Let’s talk about some neon sign ideas for your living room! Neon signs are a great way to decorate any room of your house, and that includes the sitting room, the main hub of activity.
First, let’s discuss a bit about what neon signs are, their types, and why it is such a great idea to install them in your living room. And then we will get to the ideas.
Neon Signs: Their Different Types
Nowadays, neon signs don’t mean the same thing that they used to back in the 80s.
You see, neon signs started off with a simple yet brilliant (quite literally) concept. Neon gas was trapped in a glass tube, and the tube was ran through with electric current. Boom! It made the gas light up.
The concept of these signs was great, and they remained popular for quite a few decades before people realized that there were safer options out there. Plus, neon signs were expensive since they used real glass and real gases.
People started making similar-looking signs using plastic and LED lights instead of glass and gas.
As a result of that, neon signs are now split into two different types. If you are looking to buy one for your living room, it’s important for you to know both.
- The real, OG, traditional neon signs: These are the signs that are made using actual glass filled with a mixture of different noble gases
- The new, cheaper, LED neon signs: Also known as faux signs, the only “neon” thing about these are their bright vivid colors…which are also just simulated using colored plastic.
It is important to remember that both of these signs are excellent in their own regard, and they are both suitable for various purposes and situations.
Should I Get a Glass Neon Sign or a Faux Neon Sign for My Living Room?
It depends on a few different factors. As we mentioned just now, both of these signs are excellent in their own regard.
- It first depends on the exact spot where you plan on installing the neon sign. If you’re going to install the sign somewhere very easily accessible, you have to consider safety concerns. A real glass sign could be quite unsafe since it could break and harm the people around it. On the other hand, a faux sign could be safer since it is just plastic.
- It also depends on the type of look you’re going for and the aesthetic that you’re looking to add. While real neon signs and faux signs look similar, they give off a different type of vibe. In a smart, modern home, a faux sign could look better whereas in a vintage/antique sort of home, a real neon sign could be the better choice.
- The price is also something to consider when buying a neon sign for your living room. Real neon signs can be expensive, both to buy and to maintain. If you are buying a few different signs for your living room, the cost can add up to be quite hefty. On the other hand, faux neon signs aren’t that expensive to buy and they’re also not that expensive to fix should they break.
Neon Sign Ideas for Your Living Room
Now let’s talk about some ideas that you can try out when buying a neon sign for your living room.
1. Motivational quotes
It is a great idea to have a neon sign show a motivational quote or proverb in your living room.
Text-based neon signs look good in all types of rooms and surroundings. Plus, with an inspiring and uplifting quote always in front of you in the living room, you’ll be able to keep yourself motivated by looking at it every now and then. Oftentimes, it takes just a little bit of something to cheer you up. It can even be just a neon sign shaped into a positive message.
Here are some quotes that you can try:
- Keep your chin up: A sign to remind yourself to keep your chin up and stay smiling. It can make a lot of bad situations a lot better.
- Just breathe: It’s okay to be worried and stressed at times, but it’s also important to keep yourself calm and navigate through your problems with a clear head. Hang a neon sign up with a message like this so that you never forget it.
- Dream big: A way to remind yourself to dream big and work hard.
- It’s not over yet: Even if things seem bleak at times, no situation is beyond hope. It is never over. A sign with these words can give you the encouragement you need to go through the rough and rocky patches of life.
- Trust the process: Are you working out but don’t see the results? Maybe it’s a new diet or a new social skill that you’re trying to develop. Even if there are no visible results, you should persist and trust the process. What better way to keep reminding yourself of this golden rule than to hang a sign up in your living room?
2. Funny and comedic quotes and phrases
A funny quote or a small joke is also a good theme for a neon sign. If you’re buying a premade sign, you will be able to find quite a few different ones saying a funny one-liner or a pun.
But, if you have one custom-built, here are some ideas that you can try.
- Go back, you’re already full: This can be a funny sign to hang up on the living room wall right next to the kitchen. A way to add a bit of humor to the atmosphere and also giving you a healthy reminder to not eat too much.
- Nacho average place: A play on words! A funny way to let everyone know this isn’t just any random house, but a special one.
- We’re out of milk: If you have a sense of humor like me, random stuff probably makes you laugh a lot. Like seeing a neon sign hanging next to your fridge telling you you’re out of milk, which you probably aren’t.
3. Personal effects and touches
This is yet another great choice in neon sign ideas for living room. You can add a personal touch to the room by having the sign say something a bit more meaningful than a joke or a pun.
You can have the sign say the name of the house, or the name of a loved one living with you, or even a pet. A personal touch like this can make the house look warm and friendly. It shows that you care about the place and regard it as a home.
Plus, by putting a sign with the name or initials of a loved one up on the wall, you can show that you care about them. The sign can be an affectionate gesture. Plus, it can remind you of said person if they’re sometimes away from home and make you smile when you need it.
4. Abstract designs
The neon sign ideas for living room that we’ve mentioned above are all based on messages and initials, so let’s talk about something a little different.
Depending on the vibe of the room and the look that you’re going for, text-based signs may sometimes not be the best idea. For example, if your living room has a modern and sleek look without any sort of books or literature placed anywhere, then a piece of text affixed to the wall can sometimes look a bit off.
In this case, you can go for some abstract designs, such as artistic shapes and symbols.
- If your living room has a sharp and modern aesthetic, you can decorate it with a neon sign showing steep angles and curves, such as an abstract artwork of triangles and octagons, etc. Here is an image to give you an idea:
- On the other hand, if the room reflects a more rounded theme (by including rounded furniture, fixtures, and architectural elements), you can go for a neon sign showing similar abstract shapes. Here is an image to give you an idea:
Make Sure to Pick the Right Color for Your Neon Sign
It is important to note that neon signs are quite bright and vivid, and they can often outshine the normal lights that you may have installed in your living room. A wrongly selected color can throw off the whole look of your room and make it look overly bright and sickly.
Make sure that you pick a sign that matches the theme of your room and blends in with the existing colors.
Wrapping Up
Neon signs can be customized to show a lot of different things, including text-based messages and abstract art. In the post above, we’ve mentioned a few different neon sign ideas for living room that you can try out.
Before going in with any of those, however, it is important to decide which type of sign you want to buy: faux or real. We’ve talked about the different factors that you should consider when choosing between them. However, before we wrap this post up, there is one more point that we’ll mention.
If you’re going for an elaborate design, such as a long phrase or a large abstract design, it can be better and more economical to buy a faux sign instead of a real glass one. This is because it is more affordable to make, and it can also be expected to be more durable.