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Turn a living room into a dramatic scene

Join us as we transform a room from a bookworm haven during the day to a fantastic magical setting during the night.

Transform your traditional pieces into a creepy space that’s just the right amount of spooky.
Transform your traditional pieces into a creepy space that’s just the right amount of spooky.

Start with the basics

Begin with an ordinary living room, enriched by a colour palette that makes it warm and cosy, full of dark tones and tactile materials. During the day, it’s a welcoming spot for some light reading, relaxation and long conversations. But when the sun goes down, it transforms into a mysterious and uncanny lair.

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A colour palette with a mix of warm and dark tones can take a living room from feeling cosy in the daytime to mysterious at night.
Light chains like IKEA SVARTRÅ can add a moody feel to your space at night.
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Take care of the details

Now it’s time to step away from the big picture and use the small things to pull your dramatic effect together. With a whiteboard marker, you can easily give a vase a new, spine-chilling expression. Make sure you choose one with a smooth surface, so you can wipe the ink off later on.

Use a whiteboard marker to create spooky little designs on small vases for a creepy touch.
Artificial flowers like IKEA SMYCKA balance balance and beauty to a creepily themed space.

A gentle touch. If you think the dramatic effect of your vases has become too “dramatic,” simply add some romantic elements. It can be something as easy as these beautiful SMYCKA artificial flowers that give it an artsy still-life touch – perfect for the theme.

Add a little mystery here…

Cosy LED lighting with a warm glow already enhances the dramatic effect of our design. But if you want to sharpen the impression, wrap your lights with fabrics that match the rest of the décor to create an inviting and eccentric atmosphere. But be careful – make sure your lamp doesn’t get too hot!

Add a warm glow and ghost-like effect by draping a coordinating textile over a floor lamp.

…and a little mystery there.

Finally, add some other ghostly touches like a creepy ice hand you can make by freezing a plastic glove filled with water. With small details like these, all of a sudden an ordinary room turns into a theatrical setting for a dinner with special visitors – beware of who might show up!

Fill a plastic glove with water and freezr it to create a totally creepy ice hand for your punch bowl.
During the daytime, or when the festivities are over, it’s easy to change back to your normal living room.

Saša Antić, IKEA interior designer

We love to see our customers get creative with our products. Go for it! But please note that altering or modifying IKEA products so they can no longer be re-sold or used for their original purpose, means the IKEA commercial guarantees and your right to return the products will be lost.

Interior designer: Saša Antić
Photographer: Emma Engkvist
Writer: Vi Cooper