Skateboard enthusiasts find that designers are coming up with innovative ways to incorporate their love of the sport into the home. Skaters can mount skateboards as shelves or hang decks as wall art. Wheels can be attached to tables for easy moves or used as doorstops. Decks can be shaped into colorful and fun tiles for a kitchen backsplash or stairway risers. Mural decals can turn a teenager’s bedroom into a skatepark complete with skaters dropping in on a ramp.
Here are some skateboard materials and art that designers and architects are using to bring street cruising and skatepark fun home.
Wall art. Select one or several skateboard decks and decorate a wall. Many brands create original art, while others feature decks with iconic themes. Santa Cruz Skateboards, for instance, has exclusive rights to Marvel characters Spider-Man, Iron Man and Hulk as well as the Simpsons and Star Wars characters
Headboard. Align decks in a row above a bed to make a headboard for an avid skater. One homeowner even spelled it out by topping the headboard with letters and numbers to form “SK8”.
Designers Bring Skateboard Fun Home
Tile. Skateboard decks find a second life as a colorful kitchen backsplash when discarded boards are turned into subway tiles. The tiles are wood but yet very durable.
One designer chose a single hue from her multi-colored backsplash to highlight the kitchen countertop. She kept the rest of the room neutral to focus on the bold backsplash. The designer chose the same tile as risers for a staircase and brought color to a small corner of the house. Using larger pieces of the skateboard on the stairway showed off more detail of the deck art.
Shelves. Their dimensions make skateboards perfect for use as wall-mounted shelves, and decks with concave shapes add even more interest to the project. Remove the trucks and wheels for a subtle look, or leave them on for a stronger visual impact. Sanding and varnishing gives the boards a clean finish.
Wheels. Skateboards’ polyurethane wheels roll with ease and are relatively kind to wood floors. Attaching them to one edge of the base of heavy furniture allows the homeowner to prop up the piece and make a smooth move. Wheels also make good doorstops to protect against hard door swings.
Siding. Skatelite, which was developed more than 70 years ago for industrial purposes, is often used on skatepark ramp surfaces. The resilient paper-composite is no longer reserved just for parks. Architects are drawn to the product as home siding for its appearance, cleanliness, and affordability.
