We Got A New House! Need Fun Decorating Ideas

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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So finally fate seems to be smiling on my little world and I learned earlier today that the house we’d made an offer on has been accepted. I’m thrilled and can’t wait to move, although I’m sure the closing day / packing ratio will get here sooner than I expect.

However, due to the many problems that have been part of my life for over a decade now, we won’t be taking a lot with us. Existing out of boxes and selling everything off to survive has pretty much been the norm forever now, so we’ll have to re-acquire a lot of even the most basic stuff (like for one example, a dining room table). And now that I’m no longer (A) a young whippersnapper, (B) preparing to eventually have children or (C) care remotely about keeping up with those persnickety Joneses, I can do or buy whatever I want within my pauper’s budget.

That said, I’m looking for suggestions on wild stuff to do. Since I won’t be bound by convention or good taste, I can hypothetically cut a hole between the spare bedrooms and put in a slide. I could make it look like the inside of a 70s roller rink. I make one whole wall ‘erasable’ for my Sudoku puzzles. Anything that might be entertaining to my adolescent sense of humor is game.

Therefore Dopers, what say y’all? If you need more information on likes or dislikes to come up with projects, just let me know and I’ll contribute the lowdown. If not, simply fire away and I’ll take notes. Beyond that, all else I’ve got are house specs: 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1 car garage with fireplace. About 1400 sq. ft., built in 1974 and made out of brick. Extremely nondescript, with only a small yard in a quiet neighborhood. In other words, kinda boring, but I have faith that we’ll all fix that in record speed. :smiley:

Thanks in advance guys!!

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Chalkboard paint. Bathroom walls. Need I say more?

Make one of those mammoth cat trails that extend from room to room near the ceiling, even if you don’t have a cat.

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[QUOTE=MissTake]
Chalkboard paint. Bathroom walls. Need I say more?
[/QUOTE]
Damn you!

Of course, I wasn’t going to stop at the bathroom walls…no no, every single wall in the house in chalkboard paint. That way you can redecorate anytime you like!

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Look no futher…

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Ooooh man! I’m all over chalkboard paint. That’ll be so cool. As to those couches, I only wish there was that sort of money at my disposal. I’ve always wanted something like that (well, to be honest, I’d been dreaming of the chair shaped like a baseball glove) and yesterday I came across an antique T-Bird with a hot tub for its middle. Talk about awesome!!

But anyone, I love where this is headed so far. Anyone else got tips for me? Hell, I might be talked into carpet on the walls (we do have one kitty), shrines in the closet (all my Alice stuff deserves a throne of its own!) or Og only knows what. Come on y’all, inspire me! :stuck_out_tongue:

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there is a magnetic paint. it is really heavy (literally) because it contains wee teeny tiny bits of iron. you have to stir the paint a lot when painting, but it is ever so much fun.

the last time i bought it the price was about 25 dollars per quart.

i also like glow in the dark paint. that can be major fun throughout the house.

cat shaped cutouts in doors is another favourite.

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Join your local Freecycle list. Take anything that’s offered. Glue together as necessary. Bonfire what’s left.

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I have a spare bedroom that I never thought I’d use (I did end up using it for a guest room once I scored a free bed).

I reeeeallly wanted to turn it into a ball pit. Just baby gate the door and toss a bunch of balls in. Woohoo!

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Well, this is my kitchen table - and this is my living room ceiling.

My husband is self employed, and when he doesn’t have work, he gets bored and “decorates”. :smiley:

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Well a necessity for any home is a secret passage artfully hidden by a fully stocked bookshelf.

A helpful tutorial

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I was going to mention the cat trails and instructables but I’ve been beaten to it. Ludy posted a link to one instructable but go through the whole site and you may find some neat ideas. There’s also some stuff at apartment therapy dot com, it’s often how to fit a lot in small spaces but it can work in a house too, some of it’s pretty clever.

There’s also a site with some really wild bookcases I have to see if I can find it again.

Oh, and you can always do a mural. I am taking down the wallpaper in my bathrooms and my boyfriend asked if he could draw on the wall since I will be mudding and painting over it eventually. So I go on there later to see King Kong climbing up a cliff. I am thinking about doing a mural in my spare room of all tropical plants and then a couple large gorilla eyes looking through the plants. I’ll let my King Kong obsessed boyfriend do the eyes.

With glow in the dark paint you could also paint the night sky on a cieling, then you can turn off the lights lay on the floor on your back and look at the stars.

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Here’s a link to the cool bookshelves

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Here is a sofa in the shape of a vagina. One-of-a-kind, though, and expensive… but unforgettable.

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Congrats to you too on the new house! :slight_smile:

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Wonderful answers all!

Let’s see, I’m definitely going to have to go with some glow-in-the-dark paint for the ceiling (man, I’d love the magnetic stuff too, but what a price tag!), a super duper cool BALL PIT (awesome suggestion – if nothing else, I can turn the pantry into one, right?) and maybe a hidden room thingie. I don’t how practical that last one is, seeing as the Other Half isn’t very handy guy inclined and I’ll be mixing it up with other projects, but it sure is nifty as all get out!

And Missy2U, your ceiling is gorgeous!! Your husband is very talented. I would be so honored to have personal artwork like that in my home.

As to those bookshelves Wile E, I don’t know if I could actually pick one. I mean, I could see me getting one, then another and another and another and my obsessive self would never quit. But ooooh, the wire hanging ones will be tempting indeed.

Thanks too Anaptyxis for that, um, eye popping design. :wink: I can just see me explaining that to some of my family. “No really, it’s supposed to be a Pea in a Pod. Honest. :smiley: It just faded.” I think perhaps I should stick with sports themes just in case. :stuck_out_tongue:

Finally, with a username like mischievous, I expect really great things from you. Come on, what are you not sharing with me? Bats in the belfry or something??

Thanks everyone (especially AngelicGemma, our other new home owner ~ and ~ newlywed – CONGRATS again!!) for stopping by and giving me hope for my future Romper Room environment. We’ll have a party to show off the outcome and drinks will be on me. Everyone’s invited. :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:
Keep those good ideas coming!

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[QUOTE=faithfool]
Finally, with a username like mischievous, I expect really great things from you. Come on, what are you not sharing with me? Bats in the belfry or something??
[/QUOTE]
Actually, my username is a translation of my real name into English. But if you want some more ideas:

Assuming you’re in a warm enough climate, plant kudzu around the house. In two or three years, you can entertain the neighbors with plant vs. flamethrower wars.

Buy no furniture. Just lots and lots of beanbags. Cover every room in beanbags, use them as chairs, tables, storage units.

Replace all doors with beaded curtains. Put up some beaded curtains over random walls, too, and see if you can confuse anyone into accidentally running into a wall while trying to leave.

Draw the first panel of a cartoon strip by the front door. Insist that every guest add a panel, wait to see what sort of story evolves. If you ever fill the house, you can always pull up the sheetrock and sell it as an art project.

Install clear plastic tubing around the perimeter of the room. Populate with rodents of your choice. Likewise, glue plastic roaches all over the wall behind the oven.

Install a soft-serve ice cream dispenser in the living room.

If you have a room that is clearly designated as guest room, re-install the floor so that there is a distinct tilt to the left. Obviously, all of the furniture in this room should be mounted on wheels “to make it easier to move”.

Install one of those pneumatic tube mail delivery systems. Make sure there’s an outlet by the toilet. Use this system for all communications with anyone who happens to be in another room.

Maybe I’ll think of more later. :smiley:

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I have always wanted to do a room (I think the kitchen) with a “roadside attractions” theme. Cover one wall with a giant map, and fill the room with things you’ve found at bizarre gift stops at weird travel destinations … or even better, things that you’ve bought at garage sales that other people found at bizarre gift shops and now want to sell to you for fifty cents.

One of these days I am going to paint one of my floors, there are some pictures here to give you the idea, although these are all rather boring. So think same concept, but with a more interesting design.

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[QUOTE=mischievous]

Buy no furniture. Just lots and lots of beanbags. Cover every room in beanbags, use them as chairs, tables, storage units.
[/QUOTE]

I have toyed with the notion of making a room in which the floor is effectively a giant beanbag. You just sculpt the floor into a chair, or a nest to sleep in, or whatever. Making a table stable enough to put drinks on would be trickier–maybe just have a set of wide-bottomed mugs for use in the room.

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You should make tunnels for your cat between rooms. We have two cats and a dog who tend to fight like, um… Anyway, we keep the cats in the back of the house and the dog in the front, which works pretty well. The only downside is that the cats can’t get into the loft that overlooks the living room from the back of the house. So, I installed a tunnel (ok, I cut a couple holes and walled in the sides) that goes from the top of the closet in the bedroom up through the floor in the loft. I added a couple steps, and now that cats can torment the dog from above.

It was easy to do, and it will be easy to repair if/when we decide to sell the place.

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One word: Levels.