Decor Ideas

The central decor piece was a 60-foot-long, multitiered stationary float covered with glittering fabric. Decor elements soared to 25 feet in the air from the structure, which doubled as a two-sided projection screen and carry 30 costumed performers, dancers, and drummers. Entertainment Plus Productions handled the performance art choreography for the event.

The official after-party for 5,000 guests took to the Los Angeles Convention Center with a Rio carnival theme. The colorful look was inspired by the travels of the Recording Academy's Branden Chapman, who is among the co-producers of the event with Along Came Mary. "Last year following the awards, I traveled to Argentina and Brazil, ending the experience with a few nights in Rio de Janeiro during carnival," he said. "The culture is extremely vibrant, and the celebration is like no other. Trying to harness this into one space and time was a challenge, but witnessing it first hand left me awestruck and inspired for this year’s theme."

The pieces in the colorful new look from Town & Country Event Rentals belong to the "Kaleidoscope" collection. Look for evocative, Moroccan-style lanterns and lush furniture groupings.

Kool Party Rentals displayed its new illuminated programmable dance floor, arched towers, curved bars, and custom-wrapped cocktail tables with vinyl appliqués that serve as blank canvases for communicating event or brand messages.

Ronen Rental’s chalkboard bar features chalkboard panels set in an aluminum frame. The bar comes in two sizes: six feet long and four feet long. Available to rent in South Florida, chalk is included. The company can also make custom stencils for easy personalization.

Pressed Cotton sells gray-washed wooden chalkboard boxes, from $19 each, that can be filled with plants or flowers and used as centerpieces. Have the boxes do double duty by using chalk to write table numbers on the side.

Also available through Pressed Cotton are chalkboard tags, $3.50 each, which can be used as signage or place cards or can be hung from the neck of wine bottles to designate tables.

To promote its first book, blog Design Sponge toured the West Coast in 2011. At a book signing in Los Angeles, guests could pose in front of—and draw on—a chalkboard backdrop created by event and styling production company Bash Please.

For a corporate event held in one of the hotel kitchens at the Atlanta Hyatt, Steve Bales of Bold American Events & Catering built floor-to-ceiling chalkboard walls on which he personalized each guest’s apron by scrawling his or her name next to it.

To build buzz for its latest product collaboration with charity organization Feed Projects, Target threw a rustic-Americana-theme dinner party underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in June. Freestanding chalkboard signs set up outside the open-air venue in Brooklyn Bridge Park helped guests find their way.

Also at the Target event, chalkboard menus placed near the bar areas displayed the cocktail hour offerings.

At the National Stationery Show in May, black-and-white stripes accented a stationery suite printed on a chalkboard-style background from Something Detailed.

Earlier this year at TEDActive, the official TED conference simulcast held in Palm Springs, TEDx planners from around the world expressed themselves on an interactive chalkboard wall.

The Southern-hospitality-infused welcome bash at the Engage! luxury-wedding business summit, held in June at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, featured a chalkboard map that outlined the various locations of the four-part event.

Available to rent throughout California, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Lounge Appeal’s Beachwood Chalkboard table allows guests to doodle on the surface. The 2- by 4-foot table comes in 42-, 30-, and 18-inch-tall versions.

In 2006 at the Robin Hood Foundation benefit, designer David Stark created towering hand-drawn sketches depicting New York scenes across more than 35,000 square feet of chalkboard. Guests could add to the work with bowls of chalk placed on the highboy tables throughout the cocktail area.