DESTINATION INSPIRATION

LESLEY TAYLOR reveals how your adventures can influence your interior style

GREY might be the on-trend colour palette when it comes to home interiors, but if you’ve had enough of grey skies, you may be dreaming of warmer climes.

A summer holiday is a great way to rest and recharge, to top up on the vitamin D and immerse yourself into a new culture. And let’s not forget the shopping.

From tourist traps to authentic markets and local shops, there is something truly special about souvenir shopping while on holiday.

Your wallet and suitcase, however, may feel differently. But when you get home what do you do with these new possessions? Pop them in a box and shove them in the loft never to be thought of again?

Why not incorporate them into your existing interiors scheme?

Here I’m going to show you how to bring wanderlust-inspired décor into the home.

ON SHOW

WHO said your coffee table must be a place purely for practicalities?

Make your coffee table a work of art by choosing a metal framed, glass box and filling it with keepsakes from your latest travels.

Place it smack in the centre of your coffee table and not only will it remind you of your most recent adventure (what better way to sate those postholiday blues) but it will be a great talking point for guests.

POSTCARDS FROM THE PAST

WHETHER you holiday at home or abroad, postcards are an inexpensive trinket to remind you of your travels.

But what do you do with them once you’re home? Get them on display! Pick a multi-aperture frame and fill it with postcards grouped by colour, style or simply destination.

If your style is a little more vintageinspired, why not look online for decades-old postcards from your favourite destination.

Authentic yet relatively inexpensive compared to other items from a similar period, these postcards will show a different side to your destination.

If you’re a fan of holidaying in the UK, you could even look at collecting some reproduction travel posters from the halcyon days of the train.

These budget-friendly prints look fabulous in simple frames and you could create your own gallery wall.

MAKING MEMORIES

JARS and vases are a great way to showcase what otherwise might be described as clutter.

Perhaps you pick a pebble from every beach you visit, maybe you buy a pin-badge from the towns you travel to, or do you just collect random trinkets from a hotel room. Popping them into a glass vase or jar adds an eclectic touch where said receptacle is placed.

A mason jar filled with hotel toiletries will look great in a bathroom, while a vase filled with pebbles will bring something new to a fire surround.

HOME OR AWAY

OFTEN a suitcase is not big enough for the souvenirs you really want to bring home, which is where the internet really comes into its own.

When you’re back from your break, search for those big-ticket homewares inspired by your favourite travel destinations – a rich red Moroccan rug, artisan pottery from Africa or a chest of drawers inspired by items bartered and traded in a bazaar for example. These homewares will stand out and make a real style statement.

Even in a home with a clear minimalistic direction, a few carefully chosen items can serve as vibrant focal points, breaking up expanses of pale colour palettes.

Even in the most inspiring glossy magazine worthy homes, interior design needn’t mean keepsakes are hastily hidden away in a memory box.

Interior design can be stylish and personalised in equal measure. So unleash your creativity and see just where it can take you.

Lesley Taylor BIID is Lead Designer at EDIT Home and Design (edithome anddesign.co.uk).

Postcards are an inexpensive way to remember holidays of days gone by – just remember to get them on display