So your a Nerd and you’ve got a new room/place to decorate, there’s so many choices, so many things to think about, how much is too much and what should you do? Have no fear we have the answers! Here is a definitive guide to helping you deck out your new Nerd pad,from the slightly nerdy to the fortress of Nerditude!

First things first you need to start with a theme, that can be as basic as a colour scheme or as complicated as genre themed house or individual rooms. But the basis for any design project is the colours and themes that will dictate the finer details. The other thing to consider from the beginning is minimalism versus clutter. Will your nerd articles highlight a functional space or overrun it, both are good options but you need to decide before you start.

Now we move onto the fun stuff inspiration for your own designs…

Walls

First things first you need to decide what you want on your walls. Obviously you can go as basic as possible with a neutral colour of paint or plain wallpaper, have everything stand out from them or you can go a bit more adventurous.

Posters and art are an obvious choice for things that can change as you need them to. You also have the choice of using frames or going for the teenage loft feel using blue tack or thumb tacks. A good option can be making your own posters or signs by printing strait from your computer. For example there is a sign found in The Stanley Parable game which reads “NO DANGER, Nothing in this room will kill you.” a pretty easy sign to mock-up on the computer and quite funny to boot. If you haven’t played the Stanley parable I heartily recommend it, you can purchase it easily from steam here.

If you are particularly artfully inclined wall art is a great option, like the comic strip art shown in the picture above you can change the whole feel of a room and make a truly unique and personalised addition to your home. If you are not so inclined and don’t have a artistic friend who owes you or oodles of cash to hire a professional, have no fear there are other options for a similar feel. For example many different nerdy stores offer a wide range of stick on wall art decals and nerdy themed wallpapers to cover all your walls or just the odd one to highlight a space.

Floors

The conventional choice for your floors is obviously carpet. Same as the walls you can go plain and comfy or tie it in to the colour of other articles in your room. Or you can go for a more adventurous or complex design in and of itself. If you have wood or tiled floors or have decided that is the way you want to go it gives a few extra options to consider. The most obvious being rugs of every description that can tie a room together or be features in there own right. Also like the walls one can go arty with floor murals and If you happen to have a staircase to decorate, one can try options such as seen in the picture below, or some devising of your very own.

Furniture

An easy option when dealing with furniture if you’re a dab hand with a needle is to reupholster with nerd themed bed sheets that can be picked up relatively cheap. Obviously you have the option to display all your best bought nerd goodies and even the option to buy new ones to be added to the collection. For help on this you can go to our other piece on nerd shopping found here.

The specifics for nerd furniture includes the gaming chair, the snack ready cooler or mini fridge. Then there are bed and Bedding to consider. In the bed department the key thing other than the obvious comfort is under bed storage be that draws or an improvised system to allow a great resource for storage and easy access to your goodies like games and movies in the bedroom. Obviously bedding comes in a wide variety star wars,Asian influence and just plain old black as a few examples.

Storage is massively important but particularly shelves, as a nerd one has undoubtedly collected a horde of figures, toys, models, Books, Games and Movies all of which find there best home on the humble shelf. Book cases, wall shelving and internal cupboard storage can all be great choices and offer yet another surface to decorate with your own individual nerdy flair(see book shelves pictured below for inspiration). Book ends especially allow you to create an instant nerd image with little cost e.g AT AT book end pictured below.

Electronics

This next part is key to the home of any true nerd and that is the Tech. One must have the best Sound system with sub-woofer,wifi as standard, large flat screen TV, Gaming consoles and if you’ve got the cash a master race PC and some kind of wall projection system. A few other things to think about are wireless HDMi emitters to stream straight to your big TV from your PC for the purposes of gaming and Netflix. Make sure you have good wire organisation and ways to hide the accumulation of wires that come from owning all the tech to be a modern day nerd. To top this off you need a cool Entertainment centre to hold all of your cool gadgetry and also Sound Proofing to save from waking ones neighbors or room mates.

Windows

Windows while being a key feature of many rooms and the source of much needed natural light for the often house bound nerd (especially once you have completed setting up the parts of our last section) work as great places to show off your nerd as well. Curtains, Blinds and all kinds of hanging nik-naks can make it a window into your nerdy a soul as well as your room. Like on your walls decals are a great choice and a window sill makes a great shelf for added storage.

Bathroom

In the bathroom there is less to think about as generally it is considered a more utilitarian space. Chances for personalisation only really come in the form of the Shower curtain, Bath Mats, types of storage, porcelain/enamel/glass art or decals and the occasional nerdy themed toiletries e.g. Darth Vader bubble bath if you are that way inclined. But obviously all it really needs to do is function as a bathroom at the end of the day.

Kitchen

The Kitchen like the bathroom is a more functional space and so has less maneuverability for design. However, how you decorate your Storage, or White stuff fridge, microwave etc can lend a hand whether in specific nerdy design or colour coordinated with other more nerdy rooms. There is also obviously a host of nerdy to buy Utensils, cutlery and china available across the web.

Lighting

For a nerd lighting is also a key part of the decoration process, not only for it’s own design opportunities but so one can comfortably read comic books and game neither in the dark or under glare. A simple design point is the coordination between light switches and plug fittings, key to making the house look cohesive. One can also get inventive here as seen in the Han Solo in Carbonite and arcade button switches above. There is also the opportunity to go out of the box with the lightsaber or mjolnir lighting (again seen above) with very little work or more simple with nerd themed lamp shades or candelabras.

Garden/Outside

Granted not everyone has the advantage of a garden or outdoor space and many do not consider it in the design process. But here are a few ideas we came up with to inspire you to Yoda green thumbs.

Door mats are very easy to spray a design on all you need is a stencil and a can of black spray and sealant. For an example of how to do this check out this instructional video on sword and stitches here for a Hadouken design. Although we could come up with no ideas for how to nerd pimp a washing line, we’re sure its possible and if you come up with one we’d love to hear it. Obviously you also have your choice of furniture and garden decorations e.g Gnomes or lighsaber garden lights. All that is really needed to finish it off is a patio heater to keep you warm a BBQ to keep you fed and to make sure you can access the Wi-Fi from outside!

Well that’s it from us hopeful you will draw inspiration from our attempt to help and will create new feats of crazy nerd decoration we never imagined. Good Luck!

Helpful Links/Ideas

Amazon
ThinkGeek
Ebay
DIY’s on YouTube (e.g Swords and stitches, Paul Mason, Two broke geeks).
Ikea hackers – A large set of clever ways to assemble otherwise mundane furniture.
Nerd Design Pinterest – a collection of nerdy themed design idea photos.
ETSY – A web shop for handmade awesomeness.
Nerd Eyes Only shopping guide – our guide for buying nerdy on the web.
Charity shops – a great place to pick up all sorts of cheap design pieces.