Bring Your Travels Home With You

The Dalai Lama once said, “Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” This was most certainly a pre-pandemic Dalai Lama, who might today have some very different wisdom to offer us in these more sedentary times.

Nevertheless, after an era of travel restrictions where we've been longing for adventures beyond our backyard, it’s a good time to review the knickknacks you’ve collected so far on your travels and think about how to incorporate them into your homes.

Travel & Interior Design

Travel has always been bound up with interior design. We all have that one friend who disappears on a sojourn around the world and returns with Tibetan prayer flags, ceramic Buddhas and traditional African tapestries. Their newly rented space is transformed into a mishmash of cultures and memories, none of which make any sense to a stranger, but which reflect the life-changing experiences of their travels.

Using artefacts, prints or travel-inspired décor helps keep you connected to the places you’ve been. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical object; you can bring your travels to life by emulating the feeling or design detail of your favourite destination.

If you’re a barefoot-on-the-beach babe, bamboo panels and cane furniture can help you capture that relaxed style of your favourite island. If al fresco dining in Tuscany floats your boat, a Mediterranean-style outdoor dining pavilion surrounded by rustic planters will take you right back.

Where to start? 

Your home should reflect your life story and style rather than a museum-esque homage to a checklist of stops.

Start small by creating little nooks around your home with travel trinkets that you’ve collected. Hang artwork and vintage maps, drape materials and print your favourite photos to scatter throughout your rooms or in one collection on a statement gallery wall.

If you’re ready for more, pick up some paint or furnishings that make you think of the places, accommodations or landscapes that captivated you. Identify a particular scene or colour scheme that you’d love to recreate. Maybe it’s the lush, rich-coloured markets of Morocco or the dazzling whites and brilliant blues that characterise Santorini. Head to markets and vintage shops for unique pieces and discarded treasures.

Think outside the box 

If you’ve collected objects on your travels but can’t think of where to put them, get a little crazy with your brainstorming. Instead of wondering which wall you can hang that wooden art on, why not turn it into a side table for the lounge? A metal gate could become a wall hanging, an old map has a future as a lampshade.

Textiles make wonderfully versatile decorations. A silk scarf becomes a bed throw, handwoven runners make tasteful table trimmings.

If you have a favourite holiday or destination photo, consider making it the centrepiece of a room by printing it out in a wall-to-wall mural. This will effortlessly weave your happy memories into your home on a large scale.

To-the-rescue decor solutions

So you love the sound of travel-inspired design, but despite going on several wonderful holidays, you never brought home any trinkets because a) you were too broke at the end of them or b) you thought cheesy souvenirs were kitsch. We can relate.

If you’re somewhat stymied by a lack of personal treasures, we’re here to help with some travel-inspired décor pieces that will look good in any home. And they’re vague enough so you can imbue them with your own story.

This map-inspired decorative panel with a wengé tinted wooden frame says travel-inspired without specifying a destination.

You and your guests can have the world at your feet with this Mondo Rug by Cappellini that depicts a world atlas. The continents are represented by fragment motifs similar to an ancient Persian rug.

This terracotta jar collection looks like it’s been lifted straight from a dining table in the Italian countryside.

Sexy storage options

You're going to need somewhere to proudly display your new travel collection and we have just the thing for you. Take a look at some of our favourite display cabinets that do all the boasting for you.

The Nest Freestanding Cabinet is for that one-off special piece - or shall we say, pièces de résistance. 

The Murano Madia Cabinet is especially perfect if you count Italy as one of your visited destinations as it has eye-catching, lacquered glass detail reminiscent of the Blown Glass City of Venice. While you're at it, check out the blown glass Murano Vase Collection, a perfect accompaniment to the cabinet, or simply a 'cheat' souvenir on its own. Sssh, we won't tell. 

The sky is the limit, both in travel-inspired decor and travel itself. So now the question remains - where to next?