7/30 Punchlist: Starry Night

[darkemeralds]

You might remember the great bedroom remodel by means of which I transitioned from working into retirement beginning around this time last year. Once the big work was done, I had a punch list of little finishing details to take care of, and I kept doing them and thinking okay, now the remodel's done.



Well, now it's done. Done-done-done. Today I finally finished installing the entire kit of ceiling glow-stars. It's not actually possible to photograph them in action, as it were (at least, not without a fancy camera, a tripod, a long exposure and some additional photoshopping), but since mine are affixed to a pure, matte-black ceiling, you can see them during the day.


There are several magnitudes up there, from Sirius down to little glowing pinpricks.

I put off finishing because...well, there are 1600 of them, and they're small, and putting them up involved bracing myself on a step ladder and working overhead in between light fixtures and the fan, and having to move the very heavy bed in order to get near the center of the room. In short, it was a hell of a lot of work. But it's finally done, and I'm about to go in there and lie down in the dark, and enjoy my own personal star field.

Damn. I just remembered one more punchlist item...

Comments

[ravurian]

That's genuinely gorgeous.

[darkemeralds]

It's very soothing, too. Peaceful.

[oonaseckar]

Oh, wow, that's gorgeous. So it's astronomically correct, then? Because I've seen a starry ceiling before (although not on this scale) but not one done according to the actual layout of the night sky.

What a labour of love!

[darkemeralds]

No, not "accurate" except in the sense of being placed randomly. I accidentally scratched a curved line in the black paint with the knife blade used to transfer the little sticky stars from sheet to ceiling, and it looks like a comet, so I stuck a big star at its head and some of the tiny ones in its tail.

But no. Just random. I have some friends who had their bedroom ceiling done by an artist using glow paint, recreating an accurate night sky for the date they were married. So romantic!

[bluemeridian]

1600! Yes, that's a task I could imagine taking a while! The effect is beautiful, even in daylight.

[darkemeralds]

Thanks. I think I'm wrong about the 1600, but let's just say that's what it felt like! I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

[ranunculus]

Wow! that really was a labour of love! I like it.

[darkemeralds]

Thanks! It's a source of delight.

[nanila]

Oh, what a wonderful thing to fall asleep beneath. It looks well worth the effort.

[tehomet]

Wow! Lovely.

I shudder to think of the sheer amount of work involved in getting it so perfect, but it looks amazing. :)

[darkemeralds]

The beauty of it is that it's totally random and very far from perfect. But then so's the sky!

[azurelunatic]

I think there are still a few left in my old room at my parents', which is now an office. (White ceiling, though.) Your black ceiling is just amazing, and I hope you feel that delight when you see it for many, many years to come.

[darkemeralds]

I've thought about the sad day when I--or someone--will have to scrape the stars down in order to repaint. But I put it resolutely out of my mind and just enjoy them.

Getting up in the middle of the night in my very-dark room the other night, I discovered that several stars had fallen. If I thought they'd survive down there, I'd seriously consider putting in a starry floor!

[azurelunatic]

Huh, I wonder if they make consumer-priced transparent flooring. I think most clear glass tiles are smooth enough they'd do better on walls...

[darkemeralds]

Oh wow, what a gorgeous idea!

I've seen glass floors somewhere. Glass is amazing stuff. They're making glass roadways now! Not sure if they'll ever become practical, but someone's working on non-slip road surfaces with embedded, computerized LEDs and solar collectors. The lights can be programmed to show different signs and warnings right in the road--as well as lighting the way.

And then there's the Starry Night bike path in the Netherlands, which brings tears of joy to my eyes.

[lycomingst]

I meant to say before how pretty the ceiling is but time gets away from me. Anyway, pretty.

[darkemeralds]

Thank you. I'm really enjoying it!