decorating with travel by Shelley Hopkins

We gain so much from travel.  We learn about other cultures, about food and customs, and we learn history.  We create memories and build bonds with our travel companions.  Today I am using my love of travel to decorate.

My family has just moved from one state to another, leaving most of our furniture and extra items in a house, hoping the house will show better with our things on the walls. This means white walls and no personality.  My favorite method of decorating is to have a beautiful view out of as many windows as possible, and this apartment does pretty well, with large windows overlooking the woods.  I can see tall oaks, a cool blue autumn sky, and the roof tops of other apartments.  I have all my houseplants, and a few basic necessities like a bookshelf full of books and a piano.  We are using a card table with flimsy folding chairs for eating and sitting.  We have no pictures on our walls.  I have decided to print a few of our photographs from various travels.

I visited with a friend of mine, and she gave me a tour of her new home.  She had decorated her home entirely from her travel photographs, choosing for a guest bedroom fall scenes from the Tennessee Mountains while the guest bathroom highlighted English architecture and iron fences.  She had tall snow covered mountains in her living room, and colorful market photos in her kitchen.  Walking through the home I enjoyed the photographs, the sharing of travels, and the interesting pairing of style to each room.  We have just moved from the mountains to the coast.   I might print a winter scene from West Virginia, bare trees in the snow, for my bedroom.  White snow and dark trees make for a peaceful picture.  Maybe I’ll choose a beach scene, sea oats framing sand and sea for the living room.  Not only does the actual picture evoke a mood, but also the memory and location can help to decorate, a style that works more for the homeowner or renter than for visitors.

I have also started a globe and map collection from thrift shops, although the problem with this is that right now I have a collection of one.  Every collection has to start somewhere, so every true collection starts small.  My one globe has the added attraction of starting daydreams.  I may have a to do list in hand, but as I am straightening, I glance at the globe, and suddenly start thinking about travels, other places, and my useful day is threatened. 

I searched the Internet for decorating with a travel theme, and found room after room decorated with maps.  Children’s rooms had colorful maps, living rooms and dining rooms had vintage maps and in the family rooms maps were used to display locations the family may have had visited.  I have another friend that decorated her family room with paintings by her daughter.  The daughter was in an art class, and she had created about 15 different paintings taken from family vacation photos.  When it comes to decorating with the travel theme, ideas are endless.