There’s a reason the words “tacky souvenirs” are often used together.
All too often, we haul things back from vacations with the best of intentions but then display them with the least of thought. The effect is dowdy rather than decorative.
But with a little creativity and maybe a little forethought, you can turn souvenir displays into treasured mementos of your travels. Here are some ideas.
Plan
It’s easy to get seduced by souvenir shops. Hand-painted cowbells and miniature replicas of the Empire State Building look fun on the shelves, but what will you do with them when you get home?
Hudson, Ohio, interior designer Allison Perley-Harter recommends thinking about what you’d like to bring back before you leave home. Sure, it takes some of the spontaneity out of shopping, but you’re replacing that with the thrill of the hunt.
You might even start collecting a certain kind of item every time you travel — maybe paintings or sculpture, or even pot holders, tablecloths or switchplate covers.
“There’re always some artisans doing work that reminds you of the local scene,” Harter said.
Group
As with any collection, grouping souvenirs makes more of a decorative impact than scattering them around, Perley-Harter said.
That Empire State Building replica might look silly by itself on your mantel, but a grouping of architectural miniatures displayed with an architecture book or a print of an iconic building? That’s eye-catching.
Even souvenirs that scream kitsch take on a new interest when they’re displayed in groups. Plastic snow globes or souvenir shot glasses, artfully arranged, become a tongue-in-cheek treasure.
Just remember that grouping odd numbers of items generally is more visually pleasing than even numbers, although once the number gets high enough, that effect disappears.
Make space
Designating a place in your home for travel souvenirs creates a conversation starter, said Gina Bishop, a Hudson resident who repurposes vintage items for her periodic Homegirl barn sales and has earned national publicity for her decorating talents.
Small compartments are ideal for that purpose. Bishop once hung a mail sorter in a family’s dining room, which the family members filled with souvenirs.
Shelves work well, too. Perley-Harter keeps glass she’s collected in an old liquor cabinet, a display that started as a way to protect the glass from earthquake damage when she lived in Los Angeles.
In Linda Roether’s home in Brecksville, Ohio, souvenirs go on what she playfully calls the Shelf of Wonders. It’s a small shelf, so Roether knows she can bring back only things that will fit.
Contain
Glass containers are great ways to display small souvenirs or found objects, Perley-Harter said. Decorative jars, vases, old-fashioned canning jars, pretty bottles — all can be grouped into effective displays.
Imagine a trio of different-size containers, one displaying interesting stones, one holding sand and seashells, and a third filled with beach glass.
Karen Starr, an interior designer and co-owner of Hazel Tree Interiors in Akron, Ohio, makes leaded-glass pyramids specifically for displaying small keepsakes.
A tiered cookie stand can also hold small travel mementos, said interior designer John C. Antro of Green, Ohio. It has the advantage of adding a little height to the display.
Vignette
Filling a shadow box with travel keepsakes turns your souvenirs into art. You can buy shadow boxes from craft stores, or you can make your own out of any sufficiently deep box — even half a vintage suitcase.
Arranging your knickknacks into a pleasing display takes some skill, but Jon Haidet of Hazel Tree Interiors — Starr’s husband and business partner — said he can create a composition from items clients bring in.
He also makes keepsake boxes that are perfect for a tabletop display. The box has a frame on top that can hold a picture or mementos, and a drawer in the bottom for corralling photographs, ticket stubs, brochures and other ephemera.
Antro suggests making a three-dimensional artwork by decorating a framed vacation photo with a related memento: For example, glue a seashell onto a picture of a child picking that shell up. The effect could be made even more dramatic by hanging the picture on a wall mural made by enlarging that same photo, he said.
Or make a mobile from objects you found on vacation, such as driftwood and shells, he said. Hang a few vacation photos among the shells if you like.
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