Decorating and Design - decorating bedroom - neon - teenager boy - need help!

Help!

I need ideas for decorating a bedroom for my 13 year old nephew.

He would like some type of "tube lights" and black walls (don't think the black will happen!) He is into the retro look!

Any ideas out there with wall colors?

THanks so much for your input!

Hi,

It seems that teens love black walls!!!!. I received lots of questions about this subject. I made some projects with these characteristics, so my suggestions are:

As black paint is too hard to remove from the walls (after this teen stage), use black panels, this is an easy DIY project: divide a wall in 2 or 3 modules. Make wood frames with the dimensions of the module. Then attach black fabric with small nails. To attach the panels to the walls you can use nails or Velcro. Teens use to love these panels because not only they get the black wall, they use to pin pictures, messages, etc. in the fabric.

The "neon tubes" (not real ones): you can make them easily: go to Home Depot or other hardware store and buy galvanized pipes (small diameter) and accessories. Paint them with vinegar (yes vinegar, to take off the galvanized coating) dry, and pain them with neon paint.

The last touch: get a table lamp and use a "black light" bulb.

Your nephew will love the effect!!

Let me know if you need more help,

Patricia-

What great ideas, thanks so much for the suggestions!

As far as the black walls go, have you done all the walls? I was thinking just one or two because it will be way to dark (this bedroom is in the basement also, however it has a nice big window) What color would you make the other walls? He has suggested crome.
Have you ever done anything with the tube lights? The ones people use with their Christmas decorations.

Thanks so much!

slm,

Glad to know I am helping.

About your question how many walls?, it will depend of the size of the room. All the walls in black in a small room will not look OK. IMO, 2 walls is a good quantity, because you get the "black effect" but you can combine with other effects. I made a project with two "black walls" and in the other 2 walls I used a cream-tan, then I projected shelves painted with black lacker. The effect of the black shelves on the cream-tan is amazing. Crome for the walls, as your nephew wants, is also a good option.

I never used those tube lights in a project, but perhaps you can use the them as a border for a shelf, or to hide the joints of the panels,

Hope this helps,

im 15 so i can understand ur nephew's point of view. in my old room i painted my walls black. if your not ok with the idea i suggest getting glow in the dark paint and buying "chunky" stamps (u can get them at ac moore for about $3 or less) and put a design on the walls with them. let him pick out a few black light posters and get a black light (very cheap on e-bay).

Im my opinon you should let him paint the walls black. when we turned my room into a computer room it only took 2 light coats of primer to cover it.

all teenagers go through stages. let them paint there rooms black and dye there hair blue and purple. once they do it it helps them grow as a person and theyll stop bugging you to let them do it.

let me know how it turns out