Contributed by Tim Brugger, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

Having your own room is the closest thing to nirvana most kids will ever get.

It’s a place to unwind after a long day of dealing with the responsibilities wrought in the pressure-packed world of adolescence; a safe haven if you will.

Recognizing the importance of this area to the mental stability of our children, it’s no wonder we gladly decorate their room with the comic book, TV, cartoon or movie character du jour. Here are the most popular character themes in kids’ rooms today.

10. Princess room

Yet another testament to the Disney marketing juggernaut, what young girl hasn’t wanted to decorate her room with all things princess; particularly one or many of the Disney princesses. Pretty impressive, considering the first princess, Snow White, made her initial appearance on the big screen in 1937.

9. Sports hero

The particulars of this character-themed room are based on a number of factors: proximity to the nearest sports franchise, Mom and Dads favorite team, or who has the coolest uniforms. However the decision is arrived at, decorating your child’s room with sports theme bedding and details based on a favorite player or team is a winner every time for the sports fanatic of the house.

8. Jack Sparrow

In addition to a series of great movies, The Pirates of the Caribbean has re-invigorated interest in all things pirate. This, quite naturally, includes pirate bedroom décor. Walking in to find your 11-year old sharpening the blade of his cutlass can be a bit unnerving, but you have to love that imagination.

7. Superheros

Spiderman is probably the most popular character, but you won’t have to walk too far through the neighborhood to find rooms decorated with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, or any number of other good guys and girls. A word of caution: if your child has a room, avoid furnishing them with bunk beds as these invariably end up being used as a launching pad.

6. Star Wars

All these years later, the most famous galaxy (wherever far, far away is) in movie history remains an extremely popular character theme for kids rooms across the globe. Find Star Wars theme gear in rugs, lamps and wall murals. As with a few other items on our Top 10 list, Star Wars has the added benefit of multiple choices: good guys, bad guys, hairy guys, droids, heroines, and a few characters best categorized as “others.”

5. Thomas the Train

Thomas has had himself a pretty good run, and remains a kid favorite. Trains of all sorts, and Thomas in particular, make great themed rooms too. Set your son or daughter up with a bed that serves double duty as a train car, and getting them to sleep will be a snap.

4. Buzz Lightyear

Buzz and Top 10 character theme kid’s room item #3 are essentially interchangeable, in that there really is no wrong answer, its simply individual choice. Sort of like Elvis or The Beatles, they both made good music, just different. Add space themed accents to the room to keep it from turning into a collection of just one character. Not that Buzz Lightyear isn’t awesome on his own, but the decor will have more longevity with some variety.

3. Woody & pals

So why, you may ask, is Woody at 3# and Buzz at #4 if there is no difference, other than choice? We did the only reasonable thing we could under the circumstances to ensure an unbiased, yet scientifically verifiable result; we flipped a coin and Woody won.

2. Barbie

For most young girls with an itch to decorate their palace/room in a theme of their favorite character, Barbie still wins the day. The good news for parents is with the plethora of Barbies; from disco to down home Barbie, the nightmares of screaming pink emanating from her room every time you open the door does not have to become reality. Then again…

1. Spongebob

Why not? Everything else on this planet seems to have some measure of Spongebob attached to it; may as well decorate the room with the guy. There’s a good chance your child is already dressing in Spongebob PJ’s, brushing with Spongebob toothpaste, combing with Spongebob brushes, sitting on Spongebob stools, playing Spongebob games, wearing Spongebob hats or shirts, or some Spongebob-related variation thereof anyway.