It’s always about what to do with stuff. There’s a reason we can’t part with the old skateboards in our garage. It could be a desperate attempt to hold on to our youth. They do make good floor dollies for those times it’s necessary to move junk up and down the driveway. My fascination with any subculture and my own “what to do with my skateboard” conundrum may be behind how impressed I was with examples of Skateboard Decor I’ve discovered.

Sure boards get beat up, nicked, banged, bruised, dented, damaged, cracked and broken and they need to be retired. Flinging skateboards around has to be tough on the gear. It’s nice to find out that they don’t have to end up on the scrap heap.

It makes sense that wheels and trucks get salvaged while the boards are put out to pasture, sometimes literally. I’ve seen fencing, plantings borders and benches. I’m not auditioning for writing for a Martha Stewart lifestyle publication here, but there is no end to how old boards can be used to spruce up a yard and to see actual examples of this kind of exterior decor is inspiring. These decorating materials have to bump up the coolness factor a notch. So consider what you might do with old gear from your skater days. Reuse, recycle and make your yard the envy of the skate punks in your neighborhood who still might find you a bit  crazy for discarding old boards in your yard in this manner.

St. Johns

Right next to George Middle School in St. Johns lies a yard brimming with the results of skateboard decorating ideas. Old boards outline a planting bed with a colorful mish mash of stickers and other designs while worn out decks find new life in a brilliant conception of a bench.

MLK near NE Dekum ST

After asking permission from the guys on the porch, it was mentioned, with great pride that these were all boards these guys had bashed up themselves. The house on MLK Blvd near Dekum had a small concrete ramp out front where some of the boards no doubt lost their mojo. It felt like an honor to see this gear lined up  as if it was somehow memorializing the service of the now out-of-service.

Kenton

This less is more approach was found in the Kenton neighborhood. The skateboard border lines up behind the brick border. I’m here to cheer on the reuse of any piece of diminished skateboarding equipment. The flamingo, looking over the skateboards, is a nice and subtle touch because a flamingo glued to an old skateboard would have been way over the top.

See a slideshow presentation of this blog post by clicking here: https://youtu.be/I3hGgirNfp8