locker_deco_web.jpgKids, especially girls, have always hung photos, mirrors or handmade decorations in their school lockers. Now, retailers are giving them the option of buying coordinated locker trimmings that would make interior designers jealous.

Options include carpeting, chandeliers, wallpaper and a variety of accessories in bold, bright colors. Everything adheres magnetically so the products don't damage the lockers.

The trend gives kids a chance to express themselves in a venue that’s more public than their bedroom.

Product creators Christi Sterling and JoAnn Brewer started their company, LockerLookz, in 2010 after creating some handmade pieces to decorate their daughters’ lockers. Once other students saw the decorations, their parents started calling the women asking where they could buy them.

Paul Buckel got the idea to create magnetic wallpaper when his daughter's friend got in trouble for covering her locker with contact paper. Buckel, who runs a company, Magna Card, in DuBois, Pa., that makes magnetic business cards and other promotional products, saw locker decorations as an exciting new merchandise line.

Dee Tipps, owner of a boutique called a.k.a. Girl Stuff in Birmingham, Ala., says The LockerLookz decorations flew off shelves last summer, thanks mostly to middle-school girls.

Buckel said schools have gotten behind the products, especially because they don't damage the lockers. Some schools in his area have hosted decorating contests, he said.

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