How To Bring Travelling Trends Home

Design with inspiration from your globetrotting…but without turning your home into a souvenir shop.

Vacation experiences can be a wonderful source of inspiration for your home decorating projects. Vibrant colors, distinctive details, and unforgettable artwork can make a vacation spot memorable, and bringing those touches into your San Francisco home can create a fun, unique style. And, as a bonus, it’s a great reminder of your past adventures.

Here are a few tips from your friends at CertaPro Painters of San Francisco for drawing inspiration from your travels without resorting to letting your home become a souvenir shop.

Build around themes, not souvenirs.

It’s easy to get distracted by souvenirs, but the styles that give a region its distinctive look are found outside of the gift shop. Whatever style your home may be, you can draw inspiration from your destination

Start by focusing on feel. What kind of environment did the homes, hotels, and restaurants you visited create? Miami is known for spaces that feel open and airy. Aspen’s ski lodges create a sense of warmth with abundant natural materials mixed in. New Orleans’ Garden District fuses the elegance of Fin de Siècle French decor with an unmistakably Southern twist.

While you may not be able to transform your home into a ski lodge or modern Miami abode, you can keep the feel in mind as you pick colors, select and position furniture, and make decisions about accessories.

Mapping out the color palette.

Our favorite way to capture the feel of a distinctive city or country is through a carefully edited color palette.

Whether this is executed in the paint colors you choose for your walls, trim, and ceilings or in furniture and accessories is your decision. But nothing can beat the speed with which paint can transform a space.

To build a unique color palette for your space, start by reviewing some of the more distinctive hues found in your inspiration location. For example, a trip to Greece may have you yearning for the crisp combination of white limestone plaster and deep blue rooftops. A stay in a Moroccan riad may have turned you on to mixing oranges and plums. And a weekend in Key West will have you looking for a way to mix in lime green. (You may want to rethink that last one…) Whatever they are, take those distinctive colors as a starting point for your paint palette. If a color seems too strong or dark for your room, move up the paint strip to a lighter tint. Even a touch of orange or green will make its presence felt, without overwhelming the room.

Our favorite way to capture the feel of a distinctive city or country is through a carefully edited color palette.

Mixing in authentic details.

Here comes the really fun part. Thanks to the Internet, it’s easier than ever to obtain authentic pieces of decor from around the world. Want a hand-stitched Moroccan leather ottoman? Instead of hoping to run across one in a local shop or resorting to a watered-down facsimile from a catalog vendor, you can connect directly with the craftspeople who make them and purchase one directly. The same goes for unique lighting, textiles for drapes, rugs, and more. But remember: not everything in your room needs to be plucked from your inspiration location. Blend character-packed accents with neutral furnishings, clean-lined lighting, and functional window treatments. This will create a mixture of current styles and exotic treats that will be unique without being overwhelming.

Let’s Get Painting

Our team at CertaPro Painters® of San Francisco is trained to help walk you through the process, from color to finish. Schedule your estimate online, or by calling us at 415-661-8400 to speak with a painting professional about the painting plan that fits the goals of your space and your budget.