Collection Room Colors

[chris solo]

What are some good collection room colours to choose from?

My room is the same colour it was when I purchased the house a year ago (mauve? pink?). I'd like to know what goes good behind one wall that has a few vintage, one wall full of Ep. I red cards and another wall half green - half orange card. I have a small window and can play with the lighting. There are pipes in the ceiling that I'll be boxing in this summer. Should I also consider painting the ceiling something other than white?

If anyone has a room with colours you particularily think are perfect I'd really like to see them. Here's mine (definately needs work):

http://community.webshots.com/user/chrissolo100

 

[darthskellington]

That a tough challenge Chris. The main problem is every carded series introduces new colors. Plus, you're in a basement (I assume). Since it's a basement. i's gonna feel claustrophobic if you go too dark. Black is the comoon color that goes with everything....but you'll feel like you're walking into a cave. The ceiling should be a light color...also because you don't want to feel closed in.

I like the idea of a light or medium blue (sky color), but that kinda matches some of the blue cardbacks....turning them invisible. An imperial gray color is cool....but then you rely on your collection to add color to the room.

That's the nice thing about the reddish color you have now.....everything stands out....but it's not stark white.....and it's not too dark.

Now...here's an idea.....what about making it a theme room? Ala....Cloud City, or a Star Destroyer? I think Philip Wise over at RS designed his room to look Star Destroyer-like and has a mostly gray theme.

My room is jsut a normal room with an extremely low ceiling and ugly wood paneling. But, I did blow up some black and orange Carbon Freezing Chamber Step lights from Niub Niubs and taped them around my door. An upgraded small lightbox could backlight something like that and make it really impressive. Or you could just print out your own Caron Chamber border and run it around the room at mid-level....all it would cost you is an ink cartridge and some paper...an decopage or wallpaper glue.

Hoth would be easy to do....you could paint some stuff around the walls.....and make your pipes stand out...but I doubt you'd want to go that route. Anyway, my point with a theme room is...if you want to take a little time to plan it out....it doesn't matter what color you pick....because the room becomes a "set" so to speak....a showcase. Then the figures are the highlight of the showcase.

 

[Borsk]

dark blue, lime green, grey.

 

[AmShak]

yes, the darker you go, the smaller the room will feel. i would stay with white for the ceiling, or a very light color. the ceiling will have the biggest impact of how small or how big the room feels. as for the colors on the walls, two colors that went well with each other would be fine. if a light blue was one of the colors, you would display your saga cards on the other wall(s) that were the other color. if you went with the two color scheme, then i think white for the ceiling would be the best way to go. IMO, black is not a good way to go, for the reason listed above and there are many sw items that will not stand out against it, for instance the new saga or the OTC packaging.
i'm a blue/green guy and the "earthier" the better, but i think the main goal is to bring attention to your collection and not the walls, so a pastel my be a good way to go. i'm not sure how you feel about yellow, but i light yellow might work well?

 

[Barada]

Chris, I have used rooms that are off-white and slightly pink (several shades lighter than yours). Any pale colour should work well, as they contrast with the bold colours each version of Star Wars cards are out there. I'm currently in the process of moving my collection back upstairs (bigger room, but harder to control climate), and it's the room we used as a baby room for our son. The color is a very pale yellow, and it will offset all the cards well. (On a side note, I'm being forbidden from taking down the Winnie the Pooh wall border, since our long term goal is to use it again in the future for baby Barada #2 when he/she comes one day, which will be an interesting distraction from the theme of the room).

I highly suggest that if you can play with lighting from a window, then you select none.

Sunlight has a nasty effect on carded figures. Colours will fade, and bubbles and any light coloured plastic will turn yellow. Even with only a little indirect light every day.

My #1 rule of thumb when setting up a SW room is to make sure I can block ALL sunlight from entering.

Barada

 

[darthskellington]

I agree about NO sunlight.

My figure cases are hung over the windows, which were always covered anyway since they looked out into a carport. I also keep the door closed during the day so light from a nearby window doesn't shine on my stormtroopers and everything else. Basically, my SW room is pitch black at all times when not in use.

 

[CreepyBunny]

I agree with what most people said lots and lots of stuff on the walls can make a room busy, but pretty much any color will do. So maybe you want to stick with neutrals. Greys and Taupes are nice and won't make the room as busy. If you don't want a neutral I could picture a blue or even a redish color. It might make the room darker if you go with a blue or red, but that kinda stuff doesn't really bother me. It's really all about you and your taste. Personally I can't deal with white ceilings so my suggestion is if you want to keep it light that's fine, but try using the same color as the walls and adding white. Sometimes the paint chips with the color on them will show you the lighter tints and darker shades. You can just go up a few colors on scale for the ceiling. (This works with neutrals, but not with real color like red blue green... then you end up with normal colored walls and a pastel ceiling... eww..) Woo! redecorating is fun! Woo! This post is really long for me! Hope I helped!

 

[Buzz Bumble]

The walls should be black with starscapes painted on them.

Then again, you can stick the carded figures all over the walls and ceiling, then it doesn't matter what colour the room is - you won't see it anyway.

 

[darthskellington]

Yeah..taht is the other thing......carded figures are sort of the anti-decorating item.....they dont' lend themselves to good looing decorating in teh first place.

You sort of Stock your room with figures..not decorate.

Y'know..the more I thik about it, the more I like a sandy (tatooine) beige color as a background. (and ceiling). Unless you wanna go for a sky blue sky

 

[Borsk]

Ah yes, paint it like a daytime sky so that you lose track of time (ala casinos).

You could steal a couple of racks of pegs from a store and be all set - then you'd get to worry about what color to paint the pegs.

 

[Darth Boru]

For me it was simple - darker colors make the room smaller, lighter colors make it appear slightly bigger. White, while possibly boring, makes for the best use of space - the room appears largest with this. As the room I have is relatively tiny, white was a must. Another plus is that there is nothing to distract from the collection. There's plenty of color in the collection itself, which is basically highlighted by the rest of the room being plain white.

A blue carpet and a blue curtained window are the only items not painted white. Oh yeah - a totally lightproof curtain is also a must!

 

[Buzz Bumble]

If it's a small room then you should completely cover two opposite walls (on the left and right when walking through the door) with mirrors ... it makes your collection look MUCH bigger than it is.

 

[Darth Boru]

If it's a small room then you should completely cover two opposite walls (on the left and right when walking through the door) with mirrors ... it makes your collection look MUCH bigger than it is.

Just remember, when walking in a room like that and you see yourself getting bigger - STOP WALKING

 

[Stevetrooper]

My first Star Wars room had white walls and "space wallpaper" on the ceiling, which looked good with ships hanging below it. Color clashes weren't really an issue anyway though since I open all my stuff. I wanted it to look like a Star Wars room, not a Toys R Us. I think my next one will be light gray and, if I can find it, more of the "space wallpaper". Otherwise the ceiling will be dark blue or black and I will splatter paint my own stars on it with a hard bristled brush. My shelves are currently white, but I may paint them a darker gray than the walls. Light gray (or light tan) walls let the collection stand out without making things more busy than they need to be. (Barada, maybe you could put a Star Wars looking border loosely over the Pooh border just to cover it temporarily).

 

[chris solo]

If it's a small room then you should completely cover two opposite walls (on the left and right when walking through the door) with mirrors ... it makes your collection look MUCH bigger than it is.

Its very difficult to put a thumb tack through a morror.

Alot of great ideas guys. I think I'm probably going with a couple of different medium to dark grays on certain walls - putting the new Saga black cards and vintage on a lighter wall. My ceiling will be a light gray or a ROTJ card blue. The boxes I fabricate to cover my pipes I'll enlarge to hold Star Cases comfortably.

I have a wall to knock down and another to put up which I'll sink some glass cabinets into.

I believe that half of the fun of collecting is designing the space required to sit back and appreciate you hunting efforts.

 

[darthskellington]

I believe that half of the fun of collecting is designing the space required to sit back and appreciate you hunting efforts.

Absolutely

 

[Darth Boru]

It can lead to disappointment too though - when you find the room is so tiny half the stuff has to stay in boxes