Stranger Things bedroom: decor ideas for an 80s bedroom, from the light wall to the poster
Guide · Decor · Bedroom
A bedroom inspired by the show is not a museum: it is a 1985 teenager's bedroom, with its posters, its lights, its radio, and one or two objects that say where it all comes from. Here is how to make it, from the light wall to the detail, without falling into kitsch.
The essentials
- The centerpiece: Joyce's wall of lights and letters
- The palette: red, black, and 80s wood
- The essentials: a poster, a neon logo, a radio or a walkie
- The rule: three strong objects rather than twenty small ones
Contents
The wall of lights
Joyce's wall is the most recognizable decor in the show, and the easiest: a string of big colored bulbs, hung in a zigzag on a wall, and the alphabet painted or stuck underneath, one letter under each bulb. You can write a word on it, “RUN,” “RIGHT HERE,” or leave it empty. Choose warm bulbs, not white LEDs: in 1983, the light was orange.
A roll of 80s-pattern wallpaper, or a solid dark paint, makes the bulbs stand out. The wall behind the bed is the ideal spot.
Light decor, for the wall.
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The palette and the materials
| Element | The right choice | To avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Colors | Deep red, black, wood, a little bottle green | Multicolored neon everywhere |
| Light | Warm bulbs, string lights, a red lamp | The white ceiling lighting |
| Materials | Wood, fabric, carpet, cassettes, paper | The shiny plastic |
| Walls | One strong wall, the others sober | A poster every 30 cm |
| Objects | Three strong pieces, well placed | The pile-up of gadgets |
The objects that make the bedroom
A poster, a single one, large, of the favorite season or character, framed: that is what sets the tone. A neon or a lamp of the logo, in red, on a shelf, lit in the evening. A radio or a walkie-talkie set on the desk, like Mike's. A figurine, at eye level. And a stack of cassettes, a Walkman, a banana-seat bike hung on the wall if space allows. The rest is a normal bedroom.
Whose room?Each character has a bedroom in the show: Mike's, with its movie posters and his game basement; Max's, in California, with her tapes; Will's, with his drawings. Picking a character gives you a line: Will's room is soft, Max's rebellious, Mike's cluttered.
For a child
The same principles, gentler: the lights without the letters, a poster of the group rather than of the monster, a Demogorgon plush rather than a figure, and a red night-light. Avoid anything that shows Vecna in a room where you sleep: the object that makes you laugh at 15 scares you at 8.
The mistakes
The kitsch always comes from the pile-up: twenty objects, three neons, posters everywhere, and the bedroom becomes a shop. The show itself films ordinary bedrooms with one or two details. Do as it does: one strong wall, three objects, a warm light, and the room will say “1985” without shouting it.
The framed poster, the centerpiece.
In the shopLego Demogorgon figure 158 pieces24,90 €See the product
A bedroom, four corners
| Corner | The idea | The detail that changes everything |
|---|---|---|
| The wall above the bed | Joyce's wall of lights, a string of colored bulbs over painted letters | The handwritten letters, irregular, on a light background and not black |
| The office | A corner of the Wheelers' basement: game board, dice, figurines, walkie-talkie | An architect lamp and an open campaign notebook |
| The reading corner | A blanket fort, like Castle Byers | A hanging flashlight and 80s books |
| The gate | A Palace Arcade or video-store poster, and a period movie poster | A "Hawkins" sign or a homemade street plaque |
The objects, by budget
For under twenty euros: a string of multicolor bulbs, adhesive or painted letters, a poster, stickers, a giant twenty-sided die. For twenty to fifty euros: a decorative walkie-talkie, a neon lamp in the shape of the logo or of the Demogorgon, a throw in Hawkins colors, a figure. Beyond that: a framed poster, a mini pinball or a tabletop arcade cabinet, a replica of the 1983 Dungeons & Dragons box.
The rule that avoids the shop-window look: three objects from the show at most per stretch of wall, and the rest in anonymous period objects, a red-digit clock radio, a cassette, a skateboard, a desk lamp. The show cites the 80s; a successful bedroom does the same.
The show's bedrooms, to take inspiration from
-
The Wheelers' basement
The blanket fort, the game table, the couch: the group's bedroom, more than a bedroom.
-
Will's room
Drawings everywhere, a lamp, a window on the woods: that is where Joyce finds her first clues in 1983.
-
Max's room
Skate and horror-movie posters, a Walkman on the nightstand: the 1986 bedroom, the one of the letter to Billy.
-
Hopper's cabin
Eleven's camp bed, the radio, the Eggos: a bedroom in a single room.
-
Holly's room
A child's bed, books, and a crack in the ceiling: the last bedroom in the show to be visited by the Upside Down.
The wall of lights, step by step
You need a string of multicolored big-bulb lights, preferably on a green or black wire, five to ten meters depending on the wall; black paint or a felt brush; and a light wall, cream or beige, not black, unlike what a lot of bedrooms do. Paint the alphabet in three lines, in irregular capital letters, by hand: the irregularity is what makes it Joyce. Fix the lights above the letters, one bulb per letter, with adhesive hooks.
For the message, two options: a remote-control string of lights, which lets you light sections, or more simply unscrewed bulbs so that only the letters of a word light up. The word most chosen, in fans' bedrooms, is the one Will writes in 1983: "run."
The figure, at eye level.
In the shopThe lab poster19,90 €See the product
TakeawayThe wall of lights and letters: the centerpiece. Red, black, wood, warm light. A poster, a neon, a radio, a figure. Three strong objects rather than twenty small ones.
Frequently asked questions
How to make a Stranger Things bedroom?
A wall of lights and letters behind the bed, a large framed poster, a neon of the logo, a radio or a walkie, and a warm light. Three strong objects, not twenty.
How to make Joyce's light wall?
A string of large colored bulbs, in a zigzag on a dark wall, and the alphabet painted or stuck underneath, one letter under each bulb.
What color for a Stranger Things bedroom?
Deep red and black, with wood and a warm light; no multicolor neon everywhere.
And for a child's bedroom?
The lights without letters, a poster of the group, a plush rather than a figure, and nothing that shows Vecna.
Which bedroom from the show is the easiest to recreate?
The Wheelers' basement: a table, a game board, a couch, a blanket fort, and a walkie-talkie. Everything can be found, and the spirit sits in the accumulation rather than in the exact objects.
How many objects from the show does a bedroom need?
Three per wall section at most, completed with anonymous period objects: clock radio, cassettes, skateboard. The show cites the 80s, the bedroom should do the same.
On what background to paint the alphabet?
On a light wall, cream or beige, like the Byers living room, and not on black: the string of lights stands out better and the room stays bright.