Mini-astronauts

Kids' Corner from Your Home and Garden magazine

Mini astronauts can take a bedtime trip to the Milky Way in this space-themed room spangled with glow-in-the-dark stars.

For a room design to really have impact it is important to work out what you want to be the hero, or focus, of the room, and then build the scheme around that element. In this cool child’s bedroom the hero is clearly the starry feature wall behind the bed, which sets the ‘outer space’ theme for the whole room.

Desk and boys bedroom feature wall.
Floor painted in Resene Walk-on in Resene Longitude. Side wall and pencil tin painted in Resene Frozen. Bedside drawers painted in Resene Dark Side and Resene Panorama. Desk and magazine file painted in Resene Dark Side. Chair and bookends painted in Resene Iron.

The stars have been made with Resene glow-in-the-dark paint, so once the lights go out the ‘night sky’ effect will come to life (see below). Simply apply two coats of paint in your star colour (we used Resene Alabaster), followed by a coat of glow-in-the-dark paint. Once dry, stick star decals over the wall to create a starry night. Make sure you stick the decals on firmly so paint can’t seep under the edges. Now apply two coats of colour for your dark sky (we chose Resene Dark Side).

When the paint is dry, peel off the decals to reveal your stars. The Resene FX Nightlight paint is activated by sunlight so keep this in mind when picking your feature wall. The paint will glow in the dark by night and appear pale yellow by day.

Feature wall painted in Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Alabaster , then Resene FX Nightlight paint and finally in Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Dark Side.

To bring the space theme alive, decorative accents such as a constellation throw, an astronaut cushion, a star pillowcase, a beautiful moon decal over the bed and a ‘phases of the moon’ canvas have been added at relatively low cost.

Be inventive when it comes to creating a study nook. Here we took an old console table and chair and gave them a fresh coat of paint to tie in with the room. A wooden magazine file and a baked bean tin received the same treatment using Resene testpots. Add a laptop and a plant (even space explorers need a reminder of home) and the nook is ‘all systems go’. If you have the room, a small armchair makes a lovely addition with a pendant light or floor lamp close by for reading.

“The painted stars will glow in the dark by night and appear pale yellow by day”

Accessories: Design Republique Harper velvet chair, Design Republique euro pillowcase, both from Bed Bath & Beyond. Living & Co Constellation throw, College Star backpack, blue Geo cushion, star decals, a packet, all from The Warehouse. Star pillowcase set, from Wallace Cotton. Space cushion, jersey-knit single sheet set, ‘Out of this world’ wall sticker, all from Kmart. Wallace cushion (on chair), Tempo Deco object (on drawers), Diesel suspension pendant, all from Freedom. Tilly Home ‘moon phases’ canvas, from Farmers. Stardust planter, from Shut The Front Door. Cruise jersey-knit duvet cover set, double, from Adairs. Squared Charts solar system, from Little Whimsy. Other items stylist’s own.