Spongebob Squarepants is one of the most popular shows for pre-teen kids. Even many adults like to tune in and watch Spongebob’s antics. With this popularity, many kids may ask for their room to be decorated in a Spongebob theme. If you are looking to redecorate a child’s room with a Spongebob theme, here are some tips that will help you create the perfect look.
First, you will need undersea color paints. Try for some Caribbean style blues. These are relaxing tones, and can help create a restful room, despite the zaniness of Spongebob as a character. This Caribbean blue should be your background color. You can paint various things such as Spongebob, a large pineapple house, or even bubbles, as I’ve written about previously. These will give the room a lot of character. One idea is to paint the flowers that often float in Spongebob’s sky. You can do these with small paint samples that most home improvement stores have for sale, and draw them freehand onto the ceiling. An easy way to draw them onto the wall is to use a small projector, available at many craft stores for less than $20. Then you can print out an underwater scene from the Internet and copy it onto the wall to make a mural. Use small bottles of craft paints to paint it on the wall. Make sure when you paint the characters or scenes, that you have taken the room layout into account. There is no reason to paint a mural in a spot that will always be covered by a dresser or a bed. Also, save yourself some time and effort and install a chair railing about halfway up the wall. Only put the mural above it, and make it seem as though the characters are walking along the chair railing. This will keep you from having to paint a large area freehand with many different colors. Below the chair railing, a neat idea is to paint several coats of magnetic paint and then a coat of chalkboard paint over the top. This lets them have a large magnetic area in their room, where they can hang drawings, posters, or magnetic toys, and they will also be able to use chalk on this part of the wall. The chair railing helps keep the chalk on the part of the wall where it belongs.
Next, the more adventurous will want to make a few structural changes that really make the design impressive. These kind of touches make it seem as though you paid a ridiculous amount of money to have your child’s room done professionally, but with a few home improvement skills, you can do it yourself. One idea is to create a bed nook by making a short wall right at the foot of the bed, so the bed is nestled away in a semi-private area. This is especially good when the room is shared between more than one child. After you have built the wall, paint it yellow with large black circles so that it represents Spongebob, or if you are very handy, you can cut port holes in the wall to make it look like a large sponge. You should also change out the ceiling fan for one that is painted in complementary tones, and has a single bubble light at the bottom. If you are less experienced with home improvements, there are still some changes you can make. Cut a sheet of MDF so that it will form the small nook for the bed. Trace large holes on the MDF and cut them out. Attach this to the ceiling and floor by using L shaped brackets at three points each along the top and bottom. Make sure they are secure and that they will not come loose if the wall is bumped against roughly. After all, this is for a child’s room and MDF is very heavy.
Then you will want to change the furniture and furnishings. You can purchase specialty stain from most hardware stores. This stain is water based, as opposed to the more typical oil based stain. Because of this, it can be colored like any paint, and can match any shade you want. Then you can strip the finish from an old dresser and turn it blue or yellow to match the Spongebob theme of the room. This can also be done with any wood in the room such as the door or a chair railing. If you have some sewing skills, you can make your own roman shades or curtains out of yellow fabric with large black circles sewn into it so that it looks like Spongebob. Instead of making a wall the creates a nook for the bed, try using the same technique to make a headboard. Cut some MDF to the proper size, finish the edges with a router, cut some large holes, paint it yellow, and attach it to the bed. Some other touches that really make the room impressive are to use an old barrel as a hamper, a crate as a bench or bedside table, and an old fashioned boat wheel with a round mirror behind it as a mirror. Use your imagination, and try to think of different things you would see on a boat, at sea, or underwater. Finally, keep the yellow with black holes theme at a minimum. There should be one large piece that looks like Spongebob, but the entire room should not be decorated in yellow. It is too bright a color, and a little goes a long way.
Making a Spongebob room is certain to please your kids, but there is no reason you have to have a standard room that has been decorated with store bought Spongebob items. With a little imagination, you can make a room that is much more beautiful, and which costs about the same. Your child will love it, and so will all of their friends, making your house the most popular house on the block. It will look like you spent quite a bit of money hiring a professional decorator, but someone who is skilled in home improvement can complete all of the changes for very little money. Because most of the changes are done with paint or stain, you can see enormous changes for very little money.
