# Kids' bedroom art **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525 "2013-07-15T02:11:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/21 "2013-07-16T19:23:18Z")
I had artwork - if you want to call it that - painted on my walls, usually. In Maryland I had a room with 2 wood paneled walls, one wall of closet space, and the fourth wall was white and decorated all over with butterflies. Mom stencilled them on. That was in grade school. In our next house, I did my own painting. First I had white walls with a big rainbow arch painted to frame mirror tiles cut into an archway shape. Then a couple years later, next house, I painted the walls very pale lilac and put a bare (winter) tree in each corner. One was an oak, one was ash, one was thorn, and one was alder. As best I could trace those shapes. I won’t claim they were entirely accurate 🙂 Next, did my brother’s room - spring green rug, white walls, and big yellow sun on one wall. The desk, bed and bookshelf was painted yellow to match. We found lion’s head pulls for the drawers and the closet door. He liked lions. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/22 "2013-07-16T20:59:51Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I never thought it strange until now, but I had no paintings or posters on my childhood bedroom wall at all that I can remember. Maybe it was due to the family’s Quaker heritage. My parents didn’t put up any art that I recall, either. But the wallpaper in my nursery was rather horrible. It was cartoonish looking rabbits repeated floor to ceiling. Mom once told me the pattern was called “Wabbits”, but I’ve been unable to google an image of it. The thing I most recall was the color scheme (yellows and oranges) which really belonged in a fast food restaurant, not a child’s nursery, and that their orange mouths reminded me of orange slices when a chimp eats them. When I got a bit older, the first poster I ever picked out and put up was an [axlotl](http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/axolotl/), the centerfold in, I believe, National Geographic’s World magazine for kids. I just thought he was the cutest most cheerful little creature imaginable. (I must have been warped by wabbits.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/23 "2013-07-16T22:12:54Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Mom once told me the pattern was called “Wabbits”, but I’ve been unable to google an image of it. How do you google for wall wallpaper, anyway, without getting a ton of computer-monitor wallpaper instead? I had horrible wallpaper in my room when I was a kid, too - came with the house. It was black-and-white Revolutionary War era sketches, only with maroon instead of white. Wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been b&w instead of b&maroon, but having that color on all four walls was really oppressive. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/24 "2013-07-16T22:17:24Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > We had a picture of [St. Therese de Lisieux.](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SK0l_NljR8I/S2-rKz-d0gI/AAAAAAAABBc/v4rIyhxHTPw/s1600-h/Saint_Therese.jpg) It was one of those pictures where no matter where you were, the eyes were staring at you. Even though her face was sweet, that picture scared the crap out of me. Of course, I couldn’t say anything, because then I would be in danger and targeted by supernatural forces. My numerous childhood fears often trapped me in such conundrums. > > I guess you couldn’t really call that _art_. I don’t think her face is sweet at all. To me, she’s got a “I know what _you_ did” smirk. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/25 "2013-07-16T22:31:59Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > How do you google for wall wallpaper, anyway, without getting a ton of computer-monitor wallpaper instead? Apparently, I don’t. But if you want an image of Bugs Bunny and/or Elmer Fudd for your computer, I know where you can find them. 😉 > [@](#): > > I had horrible wallpaper in my room when I was a kid, too - came with the house. It was black-and-white Revolutionary War era sketches, only with maroon instead of white. Wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been b&w instead of b&maroon, but having that color on all four walls was really oppressive. I KNOW THAT WALLPAPER! My ex had it in his childhood bedroom, and it’s still on the wall at his folks’ house. I always thought it was awfully disturbingly close to dried blood colored. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/26 "2013-07-16T23:24:15Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I KNOW THAT WALLPAPER! My ex had it in his childhood bedroom, and it’s still on the wall at his folks’ house. I always thought it was awfully disturbingly close to dried blood colored. I had a childhood friend who had it, too. A regimental drum was a recurring motif, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/27 "2013-07-16T23:27:47Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I had a childhood friend who had it, too. A regimental drum was a recurring motif, wasn’t it? I believe so, though (thank goodness) it’s been 40 years since I’ve seen that wallpaper. And a Long Tom Gun, and what I assume was General Jones, only the ‘s’ was covered up by the corner of another image. Can’t remember what else, but I bet my memory could be jogged. I looked at that damned wallpaper for 12 years, after all, though by the time I was a teen, I’d basically stopped seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/28 "2013-07-17T01:38:58Z")
My room had a theme: Originally (at least, as early as I can remember, though I also vaguely remember starting it) of underwater, then later (and still, mostly because there hasn’t been a reason to redecorate) elephants. In addition, I also had a painting of Jesus-whose-eyes-follow-you in my room. And not actually in the room, but there’s a charcoal sketch of a great[sup]n[/sup] grandfather out in the hall, and there was a [Guardian Angel painting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Guardian_Angel_1900.jpg) in the stairwell that I always imagined was my sister and I. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/29 "2013-07-17T09:47:45Z")
My room was basically all windows and bookshelves; however, I had [this](http://thumbs4.picclick.com/d/w500/pict/290851929159_/STAR-WARS-Return-of-the-Jedi-movie-poster.jpg)Return of the Jedi poster on my wall from 1983 until I turned 18 nine years later. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/30 "2013-07-17T11:28:13Z")
Up until I was about 8yrs old I had a poster of the _Six Million Dollar Man_. I can’t remember exactly what it looked like, so I can’t find the pic online. May have been [this one](http://www.expertcomics.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/lee-majors.jpg). Later I had [this](http://unleashthefanboy.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Star-Wars-IV-Poster.jpg) Hildebrandt Brothers _Star Wars_ poster. Then later still I had [this](http://images.picturesdepot.com/photo/r/return_of_the_jedi_poster-25126.jpg) Drew Struzan _Return of the Jedi_ poster. I shared a bedroom with my brother, and he had first [this](http://www.impawards.com/1976/king_kong.html) poster of the 1976 King Kong, then [this one](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2nInsUZIFx8/Ty_g0kCk0vI/AAAAAAAAOi4/aesWnx4rpXc/s1600/2000AD_0061.jpg) of Judge Dredd, which was enlarged to poster size (can’t find the actual one\*). \ ***Edit** : Oh, wait. [Here it is](http://2000ad.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/dredd-poster.jpg?w=627). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/31 "2013-07-17T12:53:39Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > …I shared a bedroom with my brother, and he had first [this](http://www.impawards.com/1976/king_kong.html) poster of the 1976 King Kong… Heh. Check out the blurb at the top of the poster. Hyperbolic much? ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/32 "2013-07-17T13:19:13Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Heh. Check out the blurb at the top of the poster. Hyperbolic much? Actually, I’m more taken with the bottom of the poster. “King Kong for Christmas” sounds like some really awful Lifetime movie about a guy who likes to wear gorilla costumes and learns the true meaning of the season. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/33 "2013-07-17T14:20:45Z")
It was the early 70’s - and I had a poster of a giant cartoon hippo with a circus on its back, called (of course) “The Hippodrome” - very detailed and a lot of fun to look at! I also had a cartoony blue giraffe poster that my parents then painted full size on the wall, along with a Pink Panther. Alas - my GoogleFu is weak, or they just aren’t out there on the Interwebs. I also had a wall hangings of Snoopy made of (according to a quick Google search) “melted plastic popcorn chips” - something like [these guys](http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MELTED-PLASTIC-POPCORN-CHIP-EASTER-DUCK-TULIPS-/171068577978#ht_302wt_989) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/34 "2013-07-17T16:45:09Z")
My father was a very talented amateur artist, and he drew circus characters/themes on one wall of the bedroom that my sister and I shared…in CRAYON. And it actually looked good. Until I started to work with wax crayons as an adult, I hadn’t realized how good he must have been, to pull off those pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/35 "2013-07-17T17:34:47Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > My sister and I shared a bedroom. She’s a redhead and I’m a brunette, and we had the corresponding [“Northern Girls” prints](http://www.etsy.com/listing/59518772/northern-tissue-little-girls-and-baby), which you could get from Northern toilet paper. > > A few years ago, my sister found some in an antique shop, and now my mom has them in her guest bedroom. We had those too! I was just going to post the same thing – thanks for saving me the trouble of entering the link on my iPad. But we were both blondes. We also had a set of prints of roses. Don’t know where those came from. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/36 "2013-07-17T17:39:16Z")
A poster for [The Endless Summer](http://trps.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/endlessummer_poster.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/37 "2013-07-17T18:14:09Z")
Um, holy crap. I was still looking for a link to the picture I talked about above, when I stumbled on the work of [Mark Ryden](http://www.markryden.com/index.html). (Some pictures at that link NSFW). I had not heard of this guy, but he is the artist who did the covers for Stephen King’s Desperation and The Regulators. Sorry for the hijack, but some of these would be totally excellent in a kid’s room! Others… well, I suppose it depends how much you disliked the kid. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/38 "2013-07-17T18:38:56Z")
[Building a Rainbow](http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/276/a/3/building_a_rainbow_by_mozart66-d300wwd.jpg) was on one wall, another wall had a circa 1958 National Geographic map of the US highway system, [The Beach Boys Endless Summer poster](http://rewarevintage.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/P1270060.jpg) was up somwhere, as were several various animal posters. And Mom had made my curtains out of Peanuts bed sheets. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/39 "2013-07-17T19:27:16Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I don’t think her face is sweet at all. To me, she’s got a “I know what _you_ did” smirk. Thank you for that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525/40 "2013-07-17T19:28:30Z")
My parents built a brand-new house in the mid-70s, and murals were the Cool New Thing at the time. There was a huge mural of tropical fish in one bathroom, for example, and my sister got a full-wall mural of a waterfall in a forest. The store that sold the murals had one of the earth rising from the moon, something like [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise), and I was big into Star Wars and anything sci-fi, and I wanted it BAD. My mother said no, because I’d outgrow those kinds of things and in a few years wouldn’t want it. 30-something years later, I still want the damn thing. Unfortunately, murals are not in vogue anymore, and I’m not sure where I’d find a wall-size print of it, nor do I have a plain, full wall anywhere in my house where I could put it if I did find it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kids-bedroom-art/663525.md?page=3)