Space/science themed room for a pre-teen.

[BlueBlueElectricBlue]

My DD (11) has a loft room and wants to turn it into a space/star gazing/science themed room. She has (practically new) white furniture which we'll be keeping for a while. I'm a little worried that in fairly short order she'll decide she wants another theme entirely (probably something to do with branded sports goods), but I've agreed that she can have a revamp for her birthday.

My DP has recently learnt about glittery paint and both he and DD are unrealistically excited about the idea of painting large parts of her room a dark, dark blue with glitter all in it (for stars). Does anyone have any experience of that?

Also - lots of space themed bedroom decoration stuff is a bit young for her. I have seen a moon wall mural that I like, and she has a constellation map and a periodic table (honestly!) that I'm going to frame and put up.

I've also promised her a Van de Graaff generator and a fibre optic lamp. If her interest continues I will probably also buy her a telescope to do 'proper' star gazing.

Also, any clever ideas for storage for LOADS of tiny little things (shells, china animals, keepsakes) would be appreciated, because she's a hideous magpie.

Does anyone have any other inspiration for me?

[hellokittymania]

Can you put storage drawers under the bed ?

Have you looked on Amazon or John Lewis? You can usually find some interesting things on both sides that may fit your needs.

[dinobum]

There's a Facebook group called DIY on a budget and they're all obsessed with that glitter paint (as well as wallpapering floors and varnishing it, yes really). There are loads of examples on there of people who have done it. Personally, id avoid, it looks pretty awful and no doubt would be a nightmare to remove. In my day we just used glow in the dark stick on stars - that'd be a nicer option and she could do all the research to get the constellations right.

[BlueBlueElectricBlue]

I confess I am very scared of the glitter paint and I'm normally pretty cavalier about that sort of thing (case in point: my dark blue bedroom cave).

The glow in the dark stick on stars are cool, but I think will be rejected by my pre-teen as 'for kids, mum'. Bloody children, with their OPINIONS.

[BlueBlueElectricBlue]

No to storage drawers, she has a low, low bed for headroom reasons.

[Notname]

My son has this and it's brilliant. I got it slightly cheaper from this site (think there was a discount code) so paid about £75.
www.findmeagift.co.uk/gifts/laser-cosmos-star-projector.html?gclid=CKThwsLD2NICFVXNGwodIh8Hlw

[Astro55]

The glow in the dark stars are great for the ceiling!

Also look at magnetic paint -

There are moon lamps and lights pulse maybe a planet light fitting

Chalk board with pens rather than chalk

[dinobum]

I think we're all used to far too polished rooms nowadays. Ultimately a kids spaced theme room needs to have home made planets from papier-mâché and coat hangers

[madeleinecreek]

My uncle (as an adult) used to have glow in the dark stars and they looked amazingly realistic. The key is to cut the whole sheet into small pieces (random shapes, not star shaped) and put them all over the ceiling and right down the walls.

Not sure how it would look on dark coloured paint though.

Some (removable) space decals that aren't too childish. www.beckyandlolo.co.uk/space-travel-wall-stickers

[BlueBlueElectricBlue]

@dino - that's where I am, stylistically speaking. Sadly my DD has watched far more George Clarke's Amazing Spaces than is good for her or my wallet.

That's a clever idea, madeleine.

[Miniwookie]

Have you seen the night sky painted ceilings done with glow in the dark paint so they look like a normal white ceiling but at night they look like a starry night - realistic rather than cartoon stars. I would love one of them. There's a guy/company on FB that do them and I've seen online tutorials for diy