Three years ago, I was standing in my new apartment in Prague, staring at four blank walls that felt more like a prison than a home. You know that overwhelming feeling when you move somewhere new? The boxes everywhere, minimal furniture, and absolutely zero personality reflecting who you actually are.
In the corner, almost forgotten among the chaos, was my old skateboard deck. Not just any board – this was a piece that had caught my eye years earlier in a small shop near Wenceslas Square. The graphic was incredible: a fusion of Czech street art and classical elements that somehow worked perfectly together. The board had seen better days – trucks long removed, grip tape peeling at the edges – but that artwork remained stunning.
The Lightbulb Moment That Changed Everything
I picked up that deck and really examined it for the first time in months. The artist had created something that felt like Alphonse Mucha decided to collaborate with a modern graffiti writer. Intricate Art Nouveau lines mixed with bold, contemporary colors. It was too beautiful to just sit in a corner collecting dust.
That's when it hit me like a ton of bricks: "Why am I treating this masterpiece like garage clutter when it could transform my entire space?"
That same evening, I walked to the nearest hardware store, bought some basic mounting brackets, and hung it on my bedroom wall. The transformation was instantaneous and dramatic. My sterile apartment suddenly had character, soul, and a story to tell about who I was – someone who appreciated the intersection of street culture and artistic expression.
The Problem That Sparked an Idea
Over the following weeks, every single friend who visited would immediately gravitate toward that wall. "Stanislav, where did you get that piece? I need something like this for my place!" The same reaction, over and over, from people with completely different tastes and backgrounds.
Naturally, I started researching where I could direct them. What I discovered was a completely broken market that made no sense for real people wanting authentic skateboard art in their homes.
The "Gallery Route": Premium skateboard art starting at €300-600 for a single deck. Sure, they were museum-quality pieces, but completely inaccessible for most people who just wanted to add some personality to their living space.
The "Print Shop Route": Cheap custom services that treated skateboard decks like oversized business cards. Zero connection to actual skate culture, no artistic integrity, and graphics that looked like they were designed by someone who had never set foot on a skateboard.
The "DIY Route": Hunt through skate shops hoping to find old decks with decent graphics, then figure out mounting and presentation yourself. Hit or miss, time-consuming, and often disappointing results.
There was this massive, glaring gap in the market between authentic, high-quality skateboard art and something accessible to normal people who weren't art collectors or trust fund kids.
My Background Made This Personal
Here's what made this revelation so powerful for me: I'd spent my entire life living at the intersection of street culture and design aesthetics. Growing up in Prague, my afternoons were spent at local skate spots, but my evenings were often spent sketching room layouts and hunting for unique pieces in the city's underground art scene.
During university, I studied business administration, but honestly, I spent more time either skating or exploring Prague's incredible gallery districts. I developed an eye for authentic artistic expression versus commercialized garbage trying to capitalize on trends.
After graduation, I worked in e-commerce for several years, learning the mechanics of building online brands and understanding customer behavior. But something always felt missing – I was helping other people sell their products without feeling any real passion for what we were creating.
This skateboard art revelation connected all those dots. I understood skate culture from the inside. I could recognize authentic artistic talent. I knew how to build and scale online businesses. And most importantly, I had experienced firsthand the exact problem that needed solving.
The Vision Crystallizes
Lying in bed that night, staring at my newly mounted skateboard, everything clicked into perfect focus. What if I could create a brand that authentically bridged this gap? What if we could collaborate with real artists – people who actually lived and breathed skate culture – to create limited edition pieces that were both genuine and accessible?
I started sketching out concepts immediately. Limited production runs of 50-100 pieces per design to maintain exclusivity without artificial scarcity. Real 7-ply Canadian maple decks – proper skateboard construction, not cheap imitations. Collaborations exclusively with artists who had authentic connections to street and skate culture. And crucially, everything designed specifically for wall presentation, not just repurposed functional boards.
The pricing strategy was key: position ourselves in that sweet spot between mass-market garbage and gallery-level investment pieces. Make it affordable for someone to transform their space without requiring a significant financial commitment.
Taking the First Terrifying Steps
I'll be completely honest – those first few months were absolutely terrifying. I had zero experience finding and working with artists, no clue about skateboard manufacturing processes, and definitely no background running a creative business. But I had something potentially more valuable: I understood exactly what was missing because I had lived the problem myself.
My first move was reaching out to artists in Prague's street art community. Not Instagram-famous artists with massive followings, but incredibly talented people creating amazing work who deserved a bigger platform and better opportunities.
I'll never forget my first meeting with Martin, a graffiti artist who'd been creating incredible murals around the city for fifteen years but had never had his work in people's homes.
"Wait, you want to put my art on skateboards for people's living rooms?" he asked, looking at me like I was completely insane.
"Think about it this way," I explained. "Your street art might reach a few hundred people walking past a wall each day. But in someone's home? That piece becomes part of their daily life, their personal identity, their story. It lives with them."
I watched his eyes light up as the concept clicked. That's the exact moment I knew we were onto something genuinely special.
Building Something Authentic and Different
Over these past three years, DeckArts has evolved into exactly what I envisioned in that empty apartment. We work exclusively with artists who have genuine connections to street and skate culture – no posers or trend-chasers trying to capitalize on aesthetics they don't understand.
Every single piece we create is limited edition. When a design sells out, it's gone forever. No reprints, no "by popular demand" reruns. This creates real value and authentic scarcity.
We price everything so that someone working a regular job can afford to completely transform their space without breaking their budget. A college student saving for a few months should be able to create an incredible focal wall.
But here's what I'm most proud of: we've built a genuine community around this concept. People don't just purchase our pieces and disappear. They send photos showing how they've styled their collections, share stories about which designs resonated with them personally, and tag us when friends visit and ask about their skateboard art.
We've proven that you don't have to choose between authentic and accessible. You don't have to compromise on quality to reach real people. You can have both.
What Drives Me Forward
Every morning, I wake up excited about what we're building together. We now work with artists from six different countries, each bringing their unique cultural perspective and artistic voice to skateboard art. Next month, we're launching our custom design platform where people can collaborate directly with our artists to create something completely personal and one-of-a-kind.
But the thing that drives me most isn't the business metrics or growth numbers. It's still that same transformative feeling I experienced in my apartment three years ago. The knowledge that the right piece of art can completely change how someone feels in their own space.
Your walls are constantly telling a story about who you are, what you value, and how you see the world. Make sure it's a story worth telling – and worth living with every single day.
I regularly share behind-the-scenes content from building DeckArts, discovering incredible artists, and exploring the intersection of skate culture and interior design. If this resonates with you, let's connect and continue this conversation.
Author: Stanislav Arnautov
Founder of DeckArts
🔗 More content on Instagram: @rntv
🌐 Personal website: stasarnautov.com