Really? I am not sure if you want your own skin to look purple when you are in your home, it's not going to be very flattering. Do you just want some up-lights to shine on the walls? You can buy uplights (plug in type) and use the Phillips Hue system or similar to get the color you want.

As for decorating, you may not be able to paint the walls but there are lots of things you can do to make the place not boring, without paint. Visit your local Ikea for ideas, or check apartmenttherapy.com, whatever your terms are, you can hang art on the walls - use picture hangers that leave only a tiny hole easily filled with hole-filler when you leave.

Here's a start on how to decorate the boring white apartment:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/renters-solutions-7-real-life-examples-of-working-with-white-walls-apartment-therapy-home-remedies-201752

Sheer purple drapery panels or purple lampshades will give the look you want to the outside.

Go to a lighting store and talk to them about what you want to do. They could probably find some uplighting or wall washers with the right color bulbs to achieve the look you want. But I agree, I wouldn't want to appear purple in the room but would appreciate uplights that could wash the plain wall with color.

Purple bulbs.

Thanks for the replies!

Daki - What ones did you buy, and what would you suggest for someone who currently owns 2 lamps (one 7W max and one 40W max), and wants a softly lit purple room? Are yours enough to provide light for a 50 square foot room without the aid of ceiling lights? This sounds promising.

Gray - drapery and shades aren't really what I was looking for, but thanks anyway.

Tmnca - I have art but I really don't like white or yellow light, so I never use my ceiling lights. I have a 7W lamp by the bed which provides dim white/yellow light for the entire room, enough to make me feel comfortable but not too much.

You could just get a fluorescent blacklight, which will make the room look purple. Not sure I'd want to look at that all the time tho.

Annie - lighting stores have been very unhelpful so far. I would want enough light to see fine by (I currently use only a computer screen and a 7W lamp to light the entire 50sq ft room, and that is what I want in terms of brightness).

Shady - saw those, they are definitely an option. So far my best find has been this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-LivingColors-Colour-Changing-Light/dp/B008B4DCB6/ref=sr_1_1?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1448765976&sr=1-1

The Philips hue light bulb offerings are a little different in the UK ( Europe has a better variety). Whatever Hue lights you get will also need the Hue bridge - it connects to your wifi network and allows you to control the light(s) from your phone or tablet

It may sound hokey to use an app to turn lights on and off, but I can schedule them to turn on and off at sunrise/ sunset, if the UV index is very low (gloomy day), etc (I use IFTTT). There are also apps available that adjust the colors based on music or movies, if that is something that interests you.

If your lamp is rated for 40 watts, that means 40 watts incandescent. The hue bulbs are about 7 watts, but need to be in lamps without dimmer switches. The bulbs themselves are dimmed via the app. If you turn them on and off via the normal switch, they work just fine, but will be at the normal default bulb color and brightness when you turn them back on. I only have experience with the bulbs and not with their other lights, so do not know how those work, but they should give you plenty of light for your space, especially with several lamps.

Wow, that is dark! 50 w for a whole room? Maybe what you need is a nightlight. :)

If you want to try purple lights to see how they are to live with, Target had purple Christmas lights on sale for $8 in their flier today. It would be a cheap way to find out how much you really like living with the purple color.