How to Decorate with Maps

If you love traveling or geography, maps can be a great decorative option to give free rein to your passion. Learn how to decorate with maps in this fascinating article.
How to Decorate with Maps

Last update: 28 January, 2021

More and more people are making travel their lifestyle. That’s why homes have been filled with maps, decorative vinyls, and allusive paintings. In the following article, we’ll give you some tips so that you can learn how to decorate with maps – in any part of your home and a whole variety of ways.

How to decorate with maps – travel ideas

Do you consider yourself a traveler? Do you love to visit different places in your free time? Are you organizing the 21st-century version of a world tour? Or maybe you want to remember all those places you’ve been to…

If the answer to at least one of these questions is yes, then keep reading and discover how to decorate any room in your home with maps.

1. Transforming furniture with maps

Maps on furniture.
Upholstered furniture / pinterest.es

You may think that maps only go on the wall. However, you can also use them on your furniture! That’s right, it’s the perfect way to bring to life that old, unpainted table, or to make the room’s chest of drawers that little bit more colorful.

There are several different options for transforming your furniture with maps. For example, in the case of a table, you can put a laminate with the design that you like on it and then place a piece of glass on top of it to protect it.

For drawers, it’s just a matter of sticking sections of the map on the front of it, and then varnishing it or applying a lacquer so that it doesn’t come off.

2 Laminates and posters

Map posters.

This is one of the most popular and traditional options to decorate with maps. The size of the poster will depend on many issues. They can occupy the whole wall or just a part of it. In decoration shops or on the Internet you’ll find many designs with old or modern maps, in color, black and white or in sepia.

3. Collage maps

A metro map.
Map of metro / article.mercadolibre.com.ar

If you’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot, then it’s very easy for you to decorate with maps…your own maps! This means, for example, using maps of cities that you’ve loved visiting, subway maps, etc.

Of course, you can add personal souvenirs, such as tickets, napkins, and photos of yourself in those places – it will look amazing and it’s so original!

4. Decorative vinyl: decorate with maps

Decorative vinyls are very fashionable these days, and the designs range from really simple to quite complex. There are even those that take up the whole wall, as well as map outlines in different colors.

It’s just a matter of choosing the motif you like best and the tone that matches the mood. It’s an excellent idea to place over the headboard of the bed, on the free wall of your corridor, or in the living room above the sofa.

5. School maps

A school map.
Photos on a world map / bricoydeco.com

Remember those maps you used in school during your geography classes? You can still get hold of them in bookstores or specialty shops. Then all you need to do is to hang them on the most prominent wall in your room or study.

School maps are large and each country is painted in a different color. It doesn’t have to be from all over the world, it can be from your country or one continent in particular.

6. Relief map

A map relief.

Decorating with maps is trending, there’s no doubt about it. Because of that, there are so many different designs and materials to choose from. One of them is a map carved in wood – perfect for an office.

There are also cork maps that are attached to a wooden surface or even a design that includes the countries separately. The idea here is to put them together like a puzzle on the wall, and the relief design will be striking.

7. Globe

A globe.

Who says maps always have to be flat? Globes are an educational tool, but also an excellent decorative item. You can put them on your bedside table, on your desk, or a side table. There are several designs, some modern and others more vintage looking. Some are extremely colorful, and others are monotone.

8. Decorating with maps – triptych

Tryptych map.
Brochure / loftconfort.com

These will look amazing in the bedroom or living room. But what is a triptych? As you can see from the photo, it’s a painting made up of three parts (hence the name) and it comes together to form a whole – in this case, a map. The idea is to place each section at a certain distance from the other to enjoy the overall effect.

There’s no need to decorate an entire wall or piece of furniture with maps, nor to spend a whole afternoon on DIY. There are other ways to show your love for geography or travel, such as using a diary with a map on the cover, making a mobile for the window, or buying some nice cushions illustrated with maps.

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