You don’t think little boys care about furniture?

Well, what if the furniture had gross gobs of glow-in-the-dark slime oozing out of it? For a boy of, say, 10 or 11, that’s not furniture – that’s a fantasy.

That’s just one of the highlights of Lea Furniture’s new Nickelodeon MyRoom youth furniture collection, making its debut at the High Point Market this week. Lea developed the new line in partnership with Nickelodeon, the popular TV network that has given the world such beloved cartoon characters as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and Diego.

“The folks at Nickelodeon told us they want to be every place where kids are, and that includes their bedrooms,” says Earl Wang, senior vice president of sales and merchandising for Lea Furniture.

In addition to the fun bedroom pieces that feature SpongeBob and the gang, there’s also the slime line, inspired by Nickelodeon’s devotion to slime-oriented programs – such as “Slime Time Live” – in which people getting slimed gives the show its appeal.

“We were able to develop a three-dimensional slime that we’ve applied to some of the furniture,” Wang explains.

“The Slime Time chest of drawers, for example, has the appearance of slime oozing out of the drawer fronts. It’s a textured slime – it has a spongy, squishy feel to it – and the nice thing about the slime is that it glows in the dark. We also have a loft bed that has slime oozing out of the panels and out of the top bunk.”

Nickelodeon MyRoom is broken down into three age groups: Nick, for ages 3-7; TweenNick, for ages 8-12; and TeenNick, for 13 and up.

The Nick line incorporates the favorite characters of children in that age group, including SpongeBob, Dora and her best friend Boots, and Diego and his best friend Baby Jaguar. Interchangeable graphic panels will allow kids to change to their favorite Nickelodeon character as often as they want, according to Wang. Furthermore, when the child outgrows the characters, the panels can be removed, creating all-white furniture that can be used in dorms, first apartments or as a guest bedroom.

The panels are also reversible.

“So on one side you have Dora, and then you turn it over and it’s Diego,” Wang explains, “so you can quickly convert it from a girl’s bedroom suite to a boy’s bedroom suite.”

Other pieces in the Nick collection include Hide & Sleep beds, which create fun spaces for kids to play but also offer storage options; the Story Time captain bed, which includes book storage in the footboard to promote reading; and the Grow With Me desk and play table, both of which can be adjusted as the child grows.

TweenNick focuses on allowing kids to express their individuality. In addition to the Slime Time line, other pieces include the Bob Squared chest, which features five drawers cut at odd angles and glow-in-the-dark sponge drawer pulls; the Bikini Bottom six-drawer chest, which is serpentine-shaped and is designed with orange coral, sea bubbles and SpongeBob silhouettes; and The Cave, a loft bed that creates a room-within-a-room and features space for a built-in media center.

The TeenNick collection comes in five bed combinations – the Flat, the High-Rise, the Studio Loft, the Daybed and the Suite – and is designed to be able to go with teens as they graduate and move away from home.

“If they’re going to a dorm or an apartment or condo, it’s suitable for them to take with them and not be embarrassed or have the appearance of being childish,” Wang says. “The designs are contemporary, with a little more of a European sophisticated style.”

Nickelodeon MyRoom will fall into the mid-price range for youth furniture, Wang says, and it’s been well-received so far.

“It seems like the industry is looking for something fun,” he says. “Kids’ furniture is one of the growth areas of the industry, and it’s also one where you can really break the rules and do something a little different. Kids don’t want the same things their moms and dads have.”