A sports-themed bedroom is a welcoming retreat for boys of any age.
Your very small or very teen boy needs a crib to keep his soccer and hockey gear in, and you're thinking sports theme for his room. Don't rush out and buy a bunch of ready-made sheets and comforters. Create something original that brightens up a nursery or makes your middle-schooler the coolest kid in the 'hood for after-school homework dates. Check thrift stores for old metal gym lockers, the attic for some vintage team pennants, the garage for a basketball hoop, and your kid for his sports preferences.
Instructions
1. Paint the room a cheerful color, reserving team colors for trim so the space isn't overwhelming. Burgundy and gold walls are going to get old fast, but the team colors look sharp on door frames and window sills. Buy a sports-themed carpet or some smaller, inexpensive throw rugs shaped like basketballs, surfboards or soccer balls to put down over a wood floor or existing wall-to-wall.
2. Sand the old locker you scored at the thrift store and spray-paint it inside and out. If it's rusty, sand off all the rust, and use a rust-inhibiting paint. If your budget allows, take it to an auto-body shop for a powder coating or auto paint finish. Be sure to remove the hardware before sanding and painting. Add hooks in the back, a mirror, and a marker for adding locker graffiti. Apply a few team decals if the room's occupant is old enough to have favorites. The locker can take the place of a dresser, hold books, games or other treasures, store team uniforms, or hide a laundry bag.
3. Decoupage sports posters all over an old wooden desk. Paint the inside of the drawers in bright high-gloss colors and finish the exterior with a clear coat of lacquer to protect the "art." Top the desk with a wall-hung for an older child. In a nursery, a desk can double as a changing table. Bigger kids need a computer and work desk. Hang a vintage pennant, or a string of pennants, over the bulletin board and desk.
4. Install the basketball hoop at the appropriate height in the clearest area of the room, to facilitate practice jump shots. Stack colorful milk crates or wire shelf cubes along one wall to accommodate sports gear. Put clips to hold hockey sticks or an open umbrella stand for bats next to the shelves. Hang a beat-up skateboard, drilled for a couple of coat hooks, on the wall as a catchall for windbreakers.
5. Make Roman shades for the windows, using team colors or neutrals, and hot-glue school team letters or sports team jacket appliqu s to every other panel.
6. Stretch a section of volleyball or tennis net across the wall over the headboard with painted clothes pins for sticking up drawings, team schedules or photographs. Buy a sports-themed comforter and pillow sham, or make a set in team colors. Appliqu or paint tennis rackets, skateboards, footballs, or other favored gear on a plain comforter, or use fabric paint to turn a solid-color comforter into the lanes of an Olympic swimming pool.
Tags: team colors, basketball hoop, bulletin board