Host A Stargazing Night At Home

Turn a balcony, terrace or living room into a cosy observatory for the night. With a few flexible pieces and the right lighting, a home stargazing gathering becomes an easy, memorable way to spend an evening with family or friends.

Divide the room by activity

A stargazing evening works best when the space is split into loose stations rather than one fixed setup. One corner for looking up through a telescope, another for charts and planning, a third for settling in once the sky is dark. Furniture on castors or light enough to shift easily makes this simple, which matters in a compact apartment or townhouse living room where every piece needs to earn its place and move when the evening calls for it.

HAUGA cabinet with 2 doors, white, 70x116 cmHAUGA high cabinet with 2 doors, white, 70x199 cmHAUGA high cabinet with 2 doors, grey, 70x199 cmHAUGA sideboard, white, 140x84 cmHAUGA cabinet with 2 doors, grey, 70x116 cmHAUGA glass-door cabinet, white, 105x116 cm

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Plan the night before you start

A good stargazing session usually begins with a lunar calendar and a star map rather than luck. Setting them out on a proper desk, with a warm reading lamp and somewhere to prop a tablet, turns planning into part of the fun rather than a chore done beforehand. It also means the person who knows the sky best can talk everyone else through what to expect, pointing things out on paper before heading outside to look for them for real.

Dress the walls for the occasion

Simple decoration does most of the work on a night like this. A moon themed print such as IKEA's PJÄTTERYD picture gives the wall above a desk or sideboard some atmosphere without needing much thought, and a scattering of stars made from tacks and ribbon costs almost nothing to put up or take down again. These small touches suit a one off evening but look just as at home left in place through the following weeks.

PJÄTTERYD picture, moonlight, 50x70 cmPJÄTTERYD picture, colourful reindeer, 50x70 cm, 2 packPJÄTTERYD picture, The Starry Night, June 1889, 118x78 cmPJÄTTERYD picture, endless tide, 140x56 cmPJÄTTERYD picture, Endelave & Alkmaar, 50x70 cm, 2 packPJÄTTERYD picture, Waterlilies, 1916 19, 70x50 cm

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Create a relaxed spot to gather

Not every stargazing evening needs a formal table. A looser, lounge style corner with wicker style chairs, soft rugs underfoot and one on the wall for warmth, plus low lighting overhead, gives people somewhere comfortable to sit with a drink and the star maps close to hand. Wheels on the furniture make rearranging painless, so the same spot can switch from quiet conversation to full attention on the sky without much effort at all.

JÄRRESTAD pouffe, with storage/Tonerud dark beige, 46 cmTOLKNING pouffe with storage, handmade rattan, 50 cmGLOSTAD 2-seat sofa, Knisa dark grey, 121 cmSANDARED pouffe, beige, 45 cmALSEDA stool, banana fibre, 60 cmGLOSTAD 3-seat sofa, Knisa dark grey, 171 cm

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Let LED lighting mimic the night sky

The real stars cannot be arranged to order, but the ones indoors can. Wrapped lamp shades and strings of LED lights are an easy way to set a dark blue, moonlit mood across a room, and they work just as well draped to suggest constellations on a wall or ceiling. Left glowing softly, they carry the evening even after everyone has come back in from outside, and pack away just as easily once the party is over.

A few flexible pieces and the right lighting are all it takes to bring the night sky indoors, with orders reaching homes across Malta and Gozo.

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