Vintage Travel Inspired Furnishings: Decorating with Steamer Trunks and Maps
Romantic notions of exploration have inspired home decor for over a century. Products of their journey-loving era, antique steamer trunks and maps capture the nostalgic magic of far-flung days past.
Integrating these well-traveled vintage pieces into modern spaces keeps their adventures alive. Let’s examine the history of these travel artifacts and how to creatively utilize them.
The Heyday of Grand Tourism
During the lavish Gilded Age of the late 1800s, upper class Victorians flocked to luxury ocean liners and rail cars to tour cosmopolitan Europe and destinations further afield.
Guidebooks, travel posters and stereoscopic photos fueled dreams. As rail lines expanded to port cities, steamship companies like Cunard published elaborate brochures to lure passengers with promises of comfort, adventure and cultural education.
Globetrotting required extensive luggage to convey wealth and handle lengthy trips. Louis Vuitton pioneered flat stacking trunks in 1854.
Over a hundred luggage makers flourished. Douron offered custom built cabin trunks with hanging spaces and drawers to transport oneself in style.
Hand papered labels heralded far off hotels. Trunks stickered with voyage memories then filled estates back home. Romance also bloomed on ships.
Onboard libraries held folio maps that traced routes across strange seas and promised new shores.
Deck chairs invited scanning distant horizons marked by sketches of old compass roses and imaginative sea creatures. Travel was transformative.
The Allure of Explorer Aesthetics
Today, the sight of antique steamer trunks and maps still sparks dreams about the mysteries of half-known places and cultures. Their allure also stems from:
Patina of Past Users: Trunks with faded labels, worn corners and repaired latches suggest people who once bravely voyaged with them. Where did they go? Keepsakes found tucked inside adds intrigue.
Craftsmanship: Steamship era trunks required expert carpentry, metal and leather working to securely travel thousands of miles. Maps were meticulously engraved and inked by hand. Their quality endures.
Romantic Adornment: Trunk makers vied to attract luxury passengers with flourishes like exotic wood veneers, polished brass hardware, embroidered fabric panels, and side pouches.
Cartographers crafted elaborate compass roses, mythical sea creatures, clouds and flora to delight viewers. Both are miniature works of art.
Versatile Purpose:
Roomy vintage trunks function as coffee tables, ottomans, toy chests or storage. Old maps easily adapt into artwork, table runners or drawer liners. Both items add layered visual texture to any room.
By keeping the spirit of exploration alive, well-traveled antiques impart timeworn charm and imagination into otherwise ordinary spaces.
Incorporating Trunks & Maps into Décor
The key to creatively utilizing old travel trunks and maps is letting their well-recorded history spark stories about new lives well-lived around them.
Map Art Displays Stretched over canvas or framed in sections, antique maps add romance and whispered adventures to walls. Nautical maps suit beach homes while ancient mappa mundi prints suggest epic quests. Maps inspire.
Trunk Coffee Tables With their generous flat surface and cavities for storing remotes or board games, old cabin trunks effortlessly replace standard coffee tables. Line with trays to protect vulnerable interiors. Add travel tie-on labels.
Map-Lined Furniture Apply maps like unique contact paper inside dresser drawers, cabinet interiors, or trunk lids. Choose complementary cartography like star charts for a celestial bureau.
Collectible Displays Fill lidded trunks with found objects and mementos from local explorations like ticket stubs and shells.
Or curate rotating displays of related ephemera: classic books, souvenir miniatures, hotel keys. Encourage guests to view their “travels”.
By freely integrating old steamer trunks and maps into home life, their aura of discovery follows - unlocking joys of places near and far.