Sports Themes for Fans

Home improvement stores and children’s boutiques have noticed increased demand for sports room themes in recent years.  As the popularity of the NFL™ and NASCAR® have exploded in the 21st century, sports fans can deck out their bedrooms and living rooms to celebrate their favorite teams. 

Defining Sports Themes for Bedrooms

For first-time homeowners who love sports, room themes can save time and money on using overused hues and room decor throughout the house.  The term room theme implies a complete conversion of a bedroom, living room, or family room into a physical representation of the owner’s hobbies.  An incredibly popular room theme for kids and adults involves athletics and sports teams.  Many homeowners are converting living rooms and family rooms into sports themes for bedrooms havens that are perfect for day, night, and weekend games.  The most common use of the sports theme takes place in kid’s bedrooms, a trend reflected in the thriving market for sports-themed decor through kid’s clothing and furniture stores. 

Features of Rooms with Sports Themes

The central feature in a bedroom with a sports theme is the bed.  Parents can keep their kids dreaming of glory on the football field and the baseball diamond with sheets, comforters, and pillow cases covered in sports imagery.  On top of the basic sports-themed bed set, the bed can be covered in sports-shaped throw pillows and quilted sports blankets to complete the theme. 

A sports-themed bedroom also features wall hangings and decor that reflect the type of sports enjoyed by the occupant.  If a kid loves the Green Bay Packers©, the room may be coated in green and gold wallpaper.  Homeowners can also use basic paint to create stripes, swirls and other patterns on bedroom walls.  Once the wallpaper or paint has dried sufficiently, parent can hang framed jerseys, baseball cards, signed balls, and other decor to add some character to the room. 

If you want to set your themed room apart from other rooms, you can use oft-overlooked decor like lamps, rugs, and banners to fill out the room.  Your child’s bedside table can be lit up with a Boston Red Sox© or San Francisco 49ers© lamp from a team’s official shop.  You can lay out a generic area rug with a football pattern to keep the carpet clean and complete the sports theme.  A stuffed football player or baseball-shaped pillow can be placed on a corner chair to put an exclamation point on your sports-theme room. 

Designing a Room with a Sports Theme

The difference between a sports-themed room and a room with a few pieces of memorabilia is full coverage.  If you commit to a sports theme for a bedroom or living room, you should match every design element in the room to your theme.  For example, a kid’s bedroom with a baseball theme will look incomplete if you forget to switch out the previous desk lamp and area rug.  You should start by taking an inventory of everything in your existing room and use this list to complete your shopping in a single trip.  

Another issue for homeowners interested in rooms with sports themes is consistency in wall decor.  In rooms with a team-specific theme, a generic jersey or framed picture unrelated to the team can distract the attention of visitors.  Your best bet when decorating a kid’s bedroom with a sports theme is using generic products rather than authorized team products to maintain consistency from wall to wall.  If you want to decorate walls in honor of your favorite team, you should have framed memorabilia and official team paint from Home Depot® in hand before making the switch. 

As you install a sports theme in your bedroom, you should be paying attention to the small details to make the room last longer.  If you use a wall border from Artistic Sensations©, you should purchase multiple rolls to match the end of one roll to the beginning of the next.  You can take the opportunity to find carpeting in your favorite team’s colors as you begin to tear apart an old room.  By choosing the team’s primary color in your carpeting, you can opt for a second color for wallpaper or paint to create an interesting visual effect.  For example, you can paint your walls red and find black carpet to show your love of the Chicago Bulls©.

 

Online Resources for Sports Themes

Home Depot® (http://www.homedepot.com) and Glidden® partnered a few years ago to provide sports-themed paints to customers around the United States.  The home improvement giant sells team-specific paints from the MLB™, NFL™, NASCAR®, and MLS™ through hundreds of outlets from coast to coast.  The Home Depot®-Glidden® partnership has proved to be a major success as sports fans flock to paint their family rooms, bedrooms, and home theaters with unique team colors.  If you need the light blue of the North Carolina Tar Heels© or the black and silver of the Oakland Raiders© in your bedroom, you can head to any Home Depot® and find the right shades. 

JCPenney© (http://www.jcpenney.com) is another major retailer offering decorations for bedrooms and living rooms with sports themes.  Visitors to the JCPenney© website can find comforters, pillow covers and other bedroom decorations authorized by NASCAR®.  If your child’s favorite sport depends on the season, you can choose bed sets and lamps with generic sports themes to avoid redecorating as each season ends. 

Major retailers may offer the lowest prices on sports decor and bedding but you can also find fantastic products through niche retailers.  Kid’s Decor (http://www.kidsdecor.net) is a family-owned kid’s boutique in McAllen, Texas that started its website only a few years ago to cater to growing families around the United States.  This store offers free shipping for all orders over $99 and carries every product necessary to decorate a young sport fan’s room.  From soccer pillows to baseball jerseys hung from the wall, Kid’s Decor is a one-stop shop for parents willing to buy sports-themed products online. 

Artistic Sensations© (http://www.artisticsensations.com) offers another route for amateur decorators looking at sports themes in their homes.  You can find artfully designed wall borders and banners with footballs, baseballs, and basketballs through the company’s website.  Artistic Sensations© also sells pillows shaped like baseballs and patterned quilts spanning the most popular sports in the United States.