How to Plan an Outer Space Kids Room with Peel-and-Stick Decals (Renter-Friendly)

An outer space room is one of the few kids' themes that survives from toddler to tween. The trick is building it in layers with removable pieces, so the room can start simple and grow, and so it can come down without a trace if you rent. Here is the plan we give customers.

Step 1: Pick one color story

Space rooms go wrong when every element is a different color. Choose one of three palettes before buying anything. Gold stars on navy is the classic and works from nursery to teen. Silver and white on grey is calmer and more grown-up. Pastel planets on a white wall suits a baby's room. Whatever you choose, keep the bedding and rug inside that palette and the room will look designed rather than collected.

Step 2: Choose the hero wall

Every space room needs one wall that carries the theme. This is usually the wall the bed faces, so it is the first thing seen in the morning. Put the largest piece here: a full outer space decal set with planets, rockets and comets, a solar system poster sticker, or a panel of star or moon-phase peel-and-stick wallpaper. Keep the other three walls plain. One decorated wall reads as a theme; four reads as a toy store.

Step 3: Scatter the small stuff

Small peel-and-stick stars, watercolor stars and moon phases are for filling the gaps. Run a trail of stars from the hero wall across the ceiling, cluster a few around a window or closet door, and put one or two low near the bed where a small child can reach and touch them. Because these stickers reposition, this is the part a kid can help with and the part you can adjust after living with it for a week. Aim for uneven spacing; a grid looks like wallpaper, a scatter looks like sky.

Step 4: Plan for growth

Start with fewer pieces than you think you need. A three-year-old is happy with a rocket and a handful of stars. Add planets when they start learning their names, an astronaut when they announce that is the job, and a moon-phase strip above the desk when the room turns into a homework space. Removable decals make this incremental approach painless, and it keeps the room from feeling babyish too early.

Step 5: Install it right

Wipe the wall and let it dry. For large decals, rub the design firmly through the transfer layer, peel the backing, position, smooth from the center out, then pull the transfer layer away slowly at an angle. Lay a solar system out on the floor first to get spacing right. Freshly painted walls need two to three weeks to cure before anything will hold. Smooth painted ceilings take star stickers well; popcorn ceilings do not.

Taking it down

When the space phase ends, lift a corner of each decal and pull slowly. Nothing stays behind on painted drywall, which is why this approach works in apartments, rentals and military housing. Small stickers can usually be lifted and reused; large decals are best treated as single-use.

Where to start

Everything in this guide is in our outer space wall decals and wallpaper collection. For the rest of the room, the playroom wall decals and nursery wall stickers collections cover the pieces that are not space-themed but still belong in a kid's room, and the kids and nursery wallpaper collection has the star and moon patterns if you want an all-over hero wall.