5 Creative Ways To Decorate Your Home With Travel Souvenirs

While setting off on a holiday, 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 attractive stones and shells found on a beach, there are various kinds of souvenirs that get stacked up as we travel across the world. As much as fun we may have while collecting them, most of us don't know what to do with them once we bring them home. Most of these souvenirs then get stored inside cupboards when in fact they can be used in many creative ways to add to your home decor.

So if you have a whole lot of travel souvenirs at home, don't just let them lay wasted. Give them a meaning place in your home by transforming them into attractive home décor pieces. We list out five easy ideas, along with inputs from Mikita Laad Gupta, senior designer at Bonito Designs, and Abraham Santosh, head designer at Elegancia:

1. Shells and stones as centerpieces

If you're a shell collector or have a collection of colourful and attractive stones, then showcase them in empty glass bowls, mason jars or flower vases. You can also place tea-light candles, sand, small rocks or pine cones in jars and decorate them with battery-powered string lights for a cool display. Write the place and date you visited on the stone/shell and plunk them in the bowl and watch your collection grow along with your trips.

2. Wall display with holiday pictures

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 living room. 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.

(Also read: 5 Easy Ways To Give Your Bedroom A Stylish Makeover)

^{Display your fond memories with a varied collection of photos}

3. Pin boards to the rescue

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. A great way to display the items is to use a thick string and clothespins or binder clips so that you can keep swapping them for a versatile display.

4. Using plates as showpieces

Instead of stacking those attractive ceramic and bone china plates of different colours and sizes in your shelf, how about using them to create unusual wall art? Especially if you want to accentuate your dining area, these beautifully hand-painted or printed plates that you collect 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.

5. Tabletop art

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. It's an easy way to turn your globe-trotting collectables into an unusual, stylish and attractive display!

Using your precious travel souvenirs, add a quirky edge to your home decor.

With inputs from IANS