Throwing a themed party? Or want to turn your room/toilet into an unearthly glowing dream? The Mookychicks give you the lowdown on decorating your room so it glows under a UV black light…

What is Black Light?

When there is black light in the room (otherwise known as ultraviolet light, UV light or fluorescent light) certain items have the ability to glow with its reflection. It adds another dimension to the scene. Glow products glow brighter in black light.

Black light (or ultraviolet light) is not some crazy man-made invention. UV light is barely outside of the human visual range, and yet it pours down on us every day from the cosmos (mostly from our own sun). It’s exoctic and unearthly. And a black light can make your room into a dream you’ll never want to wake up from…

Black light party ideas

Your room should look as good in the day as it does at night. Think about both when going for UV room decoration.

Are you going for a permanent black light room or a one-off event? If you’re having a black light party, don’t do anything too permanent unless ultraviolet fits in with your regular lifestyle.

If you’re having a black light party you may just want to decorate yourself not your room! So: Think fluoro clothes, fluoro make-up, glitter, threading and plaiting fluoro string and wool into your hair and arranging it like Bjork. Don’t stop until you know it’s too much. Remember you’re a fluoro black light alien princess though, not a cosmic bag lady. So, yes, perhaps it would be possible to wear a little too much fluoro. Copy the nice young lady in pink on the right and you can’t go wrong!

Do you want to decorate your room for black light, not just yourself, and want a fun look? If you want an easy, fun, super-cheap look you could work with glowsticks in balloons, fluorescent stickers, make-up that glows under UV, and maybe some objects painted in UV paint (or get a black sheet, hang it over your walls and get your friends to do their own designs on it for the party). And everyone’s favourite, geometric shapes made with string arranged like a spider’s web on the ceiling. Gotta love that fluoro string!

Do you want a sophisticated, considered look? If so, use fluoro fake fur, but wisely – cushions and throws are a must. Fluoro decor, whether it’s black light paintings and backdrops or bead curtains or even giometrically-arranged string, should have a personal story behind it and have been chosen by you for a damn good reason, because you’ll be living with it for awhile. It’s not enough that it glows in the dark. It has to express an unearthly, unique beauty. But hey, you knew that already!TIP: If the Mookychicks were decorating their room to glow in ultraviolet light, they would want to receive the following as gifts: UV brightly-woven Mexican cloths, UV lucha libre masks, japanese flower paintings for us to decorate (sparingly) with UV paints at our leisure, the UV eponymous beaded curtain, and glow in the dark cocktail glasses. Also a UV green plastic inflatable dinosaur. We would then live in this room forever.

Using glow products at your black light party:

There are lots of fluoro products that clearly glow under a UV light – glowsticks being the obvious one.

But there are other things that are less obvious, and if you want to decorate your room to become fluoro-magical then you should really get a small portable black light. These even come in a size that can fit on your keyring. It’s fun to hold a black light over everything you see and discover how it would look under ultraviolet light…

TIP: Some products that look fluorescent in the day aren’t actually all that fun under a black light. Some products look deadly dull by day (like white string), but under black light they’ll amaze and entice you into a whole new world!

More lack light party decoration ideas:

Laundry detergent glows under black light. Try painting the corners of the room with it. You don’t notice it under regular light, but with just the black light on, the room is outlined in glow. You can write messages on the walls too.

Glowsticks and other glow product toys can be bought in a million online glow product shops.TIP: Push a glowstick into a white balloon then blow the balloon up. In black light, the glowstick will glow inside the balloon eerily. Nice!

Fluro beaded curtains for guests to walk through. Do this anyway! Fluorescent bead curtains on doorways look beautiful whether you have a black light on or not! And they make clacking noises!

Use string to create geometric art shapes on your ceiling by winding the string round pins. It should like a bizarre spider’s web, and you can add dangling fluroscent mobiles (home-made, of course) if you want to. Almost invisible by day – but by black light, that string art will come alive. The cheapest and yet probably most effective way of decorating your room for a fluorescent experience.

TIP: String (fluoro string or white) works fine under black light. Fishing twine fluoresces in UV (apparently so it’s easier to see, although the fish don’t seem to find it easier to see, because apparently fish see blue better than yellow or green, and the twine has a greenish fluoro tinge). You can also use electrolumniscent wire .

Fishing twine fluoresces in UV (apparently so it’s easier to see, although the fish don’t seem to find it easier to see, because apparently fish see blue better than yellow or green, and the twine has a greenish fluoro tinge). You can also use electrolumniscent wire . Glow in the dark stars – if you don’t want them permanently on a ceiling, stick them on material that drapes around the room. Beautiful – and removable!

Glow in the dark fimo is nice to twist into strange little 3D sculptures, or to make jewellery with, or to decorate lighters and other bits and bobs.

Fluorescent tulle is really cheap, and you don’t have to be an artist to create an incredible effect. Just buy some, cut it into lengths and throw it around in your room. Hang over mirrors, Drape over curtains, tie round bedposts… with a black light on it, fluorescent tulle is amazing.

If you’ve got a bit more cash to spend, get some fluorescent fun fur. You can throw it on your bed or floor cushions as a comfortable UV throw, or cut it into covers for your cushions. You can even glue it to cover the receiver of your landline. Fun fur always makes an impression, and fun fur that glows in the dark is just… wow. It’s radioactive, baby.

If you’ve been thinking about having a fluoro room for a while, then yes, have dark walls. The effect will be more friendly and restful. We suggest exotic strong dark blue walls, or strong but victorian dark green – the room will be less oppressive in the daytime, and then black light effect will still be there when you turn the lights off at night.

Don’t forget clothing and make-up! You yourself should have a touch of UV fluoro about you. Either electro make-up or UV touches of accessories that glow in the dark (even little ones like beads and hairclips) will do the trick. Or there’s always full-on trance clubwear…

Fluorescent light is designed to transport you. We know it’s science, not magic, but it makes us think of other worlds, like the deep ocean spaces that even now humans can’t reach. So if you’re decorating with black light, be ‘other’. Paint bizarre objects with UV paint so they look come alive when the UV is switched on The scorpion on the right wasn’t painted – he’s really like that.

Have control over who decorates where you live? Like the idea of black light, but not for your room, thank you very much?

If you don’t want to decorate the whole of your room in black light, just decorate the toilet. The smallest room in the house is also the most beautiful, it’s the interior decorator’s friend! A toilet or bathroom is tiny enough to decorate quickly, and decorating it with passion will bring unexpected delight to your guests. Paint it black, stick in a UV lamp, have glowsticks, have clear glass bottles arranged with water saturated with UV liquid inside, have glow in the dark stars on the ceiling – have EVERYTHING.

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