Collecting the Sox: Museum Rooms

Call them what you want. Museum rooms, Red Sox rooms, man caves, sports dens, game rooms, whatever words you like. They all refer to the same thing…a room dedicated to showing off your Red Sox fandom. This is more than a display on the top of your bureau. It’s more than a shelf on a bookcase. These are complete rooms dedicated to displaying Red Sox collectables. It’s the answer to every collectable’s storage problem. It’s also a bold statement that you can amass the most Red Sox junk.

These rooms have become quite common in recent years. It seems that with Americans going for larger and larger houses, they’ve run out of things to do with all the extra space. Houses have gone beyond bedroom-living room-kitchen-bathroom. They’ve added family rooms, dens, and offices. They’ve finished off basements to create even more living space. Instead of the 30’ parlors of days gone by, newer houses squeeze 4 rooms into that space, and they run out of good reasons to do it. Enter the Red Sox room. If there’s an extra room, simply put up some shelving for collectables and hang some pictures on the wall. Bingo, it’s a room to treasure.

Companies have tapped into this new market with gusto. At the box stores, you can get paint in the official color of just about any team. Simply walk up to the counter and ask for Red Sox red. Bring it home, and your themed room is the perfect color for Red Sox displays. The computers can also match just about any color. So, if you have a chip of Fenway Green paint (or even a good picture), just match it to make your room the spitting image of Fenway Park. Furniture companies have come out with Red Sox rocking chairs, pub tables, and bar stools. You can get Red Sox beanbag chairs, or inflatable glove-shaped ones. Just about any decorating feature you can think of comes with a Red Sox logo on it.

Some people also like to combine the Red Sox room with a TV or game room. Image a pool table in the middle of the room, with Red Sox pool balls. A flat screen TV could be hanging on the walls to watch the Red Sox games in high-def. This gives a purpose to the room, beyond just looking at stuff.

Other than that, it’s just a matter of filling the room with whatever Red Sox stuff you have. Get bookcases for the baseballs,

bobbleheads, and coffee mugs. Frame up pictures, posters, and newspapers to cover the walls. Hang a bat rack in the corner. A nice curio cabinet can house the expensive figurines and autographs. Throw a Red Sox themed rug on the floor, and you’re ready to invite friends over to admire your collection.

And, really, that’s what it’s all about. A place for people to come and gawk at all the stuff you have that they wish they had. It’s a place to hang out and watch a game, live or on DVD. It’s a place to play Red Sox Monopoly, or Red Sox checkers, or even Red Sox Jenga. It’s a place for everyone to escape from the world, and surround themselves with their favorite team for a while. (And, it’s a place to finally find a spot for that life-size cardboard cutout of Nomar Garciaparra.)

Anyone have pictures of their Museum Room they’d like to share? E-mail them along.