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Covering up white walls

1364 Views 12 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Eviejenn, 
pikkupiri
Hello spooks!

I'm organizing my second halloween party this year, and I'm looking for some advice. I live in an student apartment with white walls that I cannot paint or do anything even remotely permanent with, and they look super plain specially during Halloween. Last year we used that stretchable black spider web to cover up the walls which worked quite nicely, but it was rather arduous to take down in my boyfriend's opinion. :D I'm still going to use the web this year too because hey, it does look good, but what I'm asking is do you have any recommendations for alternative options? Are there some wall stickers (tried googling that but didn't come up with anything good) that cover up a bigger space? Something that brings texture? Thank you!

//Oh and to add, we do have colored lights available in our living room but not in the rest of the apartment.
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RedSonja
How about black trash bags? I lived an apartment with stark white walls and I remember doing that one time. Shred up some cheap trash bags and use double stick tape...it should be ok if some of it hangs loose, it'll look more dilapidated that way! Plus, it comes down pretty easy.

Or....could use that cheap "creepy cloth" from the Dollar Stores. But, I suppose if you're covering large walls that could still get pricey.

Sometimes it's just a matter of dimming the lights really low and then the white walls won't look so white! :)
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Headless Horsewoman
You could use Scene Setters.
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Jackielantern
Before Scene Setters were out I had a long white wall with nothing on it. Using black crepe paper I created a picket fence. With black poster paper I cut out a cat, bats, crows. With yellow paper I cut out a moon. Taped it all up to create a large scene. Cost next to nothing, mostly my time and no need to store it.

You could play with shadows as well.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/fa/4e/73/fa4e73f74febf6c72ba36766eace84f9.jpg
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pikkupiri
Great ideas, thank you guys. RedSonja, the trash bag was genious! I have some spaces it would be perfect for. And Jackielantern, the picket fence would work great on our hallway! Many thanks :D
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LadyMage
If you can get a hold of some cheap fabric, there is a cornstarch recipe you can google to temporarily glue it to your walls. It washes right off again. I've done this for friends in dorms and the like, although not for halloween.
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HalloCat
Scene setters are great as well as fabric that can be hung up by colored tacks. Depending on what your looking for I just use the big rectangular table top covers from the dollar tree in our garage to 'cover' the walls so to speak. Lowes and Home Depot also have painters cloth that is pretty cheap and comes in large rolls.
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Jenn&MattFromPA
You can use Command Hooks (they pull off without trouble if you follow the directions) near your ceiling, and then drape fabric or creepy cloth from them. You can also use them to hang pictures on the wall (if you use the right weight hooks). I hang my Halloween portrait wall every year with these & I keep the plastic hook part & just buy the sticky tabs each year.

You can buy painter's drop cloths inexpensively from hardware stores, and then use red "blood" paint to make handprints, spatters, footprints & droplets all over it, then hang that from the hooks.

If anyone you know is a bit artistic, you could also paint a scene onto the drop cloth & then you'd have it every year.
Something like this would be really neat - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/27373510210023079/

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matrixmom
If you literally can't hang anything on the walls, make a frame from pvc pipe and hand the backdrops there. Also, contact paper sticks on, and comes right off without any marks.
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mrincredibletou
Throw a spot light on a wall with a colored bulb or one of the changing color bulbs (fire and ice etc).
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pikkupiri
Thanks again for all the tips! Got inspired to paint the drop cloth, will have to search for those in our local hardware store. Thank you!
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E
Someone on one of the Halloween sites took strips of wood-grained contact paper and stuck them on black poster board with maybe 1/8 - 1/4" between each strip. They then cut out jagged shapes and stuck them on the wall with tacky stuff. It looked like the plaster had come off the walls and you were seeing the lathe underneath. Great for a haunted house!
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E
Also check out Jo-Ann's for Halloween fabric. If it's not already on sale, you can download a coupon. Last year I layered filmy fabric all over my screened in porch for a fortune teller's parlor. 3M Command hooks and tape are your friends!
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