It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of baseball, football, hockey, basketball, or some other sport. Every sports fan has a favorite sport and – at the end of the day – a favorite team. While some of us are pretty passive about our sports interests, enjoying a good game every weekend, others are a bit more aggressive and want everyone to know what teams they support. Their clothing, vehicle decals, and even their homes will announce their favorites.
You shouldn’t be ashamed of decorating your home to support your favorite sports team, but you should try not to go overboard, either. A little bit of carefully placed sports memorabilia can be downright classy, but overdoing it can be crass, ugly, and outright gnarly to look at.
Outdoor Decorations
Outdoor decorations are a great way to show support for your favorite sports team. Flying a small flag with your favorite team’s logo can be a crafty way to add to your outdoor décor. While out and about the other day, I even saw some rather a rather tasteful blow-up lawn ornament similar to those used at Halloween and Christmas on someone’s lawn in support of the Philadelphia Eagles. There was only one and it was placed discretely on the lawn, up near the house and the bushes. It fit into the landscape and there wasn’t a lot of other junk around to detract from the home or make things look sloppy. Announcing your support for your favorite team is fine if you aren’t lowering the value of the entire neighborhood with your efforts.
Indoor Decorations
Don’t go overboard inside your house, either. If you have a collection of memorabilia pieces from your favorite sports team, limit the majority to one room in your house or to a curio cabinet where they can be displayed. It’s alright to have a piece or two in other rooms, but too much can get overwhelming and looks plain tacky.
There are exceptions, of course. If you’re hosting a football party, for example, you should feel free to go all out and display your memorabilia for your friends and fellow sports lovers to see and discuss. They’ll obviously make great conversation starters in what is, at that point, an appropriate situation. Sports themed napkins, utensils, and plates and bowls showing off your team’s colors are great for this situation as well.
A Note about Painting
Are you a die-hard sports fan? Do you want to spend all of your time in your favorite room thinking about your favorite team? Decorate to your heart’s content, if you must, but please, for the love of all that is good – do not paint your walls, your front door, your exterior trim, or your vinyl shutters – don’t paint anything – with your team’s colors.
First of all, most are just not natural colors for a standard room. Second, you’ll get sick of looking at the bold colors. Finally, you’ll have one heck of a time selling your home. Why? When people look at a home they want to be able to visualize it as theirs. When a non-sports fan sees your bright green den with football banners, he won’t be able to visualize the room (or the house) as his.
Case in point? A friend of mine painted his den and main living area a horrific burnt orange color to represent his favorite Chicago teams. It was a terrible color that the average person would find difficult to stand for long periods of time. And yes, he did have to repaint the room when it was time to sell his house.
We can certainly appreciate the need to support a good sports team. Just make sure you’re not doing it at the expense of your budget, sanity, and usually normal taste in décor!
About the Author: Tammera Kosik admits she’s gone overboard in the past, but she works hard to make sure her favorite football and baseball teams are honored in her home year round. When she’s not watching sports, you can find her plotting her outdoor landscaping project, including driveway paving from Install It Direct and a gorgeous new deck.
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