Travel Themed Bathroom
11 Minimalist Travel Themed Home Decor Ideas You'll Love
Everything about my life and decor preference leans toward minimalism. It's why I am able to travel light, move from place to place, and live a generally clutter-free lifestyle. Interestingly enough, despite hardly buying souvenirs when abroad, I've been able to hang up my digital nomad life and create a warm, stylish home that mindfully celebrates travel.
Here are 11 minimalist travel decor approaches I take in our own home. All of these items have been collected over the years (both stateside and overseas) and fit seamlessly into my modern boho aesthetic without overwhelming the rooms with trinkets and clutter. I hope it inspires travel-themed home decor projects of your own!
1. Add a Moroccan Leather Pouf
I love this leather Moroccan seating cushion for three reasons: (1) the pouf was purchased in Fes, Morocco after enthusiastic negotiations, (2) it came without the filling so we were able to fold it tightly into our baggage and continue traveling to three more destinations, and (3) it is beautiful!
I filled the pouf with old clothing that wasn't good enough to donate. This helped save money and reduce waste (though as you see from the photo I need more to really fill out the pillow)! You can buy a Moroccan-style pouf in the states but you're likely to pay $75-300 depending on the size and material. I believe we paid about $16 USD in Fes medina, where it is manufactured.
Moroccan poufs + boho pillows to buy online:
2. Use a Stylish Globe for Travel Decor
Decorating the home with a globe is a classic way to incorporate travel-inspired decor. You can go the classic academic route with a large blue globe, opt for a world map wall, or choose different globe sizes or colors.
Since I love white for minimalist home decor, this gorgeous white globe caught my eye! I purchased it along a US road trip in a home goods store, but you can surely find similar ones online. I'll suggest a few below.
Wall Maps, Decor Globes + Other Atlas Travel Decor:
3. Celebrate Your Favorite International Wines with a Bar Cart or Wine Rack
Whenever Alex and I travel together, we make sure to visit a local brewery and/or winery. I absolutely love vineyards (even beyond the wine) and feel connected to a destination and its community and history when I visit them.
Because of our minimalist lifestyle and mindful budget travel, we've only ever purchased a few bottles of wine abroad (and subsequently drank them) but we have learned so much about wine regions, and their best wines respectfully. So much so, that we knew we wanted some form of bar cart or wine rack to showcase international wines we love.
We bought our wine cart for well under $100 through an amazing Facebook marketplace bargain (don't sleep on Craigslist, tag sales, and Facebook marketplace for sweet deals — just know you'll have to pick it up), but here are some options from Amazon if you just want to have it delivered to your door.
Bar carts to show off your favorite wines or barware:
4. Hang an Acoustic Guitar
A hanging guitar may not immediately scream wanderlust to everyone, but it does to some… and here's why. Many road tripping adventurers bring along a guitar for entertainment. Some of their best memories may be camp-side practicing a new song, or traveling hundreds of miles to perform or follow a tour.
Backpackers also find travel nostalgia in guitars; anyone who's ever stayed at a hostel knows the importance of a communal guitar / singing session with newly found friends.
If you're a musician or concert enthusiast, you might even have some cherished signatures on that guitar, commemorating some of the best adventures of your life.
5. Create a Photo Series of Your Favorite Postcards, Artwork, Travel Photos
Photography is one of my favorite things to do. I started shooting black and white film at 16 years old and enjoy documenting my adventures around the globe. I have a few photo collections in my home of my favorite travel adventures and they inspire wanderlust whenever someone walks past them.
Photo collections are a way to not only showcase your work, but also celebrate the beauty of the world. If you choose carefully, they'll even elevate the room decor. Can you believe the above photo of Machu Picchu was shot on an iPhone 5!? It took a bit of editing in Lightroom and Photoshop to get the quality to a point where I could enlarge the image, but I am so proud of it.
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Note: I use York Photo to print all my images; even my mom has used them since the 90's for their great prices. They were just acquired by Snapfish (or merged, whatever) so I have to try them to see if the quality is the same.
If you don't have photos you'd want to showcase, there are still other easy ways to display your amazing adventures. Consider framing postcards or artwork, for instance. I love this printed sketch of La Tour Eiffel from across la Seine, one of France's most famous rivers. I bought this sketch while visiting Paris in 2010 and it sat in a box for years until I found the perfect place to hang it.
6. Showcase Artisanal Embroidery, Blankets, or Textiles
One of my favorite purchases is an alpaca blanket we bought in Peru. We had to trek off the beaten path to a factory in Peru in order to find true alpaca and vicuña products that weren't a polyblend. When we finally got there, we spent $100-200 USD (totally breaking our unemployed backpacker budgets) for a beautiful blanket, and then gifted it to a well-deserving couple.
Yes. We gifted it and never bought one for ourselves. These days we often kick ourselves for not finding a way to purchase a second one because it was so comfy and beautiful… but que sera, sera.
Anyway, since we gifted it I don't have a photo of it, BUT here's one of the other embroidery and textiles we love in our home: a pillow gifted to us from Ecuador! I also have a well-worn purse from Nicaragua and a wool blanket from Scotland.
If you don't have the opportunity or capacity to source handmade textiles overseas, you could head to Amazon's "Handmade" section and search there, or support small businesses through Etsy. You can also shop at your local home goods or department store and search for travel themed throw pillows; the header image of this article highlights a gorgeous atlas pillow. The tag shows it was from Nordstrom Rack (it was a gift).
Throw pillows that celebrate travel and culture:
7. Celebrate South American Mate or Moroccan Tea
Yerba Mate is like tea with the punch of coffee. Mate is the term for the vessel from which you drink the beverage: a wooden gourd. Yerba mate are the indigenous dried leaves you crush within the gourd, followed by pouring hot water and drinking with a special filtered straw, called a bombilla.
Some of my best travel memories are of my three-month South America backpacking trip starting at the Atacama Desert in Chile, through Patagonia, Argentina, and Uruguay. During the latter, Alex and our friend Jon were inspired by the locals drinking mate. Yerba mate was everywhere; most often seen hanging from a thermos crossbody worn by local men. Naturally, Alex and Jon bought their own gourds and lived their best mate lives.
Mate Gourds You Can Buy Online:
Another drinking tradition Alex and I really got into is Moroccan tea. While visiting this beautiful northern African country, we were enamored by the mint tea tradition (with tons of sugar!) and couldn't imagine our days without it.
The entire presentation is always done so beautifully, and the Moroccan mint tea was one of our favorite memories, so we bought a Moroccan teapot of our own for the home! Note, we got one for quite cheap (under $15 USD) knowing that it is not real silver. If you want a real silver one, it will be heavy and much more expensive.
8. Hang Wanderlust Wall Decor
There are two types of people in the decor world: ones who have "Live, Laugh, Love" wall art and ones who don't. I have always thought of myself (post-college) as the latter but, alas…here we are: I have word art signage now hanging on my wall.
If it is any consolation, this signage was perfect for the short hallway entrance to my home office — completely relevant since my work is literally built on wandering. If you love it, I got it from Home Goods and will suggest a few similar wall art options below.
Wall Decor with Words (Travel theme):
9. Spice Up Your Kitchen With International Swag
One of the easiest ways to inspire wanderlust without taking up space is through flavor! There are so many dishes and sauces you can bring to your home and daily routine that will totally remind you of travel — and get you excited to hit the road again.
From my transition to eating certain pasta with olive oil instead of tomato sauce after a trip to Italy, to my constant yearning for the desayuno tipico de Costa Rica (specifically black bean and egg breakfast), the kitchen is a comforting place to celebrate travel.
10. Coasters from Another Country
Coasters are a common (and inexpensive) way to decorate with travel in mind. You can place them in your living room, on the dining table, or even your bedroom bedside table.
Careful though, this type of travel home decor can get cheesy quickly. If you want to showcase coasters that won't clash with the style of your home aesthetic, avoid overly touristy coaster souvenirs by keeping an eye out for the three C's: clean, calm, and chic.
I love this coaster set from my bachelorette party to Tulum because it mimics the wood accents of my home while depicting one of Tulum, Mexico's most popular attractions. Can you recognize the ruins?
Travel Theme Coasters:
11. Decorate with Travel-inspired Rugs
I have a love-hate relationship with rugs because my mother didn't really allow them growing up. They collect dust and we were an anti-dust house! Plus if you have children or pets, they are prone to staining quicker. That said, area rugs have grown on me over the years, within reason, and I particularly love rugs that are inspired by beautiful destinations.
Here are some of the rugs in my house. If I had the capacity, I would've purchased rugs abroad but they are quite expensive and heavy! For now my rugs from Rugs USA work just fine for me, and their geometric shapes remind me of some of my travels.
What type of travel themed decor do you have in your own home?
I hope these ideas inspired wanderlust! They sure do so for me. This list just scratches the surface of travel decor you can add to your home. Again, since I try my best to be minimalist, this is just enough for me. If you want other home decor ideas, I'd definitely recommend considering:
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Travel inspired curtains
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Travel inspired bedding
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Woven wall decor (like baskets)
Enjoy your upgraded, travel-themed home! If you loved these suggestions, be sure to save them on Pinterest and share with your community.
xx, O.
Save this post on Pinterest to add to your collection of travel home decor ideas!
Source: https://www.ochristine.com/blog/travel-themed-home-decor-ideas
