Around the world on your wall

While setting off on a journey, be it national or international, most of us like to bring back home something as a memory. Whether it’s a fridge magnet, a miniature, postcards or even some attractive stones found on a beach, make sure you are giving these memories a nice place at your home.

Mikita Laad Gupta, Senior Designer, Bonito Designs and Abraham Santosh, Head Designer, Elegancia, give tips on how meaningful souvenirs that you collect from your journeys can turn into attractive home decor pieces if used smartly. 

• If you’re a shell collector or have a collection of colourful and attractive stones, then flaunt them in empty glass bowls/mason jars or flower vases. You can also place tea-light candles, sand, small rocks, pine cones in jars and decorate them with battery-powered string lights for a cool display in the bedroom, as a centrepiece. Write the place and date you visited on the stone/shell and plunk them in the bowl/jar and watch your collection grow along with your trips! 
• How about turning a few of your favourite holiday pictures into a collage print or reproducing them onto a clock? One of the best ways to display your travel memories is by creating a photo wall at home. Display your fond memories with a varied collection of photos or prints and transform the look of your space. Consider a variety of frames or choose pictures in different shapes and sizes. You can also make a calendar-style gallery wall, where you can change your photos on a particular occasion such as a birthday/anniversary.
• If you enjoy collecting postcards, tickets, brochures, currency and maps of different destinations, but do not know how to make use of them creatively, fret not. Buy a pin board, fix it on one of those empty walls in your room and start decorating it with your collectables. Get creative and place this pin board in your bedroom or living room to show-off your collectables. A great way to display them is to use a thick string and some clothespins or binder clips so that you can keep swapping them for a versatile display.
• Instead of stacking those attractive ceramic and bone china plates of different colours and sizes in your shelf, how about using them to create an unusual wall art? Especially if you want to accentuate your dining area, these beautifully hand-painted or printed plates that you collected from different countries/cities can instantly give a facelift to your space. Those floral patterns or other funky designs are sure to spark conversations when you have guests at home for dinner.
• If you have a study table/coffee table with a glass tabletop and a hollowed centre, then make use of the space to proudly showcase your travel knick-knacks. Organise and arrange your collectables such as shells, photos and postcards to depict a narrative. A clever idea to turn your globe-trotting collectables into an unusual, stylish and attractive display! — IANS