Polar Bear Palace

Most companies selling hot tub covers want to sell you free advertising - free advertising for their covers on your cover. But wouldn't it be more fun if the hot tub cover decorating your yard reflected your personality rather than theirs?

Here are a few fantasy hot tub cover ideas to fire your imagination. In this day and age, anything is possible, and maybe someday soon you will own something very similar.

The polar bear. This handsome beast makes the ideal design for Canada, in fact. The esteemed polar bear is the ultimate symbol of strength. Able to rip human flesh from the bone in just a few seconds flat on an empty stomach - yes, he's one of the strongest animals in the world. And the polar bear is a symbol of survival against Canada's unbearable climate. What red-blooded, numb-fingered Canadian doesn't fancy himself to be the very image of strength and endurance in the face of a cold Canadian winter's deep freeze? Especially while relaxing in the comforting bubbles of a backyard spa?

Here's an easy one for the do-it-yourselfer - graffiti! For that much sought-after "post urban decay look". The great thing about this is that it costs so little, because anyone - even you - can do it right at home. The hooligans down the street could even do it (and they could even do it to your spa cover at no charge).

And to your garage door.

And to your front porch.

And to the welcome mat on your front porch.

And to your poodle.

For the hard-core gamers, your favourite video game character icons could grace your hot tub cover. Even if you know better than to bring electrical devices into your hot tub, you surely don't want to leave them behind. Poor Lara. She might get lonely. Poor Mario. He might get into trouble. They will be much better off printed on your hot tub cover. If your hot tub is round, you might as well make it Pacman. He'll fit just perfectly. You can check to see which one fits your spa.

An ode to Poseidon. Ruler of the water. Put his logo on your hot tub cover to make your spa his seat of power in your world. You might never own a palace. You might never rule an empire, but you have Poseidon's thrown for a spa. Doesn't that make you special?

At this point, we must add pink flamingos. Not because we think they are particularly special or creative, but because there are always pink flamingo people in every crowd, and we would not want to disappoint them.

A flower garden. This is one of the best ideas, because it can blend in so well with the rest of your landscaping that you have worked so hard to maintain. In fact, there are some definite advantages to printing flower images on your hot tub cover:

1. It's a very colourful design.

2. You can have a seamless flower garden, where the hot tub blends in harmoniously without disturbing the natural flow of the garden.

3. You can "grow" species that would not normally survive in your climate...especially in the harsh climate of Canada.

4. It makes great camouflage. "Spa? What spa? I don't see any spa - do you see a spa?"

And our final suggestion - black hole. OK, so we cheated here. A black hole is basically just black. Just a blank spa cover. But you can invite over your Trekkie friends and tell them it's a black hole.

Those are just a few of our fantasy hot tub cover ideas we offer for your consideration. We would love to offer them for your backyard spa, too, but at this point they really are just "fantasy" hot tub covers. If you are handy with pastels or a paint brush, you might want to design your own. And please share your ideas with us, because we've only come up with a few of what surely is a world of possibilities.

Freelance writer David Leonhardt writes for Hot Tub Covers Canada. They offer a wide selection of spa cover colors - every one logo-free.