Travel is at an all-time low, with more people than ever having to find fun and adventure in their homes to keep them entertained. Unfortunately, those with wandering spirits are also stuck at home, having to deal with maybe going a full year without setting foot on a plane or going to another country. This setback can be hard to deal with! For the globetrotters out there who are desperate to absorb some knowledge and fun from other countries- here are some decor tips to help you bring countries and cultures to your home instead!
In Your Kitchen
Your kitchen is the most definite way to pull other cultures into your world. You can display cookbooks from their cultures (and of course, use them!) or hang up art that shows them cooking. By recreating the food, regardless if you’re studying Ireland or Zimbabwe, you’ll be able to taste what they taste and know them better.
In Your Living Room
You don’t have to buy furniture from other countries to experience them, all decor down to the sofa should be comfortable. Instead, you can focus on using different cultures to decorate your furniture. In blankets, side tables, rugs, and knickknacks, you can explore the silhouettes that make each culture unique and beautiful. Focus on a room by room basis so that you can fully enjoy each exploration without them clashing or you accidentally mixing them up. Your living room should be a center for learning and fun, not an eyesore!
In Your Bathroom
It may seem weird to consider bringing another culture into your bathroom, but it’s a significant task that will help you learn more about other people! You can hang up art from other countries, get mats or rugs, of course, but the best way to bring different cultures into your bathroom is by scent. Purchase candles or incense to suit whatever country you have in mind. You can also buy bath oils, soaps, and candles to help soothe away your traveling woes. Don’t let this area go to waste!
In Your Bedroom
Our bedrooms are our palaces; they’re places we slip away to when we’re done with the outside world and need some rest. That doesn’t mean you can’t bring in parts of the world with you. Your bedroom can be a fun place to decorate when trying to learn another language to understand a culture better! Although notecards and label machines are old hat at this point, they’re still instrumental! You can label everything around you with its translated name into Japanese, French, or Spanish- and get to know the objects by those languages instead. This layout is a great way to help you acclimate to learning those words and using them mentally.
In Your Office
What would an office be without a world map? Pinup a map in your office, and mark off where you’ve already been. After that step, use pens and sticky-notes to mark where you want to go and why. Leave notes on what inspires you, what you’d like to see more of, and why you think these countries and cultures are so impressive.
You could even set up a calendar next to it, where you set aside days or weeks to study more about these cultures. For example, if you set aside a week for South Korea, you can spend the week learning recipes from there, a couple of days getting to know the culture, and sometimes getting to know the history. By the end of the week, you still won’t have been to South Korea, but you’ll have gotten to see the country a little better.
In Your Front Yard
American yards are often a lot of unused space. In your front yard, though, you can still use decor to explore other countries and cultures! Many cultures use individual decorating styles or even yard decorations, and you can respectfully replicate this in your yard. If you’re not sure what to do, look at pictures of yards in your target country, and get to know why they set up their yards this way or why they might not use yards at all!
In Your Backyard
Gardens are the epitome of a lot of culture’s homes. They’re such a big deal in Italian houses that there are separate entrances with more elaborate arches to let you into their gardens. You can get to know other cultures by growing vegetables, fruits, and other things they would often have in their gardens and dishes. You can find most plants online, but be careful about which seeds you use. Invasive species of plants are a big deal and could seriously harm the natural order of any area. Kudzu is native to Eastern Asia. Yet the moment it hit the American South, it got out of control: these days, many parts of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia are all coated in the thick green plant. Be careful when you pick what you decide to grow.
Getting to know other cultures is an admirable goal and is the best way to help our world feel a little more tight-knit. Being unable to travel can’t stop us from exploring the cultures of the countries around us; with a bit of ingenuity and hard work, we can bring the cultures to us instead. Just make sure to keep an eye out for low prices on flights when we can travel again!
