Decorate your home with travel souvenirs
Street venders and small shops, like these in San Miguel, Mexico, can yield treasures. Credit: TPN/Barbara Shea
The family home can be an international gallery. In ours, framed sketches of Parisian street scenes decorate one room. Vintage maps from Venice, Campari prints from Florence, water colors from Prague and mixed-media street scenes from Rome are displayed throughout the house.
Our international hunt for decorative souvenirs has led us to side-street thrift stores, outdoor markets and private vendors.
ART TUBES AND FRAMES Street art from roadside vendors is some of the most affordable travel mementos you can buy. Attach an art tube to your backpack to safely transport vintage travel posters, watercolors, charcoal drawings and street sketches back home.
Creatively showcase your finds using inexpensive frames to create an affordable but customized look for your home. Review your own travel shots for images that can be framed and featured.
TEXTILES Fabric souvenirs can add splash and pizzazz. Ikat pillow covers and throws from Bali, llama wool table runners from Peru and carpets from different Middle Eastern countries are some favorite treasures. All can be purchased for a fraction of the retail cost for comparable items in the United States.
DESIGNER HANDICRAFTS Coordinating hand-carved teak serving trays, display bowls and lamps were purchased directly from a carver in Ubud, Bali, and cost just pennies on the American retail dollar. Similar savings were obtained with on-location purchases of Polish pottery, Italian Carrera marble and Thai silk jewelry pouches.
LOCAL DEALS Stateside travelers can buy affordable trinkets and home accessories. We've found unusual but affordable items at a small craft shop in the Florida Keys, an outdoor flea market in Southern Jersey and from a gift shop in the Brooklyn Museum. At an American Indian reservation in Florida, we purchased hand-beaded items and crafts for our home.
