“Harry Potter” DIY Bedrooms: The Magic Never Ends
Magical DIY rooms have claimed their place at MuggleNet, and we love showing them to you. Since we have no plans to stop writing about them, we’ll go ahead and bring you one that comes from the Padilla family near Philadelphia.
Mike and Colleen, and their two kids, Kenzie and Kyle, Padilla re-created a Harry Potter-themed bedroom in their home. The family has collectively seen all the movies, and everyone except Mike Padilla has read the books. That’s okay, Mr. Padilla. Maybe you’ve found a new quarantine activity! However, he says the real “Harry Potter expert in the family” is 14-year-old Kenzie. When she was nine, she was even picked to give a grand opening tour of Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express to one Steve Harvey.
Padilla explained why he and his family picked the Harry Potter franchise to base the magic room on. He had this to say about the matter:
Despite it being a fantasy story, there’s something very relatable to the characters and the challenges they face. Even seeing how the characters get older throughout the movies really strikes a parallel to seeing our own kids grown up over the years.
The room features a big red bed in the center and a handmade Nimbus 2000 above the headboard. The family calls it the room’s pièce de résistance, and rightfully so. The broom’s stick was pulled from a tree right outside the window of the room. They roughly followed instructions from a DIY website they found online.
Near the door to the bedroom is a wall of keys and a hanging Mirror of Erised. On another wall hang several wands, and to keep on theme, there are several decorations that make the room very wizard-y. The faux fireplace makes everything feel very warm and welcoming. The lights around the room are very Edison-style and old-fashioned.
Of all the decorations, the Padillas say the most difficult ones to get working were the “spells.” Mike Padilla explains again:
The most difficult part of the room was getting the spells to work. They’re a combination of individual remote control devices (infrared, like a TV remote) like the candles, fireplace, and speaker, in combination with a spare iPhone, an infrared remote hub, an infrared signal extender, Voice Control in iOS 13+, the iOS Shortcuts app, and a smart home app, all working together in concert. And they all had to be placed where they can’t easily be seen to really make the ‘magic’ feel real. It could have been a bit easier if I used Alex [sic] or Google Home, but who wants to cast a spell by saying ‘Hey Google, Lumos'[?] It kind of ruins the spirit. With my setup, you can just say ‘Lumos’ and all the candles will light up.
Who knew that magic and Muggle technology went so well together? Despite putting most of the technical stuff together himself, Mr. Padilla says, “It was a true family affair.”
As a fun way to show off all the features of the Harry Potter bedroom, there’s a video that the Padilla family would love for you to see. Kenzie Padilla takes you on the tour herself and points out all the magical things she loves as well.
The whole project only took about four weeks, and the family worked on weekends to put everything together. Mike Padilla also says that everyone has a different favorite part of the bedroom.
Kenzie loves the corner desk area. Kyle loves the fireplace. Colleen loves the flying keys corner. And my favorite is the magic spells.
On top of everything, the entire family is in Gryffindor House. Way to go, Padillas!
If you have a Potter project you want to share with us, send it to us at submissions@staff.mugglenet.com.
