shouldn't. Also, chances are dad won't be happy if I ask him to paint every wall a different color.

The room is small and will be used pretty much only for sleeping. My mom and I have been eyeing rugs for it, but won't be spending this much money any time soon. I love, love, love this rug and the color scheme: the floor is not too far off from the reddish flowers, and the blue matches my sheets, by the way. I guess I'll live with beige walls if I it's the best choice, but would rather not.

Please, people with better taste than mine, tell me what would look good in my shiny, new bedroom?

My apartment needs a tune-up.

backseatpilot — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:23:27 -0800

What makes a living space go from good to great? As the days get shorter and darker, I tend to take a little bit of time about this point in the year to try to improve my indoor life. Last year I took up a hobby, this year I think I need to concentrate on the living space.

I like my apartment. It's a good apartment, but I want it to scream "This apartment is awesome!" I'm not really sure how to do that. The furniture generally follows a theme, there are pictures on the walls, and it's kept in a reasonably clean state. I think there's enough lighting, but even if there wasn't I don't have anywhere else to plug in more lamps.

So, I guess the question is - what are some small, subtle things that one can do to/add to/subtract from a living space to give it just that extra, undefinable zing that makes living there extraordinarily satisfying and has guests wondering who your decorator is?

How to party like it's 1899?

The Whelk — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:59:47 -0800

Steampunk Party On a Budget? Music, Decor, and Give-Aways. I have been tasked with creating a "Steakpunk" theme for our semi-weekly event. We'll have some costumed folk but I need music suggestions (beyond Gilbert and Sullivan) and ideas for dressing our stage. It's a small triangular stage with a dark wood back. Ideally, all decoration should be able to fit into a large duffel-bag and be carried across town. Ideally, it shouldn't cost more than 60 bucks. We are willing to construct simple things. I have til Saturday.

Plants on my Balcony

barrakuda — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:16:08 -0800

What should I plant on my balcony? So I have two balconies in my new apartment, both come with two huge built-in concrete plant thingies. What should I plant?

In terms of the first balcony, I'm looking for decorative plants that would look good (hopefully green) all year round. I like all sorts of ivies, i love lavender (although not sure it would not turn grey and ugly at some point of the years) - can you suggest anything else? Links to pictures of goodlooking plants greatly appreciated.

In terms of the second balcony, I was thinking about perhaps growing some herbs (of the non-smokable variety), not sure however if the climate (Germany) would allow for a year long production? What are some herbs that would keep well year round? Rosemary perhaps?

Please give me your suggestions and any general tips, comments, hacks, views on successfully planting on the balcony. Thanks.

Creative wedding table centerpiece ideas that don't involve flowers or candles?

supercrayon — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:24:06 -0800

Creative wedding table centerpiece ideas that don't involve flowers or candles? The place I'm having my reception is a heritage home and prohibits the use of candles, flowers, or glitter inside. So I'm having a hard time coming up with centerpieces for the reception tables because almost everything I look at involves either...flowers or candles. Any ideas anyone? I'm also working (as most brides are I guess) with a fairly limited budget, so cheapy ideas are most welcome.

Help finding beautiful science, math and music posters

storybored — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:37:00 -0800

Help me find beautiful posters with science, math or music as the subject. Which science, math and music posters do you love?

I've also felt that mathematical formulae and the musical scores of certain pieces have an innate beauty to them. Any examples that come to mind for you?

What would Duff do? (cake decoration, flamingos)

julen — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:30:27 -0800

Cake Decoration filter: What should the legs of my (rice krispy) flock of flamingos be made of? After watching a lot of Ace of Cakes, my mom and I have decided to make a fancy-schmancy cake. We've figured everything out except for the distinctive flamingo legs on the flock of flamingos that will be wandering across the surface. We haven't loved any of the ideas we've come up with so far (have them all swimming; use lollypop blank sticks; use pipe cleaners). Any good flamingoesque solution will do, but bonus points for an edible leg structure.

The bodies of the 'mingos will probably be 3 to 5 inches high from belly to raised head and will be molded from rice krispies and covered with icing, although I'll totally fudge that measurement to suit the legs.

How do I display my magazines on the wall?

hipersons — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:00:30 -0800

I have a small collection of very collectible graphic design magazines. I really hate to just let them stack, so I really want to find a way to display them on the wall. Does anyone know of a good way to do this? Obviously I could squish them in a picture frame, but I'm thinking there might be something else out there. Maybe there's a nice pocket thing so I could easily take out the magazine and skim through it.

One goal, is to NOT cut up the magazines. This would ruin the worth.

Where Can I Sell Body Decoration Items Online?

gadha — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:34:06 -0800

How can I effectively sell cheap (<20 GBP) accessories and body decoration items online in the UK? Question for a friend:

She has a number of very cheap (on average 5 GBP) funky body decoration items that she sold from her shop (in addition to other things).

Unfortunately, the shop has closed down but she would like to continue to sell the items online. Her main concerns are:

1. Exposure -- She's looking for the items to be found and noticed easily
2. Ease of use/Lack of expense -- It is certainly beyond her means to start creating merchant accounts, etc.. ideally paypal and the ability to manually track orders would be fine.
3. Expansion -- She would like to be able to put things up and take them down easily as her line of items changes quite rapidly.
4. Location -- UK would be best but European and US sites are acceptable as well.

She has tried ebay but finds that her goods get drowned in the volume of items ebay has available.

Any other recommendations received gratefully.

Where to Buy Inexpensive Wood Columns?

mincus — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 08:48:35 -0800

My wife and I are looking to make our entertainment room look somewhat like an Opera house. Any ideas for procuring inexpensive-columns? The prices for new columns (along with the base and capital) made from wood or plastic seem to start at around $500 (and then go much much higher). This seems really high something relatively simple.

The columns won't be load bearing, they are merely for decoration. We've also done some antique store hunting to see if they had some old beat up columns, but no luck so far.

So do any green reading column experts have any ideas? Thanks!

Help me find prints/maps of each of the cities I've lived in!

melodykramer — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:11:32 -0800

I'd like to hang prints or drawings or funky maps of each city I've lived in on a wall. I'm wondering what your favorite Philadelphia, NYC, DC, Hartford CT, Rochester NY, and Chicago maps/prints are, or sources for finding eclectic drawings/photos/prints of each one. (The more varied, the better! Old, new, letterpressed...you name it!)

How do I hang my posters with inexpensive materials?

Schuby — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:13:12 -0800

How can I hang movie / music posters cheap, effectively, and in a stylish way? I recently bought about eight posters that I want to put in my room. My original plan was to use poster putty but it gets messy and needs constant readjusting.

So instead of buying expensive frames for my posters, does anyone know a cheap alternate way to hang posters around my room in a neat way?

Keyword here is cheap, I need to afford rent next month :P

throwing a wintry party

Marquis — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:52:31 -0800

What are some cheap & lovely ideas for a winter-themed house-party here in Montreal? This weekend I'm hosting a party with WINTER as a theme. It's a bit of a daft theme, really, since there's already so much winter outside. But still: the idea is one of cosiness, shelter, taking warmth among friends. We've invited people to bring wintry and reassuring things, food & drink, scarves and sweaters - and fresh-baked cookies, mulled wine and hot cider are already definitely on the agenda.

But what else? What are some inexpensive ideas that will add just that extra spark of neato to the thing? Decorations (I can't seem to find xmas lights anywhere anymore)? Snacks? Little party secrets? All suggestions welcome!