07/15/14, by Megan Steenson
Decorating Inspiration
From wall art that features postcard motifs to tiny replicas of landmarks, travel themes are abundant in decor. It’s easy to see the appeal of the romance that travel- and destination-inspired pieces can bring to a space.
Whether you’ve collected your own travel mementos while on vacation or have found pieces you love through other sources, you may find yourself wondering how to incorporate them into your decor. The methods you use to display your favorite travel-related art, photos, and other items can be almost as important as the pieces themselves.
Vintage luggage, which is common in antique and thrift stores, provides another way to add travel decor to your home. Try stacking several pieces under a side table or at the end of a bed. As an added bonus, adorn the the inside with a few of your favorite vacation snapshots. We simple hot-glued a couple clothes pins to the inside lid and clipped on our favorite vacation photographs (photo a).
Souvenirs such as sand, pebbles, and seashells can be difficult to display. You can “bottle” your vacation by placing items like these in glass containers. We kept our displays simple and sophisticated by adding only sand from a few select destinations. Then we used wire to attach tags and a few decorative beads (photo b).
Instead of letting postcards clutter your refrigerator or bulletin board, try grouping them in an attractive arrangement that celebrates multiple destinations (photo c). We discovered this wooden box in an antique store and noticed it was the perfect size for displaying postcards. To get the look, use a filler material such as decorative stones, seashells, or sand to keep the cards upright and evenly spaced.
Since vacation photos are among the most personal art pieces you can add to your home, you’ll want to display them in a customizable way. We dressed up plain photo frames by giving them a chalkboard paint finish (photo d). Transforming frames with this paint allows you to label each photo with a date, location, or even a fun quote. Plus, you can simply erase the frame and re-label it when you switch the photo.
Just remember that you’ll want to avoid adding clutter by limiting your travel decor to items you’ll enjoy for years.
