Since we can’t travel across the world quite yet, why not satisfy your need for a change of scenery with your home decor? Decorating your space with framed photos, maps, and small trinkets collected from your travels can bring back memories and may just itch that travel bug without leaving the comfort of your own home.
To help you get started, we asked travel experts from Lahaina, HI to Newport, RI to share their best advice for bringing a sense of travel and wanderlust to your home. These tips may just hold you down until it’s safe to travel for your next adventure.
1. Old postcards and vintage prints bring back wonderful memories
A home’s soul comes from the little details and wabi-sabi – imperfect nuances. So I’m always on the hunt for thrifted or antique trinkets when I’m traveling. I love a worn brass decoration, old postcards, or vintage prints. Seeing those unique accessories around our home gives each room a warm quality, and reminds me of those beautiful afternoons savoring antique markets and souks around the world. – Roam and Go Lightly
2. Bring a live plant home
I have purchased small, tropical plants including a palm tree. After that, I painted terra cotta pots with ocean colors to give my home tropical vibes. – Amy Fillinger
3. Cookbooks can help revive travel memories
Everywhere I visit, I bring back a cookbook so I can recreate some of my favorite dishes and relive the memories of my travels. In my dining room, I have a bookshelf that displays all of my cookbooks. When it is safe to entertain again, my guests will see all of the places I have been. – Showcase the World
4. Cook with spices from around the world
I love to buy local dry foods like spices like Mojo from the Canary Islands in Spain or soy roasted sesame seeds from Japan. I now have an international spice rack and can recreate some of the flavors of my travels in my cooking. – The Boutique Adventurer
5. Recreate your favorite foods from your travels
Our favorite way to explore a new city is through our stomachs, so we are constantly hunting regional cuisine. During the pandemic we recreated many of our favorite “travel dishes” at home by reaching out to chefs, scouring the internet, or just winging it. We paired those recipes with photos of our travels (and at-home cooking experiences) for a timeless coffee table book that we will cherish forever. – 365 Atlanta Traveler
6. Showcase your favorite art pieces from your travels
When I travel throughout Europe, I love to visit markets where I often find local artists selling their work. It’s amazing to talk with them and learn what they love about their culture and how it relates to what they create. When I bring those items home, I find a special frame and hang them up in all the corners of my home to bring in a sense of wanderlust. It helps me remember the people I met, and why I love to travel so much. – Euro Travel Coach
7. Decorate different rooms in your home around cities you love
Make each room themed around a city or country that you love. Then sit back with a tea or wine from your travels and get inspired to plan for that next getaway. – Vanessa Shields of Traveling Ness
8. Incorporate design elements that remind you of a special location usable items
I have changed the handles on my drawers or cabinets, as an inexpensive way to upgrade my furniture, but also incorporate interesting design elements I’ve admired from my travels to remind me of a location that is special to me and bring in a sense of wanderlust. When we can all travel again, instead of magnets or trinkets, pick up items that you would use at home such as rugs, teacups, or lampshades to remind you of your travels and to bring in a sense of wanderlust, so that each time you turn on the light, you are reminded of that fabulous trip to Morocco. – Adventures of Peony
9. Paper your walls with the world to bring in a sense of wanderlust
National Geographic maps are really good for this, but any map will do. It’s an easy way to help teach your kids geography and inspire wanderlust. Maps make great wallpaper for powder rooms, upstairs hallways, and other smaller spaces. – Cindy Richards, Editor-in-Chief for TravelingMom.com
10. Use functional items you’ve purchased during your travels
Instead of stocking up on large souvenirs when we travel, we try to bring back items that are functional in our home – hand-carved chopsticks from Taiwan, salad serving spoons from Costa Rica, and even a hand-painted spoon rest from Spain. We love using items on a regular basis that remind us of our travels. – The Funemployed Family
11. Build a home spa to remind you of relaxation
As a travel and beauty blogger, I love traveling to the best luxurious spas. To make your home feel like a mini spa, add little touches that will give you the feeling of being pampered in a spa. Some of my favorites are essential oil diffusers, plush towels, a cozy bathrobe, scented candles, bath oils, and a good hair mask. – Lorna Ryan
12. Create a theme based on your travels
I made a couple of large prints of my unusual photos to make a theme on a wall. I went as far as decorating an entire room around the colors and theme of these photos, and every time I look at them it reminds me of the family trip we had when I took the photos. – Travelling around Spain
13. Install a marble table and bistro chairs for a Parisian feel
Frenchify your home with a Parisian café kitchen set up; essentials include a marble table, bistro chairs, and Paris photographs. In the afternoon, transport yourself to Paris for an afternoon snack, bake madeleines for tea time with your favorite Mariage Frères tea, hot or iced. To end the workday, light a Diptyque candle, pour yourself a glass of Sancerre, and turn on some French jazz. – Every Day Parisian
14. Decorate with destination-inspired mementos
Incorporating snapshots from our travels into our home environments to inspire a sense of wanderlust can be both refreshing and uplifting. In the kitchen, destination-inspired mementos like refrigerator magnets, bamboo plates, decorative hand towels – along with easy-to-follow cookbooks we’ve picked up on the road – can create eclectic design options and heighten our emotional connection to everyday cooking. – Travelzoo, Travel Deals Expert Ariadne Barrios
15. Reuse wine bottles
As a wine lover and avid traveler, I love to incorporate both themes in my home. I would bring back from my travels a bottle of my favorite wine and after drinking it, you can reuse the bottle as a decoration piece in so many different ways: simply display them on a wooden shelf, incorporate fairy lights, turn them into chandeliers or grow plants in them. This is a perfect way to remember the places you have visited while adding a special touch to your home. – Trip USA France
United States
Canada