Decorating Guides
Catch a Shooting Star
Add a touch of celestial magic to your home and garden with these 5 star-inspired design ideas
Of all the motifs that can be incorporated into home design, those that celebrate the natural world tend to be among the most enduring and universally appealing. We’ve seen driftwood finishes and reclaimed wood surge in popularity along with natural stone and floral fabrics, as well as all manner of color schemes designed to “bring the outdoors in.” With saturated jewel tones making their rounds in shelter magazines and show houses, expect to see star and constellation motifs as their natural accompaniment. Here, we’ve curated five of the most popular applications for this burgeoning trend.
A custom fiber-optic constellation display seems to recede like a skylight into the ceiling of this media room. Companies such as Fiber Optic Systems Inc. specialize in creating interactive lighting displays like this for cinematic special effects, trade show exhibits and residential walls and ceilings.
2. Light Fixtures
Commissioning a fiber-optic galaxy for your ceiling isn’t the only way to achieve a starry effect. There’s a much simpler DIY option that involves little more than artfully puncturing a globe light with the pattern of your choice. A bright LED bulb inside a translucent globe will project your image onto the walls and ceiling.
Commissioning a fiber-optic galaxy for your ceiling isn’t the only way to achieve a starry effect. There’s a much simpler DIY option that involves little more than artfully puncturing a globe light with the pattern of your choice. A bright LED bulb inside a translucent globe will project your image onto the walls and ceiling.
In a less literal approach to starlit ceilings, a series of small globe pendants hangs from a tall recess painted in inky ebony. Though they’re not necessarily arranged in any particularly constellation, the view from the floor must be akin to looking up at the night sky.
A streak of stars across this poolside facade feels straight out of a fairy tale. It wouldn’t be difficult to position the stars in a specific constellation, but these Austin, Texas, homeowners are presumably content to simply let them represent the Lone Star state.
Ever-popular and stylish star pendants add a bit of whimsy to this farmhouse kitchen.
Pendants: Moravian, Circa Lighting
Pendants: Moravian, Circa Lighting
3. Wallpaper
Wallpaper outfitter Mr Perswall has picked up on the midnight blue trend in a most literal way with this fantastic wall covering. It looks smashing in this youthful bedroom, but I could see it in a glam studio apartment with pops of hot pink and white, or even in a quiet library or home office, where interstellar imagery can’t help but be contemplative.
Wallpaper outfitter Mr Perswall has picked up on the midnight blue trend in a most literal way with this fantastic wall covering. It looks smashing in this youthful bedroom, but I could see it in a glam studio apartment with pops of hot pink and white, or even in a quiet library or home office, where interstellar imagery can’t help but be contemplative.
Here, with the same theme but in a totally different pattern, we see the constellations laid out more starkly against the wallpaper night sky.
The star is right up there with the polka dot as a coveted wallpaper pattern for children’s rooms. It’s a simple, straightforward shape that suits the playrooms of children who want to be stars as well as those who are fascinated by the stars. Frankly, a little glitter won’t hurt either case.
Wallpaper: Lucky Star, Sissy+Marley
Wallpaper: Lucky Star, Sissy+Marley
4. Art and Objects
Knickknacks and treasured objects can be a satisfying way to sneak in some thematic layers without going overboard. A slowly revolving globe painted or inlaid with the astronomic features of our universe will keep its admirer in touch with the vastness of the world beyond Earth.
Knickknacks and treasured objects can be a satisfying way to sneak in some thematic layers without going overboard. A slowly revolving globe painted or inlaid with the astronomic features of our universe will keep its admirer in touch with the vastness of the world beyond Earth.
A star chart fits itself into the decor much the way a map does: easily and neutrally. Maps of the heavens instill the quiet romance of space exploration and celestial navigation, but you don’t have to be a sailor or astronaut to appreciate the way the stars connect us to something larger than ourselves.
The galactic motif here begins with the perforated steel fence in the foreground and ends with a constellation-like art installation on the back wall. Even the firepit evokes a flying saucer en route to the planetary sculpture toward the back of the yard.
5. Trompe l’Oeil and Murals
Curved like an observatory, this small home office nook benefits from a ceiling painted with the zodiac constellations and inset lighting that illuminates the edges at night.
Curved like an observatory, this small home office nook benefits from a ceiling painted with the zodiac constellations and inset lighting that illuminates the edges at night.
A dark or windowless room can become a major asset if it’s a spaceship feel you’re after. This custom home builder took his client’s astronomy theme to its theoretical limit with a telescope, curved stainless steel walls and galactic murals.
In this passive-energy house in New York, chalkboard walls running the perimeter of the bathroom make it easy for an enthusiast to study the planets.
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Indoor Stars Light Winter Nights
I Spy: Barn Stars
More
Indoor Stars Light Winter Nights
I Spy: Barn Stars
This pared-down breezeway leverages afternoon shadows and a fiber-optic star-studded ceiling to create a thoughtful, meditative transition from indoors to out. It’s a shining example of how architecture and lighting design work hand in hand to create a space that needs precious little in the way of decor.