Bringing your holiday back home with you

Given the choice, who wouldn’t want to be on holiday all the time? Bring your holiday home with you and let it inspire your interiors.

Given the choice, who wouldn’t want to be on holiday all the time?

But if spending the days in the middle of a Moroccan souk or a Balinese garden is out of the question, recreating that holiday vibe at home could be the next best thing.

Founder of The International School of Colour and Design and travel company The Heartful Travellers, Prue Royle, believes absorbing yourself in a different culture is bound to inspire.

“Whether you are visiting Copenhagen, Fez or Hanoi, the exposure to local design, colour and texture is guaranteed to affect you, especially as you are on holiday, relaxed and receptive to new ideas,” she says.

Whether you are visiting Copenhagen, Fez or Hanoi, the exposure to local design, colour and texture is guaranteed to affect you.

She believes the positive emotions associated with holidays can become inextricably linked with a particular aesthetic.

“Often the pleasant experience and mood created by a design style experienced on holiday means people want to recreate it at home. Minimalist Japanese style, with shoji screens, carved chests and futons can give a peaceful, balanced environment,” Prue says.

“Recently in Scandinavia, we had candles on our breakfast tables and everyone decided they were going to introduce the idea back home. It made us all feel calm and special, so why not?”

Stylist and author of Nomad: Bringing Your Travels Home, Sibella Court, believes the pull of an exotic interior lies in its associations as well as its aesthetics.

“I think everything is memory based,” she says.

“Holidays are far and few between and it’s fun getting away from the hum drum of life. To be able to take a memento, whether an interior idea or colour palette, and bring it back and relive that memory once you are home is a lovely thing.”

A little pillow fun? Holidays can inspire new looks

Start small

While it’s tempting to get carried away and turn your garden into a replica Balinese sanctuary complete with bamboo furniture, carved sculptures and candle lanterns, it pays to show restraint.

“Artwork and craft products are the easiest way to introduce specific exotic design elements into an Australian setting,” Prue says.

“Most people select art or craft pieces that are already to their own personal taste, so the new items are most likely to assimilate into their existing décor.”

Creating clusters is also a tried-and-true styling technique.

Outdoor seating at its prime.

“A successful way to integrate new travel items is to group them. Try hanging a range of paintings or prints on one wall that is painted in a particular colour. Deep burgundy or charcoal are good strong background colours for most artworks and can be a uniting force to present your travel collection,” Prue says.

“On the other hand, a very special piece of furniture or sculpture can be placed in an entrance or hallway, on its own, to give impact.”

Sibella is a fan of abstract, and more subtle, additions.

“Just because you’ve been to Morrocco doesn’t mean you have to come back with a Moroccan lamp, it can be done with colour combinations or you can repeat a pattern you might have seen on the floor of the mosque,” she says.

“Don’t just lift an interior, use it in other ways. Sound and scent are such memory triggers, a cardamom and coffee scented candle could spark off a memory.”

Love me do

The key to a great purchase is buying something you love.

“If something makes you happy, you can incorporate it into any interior,” Sibella says.

“Don’t hesitate to replace one thing for another. An interior isn’t a fixed thing, it should always be changing and morphing and can be done with ease.”

For regular travellers who can’t resist picking up home furnishings, Prue suggests approaching potential purchases with a design idea in mind.

“You might have a colour theme, such as blues, creams and whites, already established so that you know the new items will work with the old,” she says.

“One of the best home furnishings with a travel memory are cushion covers, so you can create new themes for every trip. If your furniture has a base hue, like brown or navy, the colours will not be an issue. I particularly like this idea, as the covers are easily packed.”

Table glamour: Find a colour scheme that suits your home.

By the buy

Our increasing globalised world means that many high street stores around the globe sell similar items, while scarves made in India are sold in Rome or Danish designed items are made in China.

So it pays to ask the vendor where it’s made and to check the item for yourself.

“Look out for frayed edges on rugs and the tightness of the weave,” Prue recommends.

“Ask the vendor to pour water on the coloured threads or fabric to check it does not run. Check the back of the embroidery you are buying and ask lots of questions.”

But a knock-off isn’t the end of the world, according to Sibella.

“If you love it, does it matter?” she says.

“It’s part of your travel story. If you wandered the bazaar, sat down and had tea with the vendor and haggled over something for five hours that’s an authentic travel memory. And that gives the item legitimacy.”

And you don’t have to live in fear of missing out if you pass on an expensive item that you weren’t sure about at the time.

“Everyone ships these days. I take a lot of photographs, including a business card when I’m in the store, so I don’t lose it. Once I get home I can see how a piece is going to work,” Sibella says.

Home run

No matter how much you love an item, there’s no point purchasing if it won’t get past customs. To help you navigate the tricky waters, there’s a free app you can download that tells you what is, and isn’t, allowed into the country. customs.gov.au/canibringitback

Yes

•Traditional Japanese Katana and Samurai swords and replicas.

•Leather and fur products that have been fully tanned.

•Animal horns, teeth or bones if they are clean and in new packaging, free from contamination.

•Wooden items free from bark, insects and signs of insect damage (such as borer holes).

No

•Raw hide drums.

•Wooden items that indicate insect damage, such as holes and sawdust.

•If the items aren’t confiscated, you may have the option to pay $100 to have them treated.

Globally inclined

Can’t make it to Marrakesh? Not a problem.

Said Ejjamai has been importing Moroccan homewares at his store, Mr Brassman, for 35 years.

It’s a treasure trove of Moorish influenced homewares, including ceramics inlaid with bone and silver, beaten copper jugs that are hundreds of years old, multicoloured tea glasses, kilim rugs and lots more.

“A lot of my customers have been to Morocco for a holiday but couldn’t bring items home, so they come here, order it and I can bring it in for them,” he says.

Said Ejjama, at his Moroccan homewares shop.

“We also have people that have never been to Morocco but they like the uniqueness of these products.”

While the rise of online shopping took its toll on the business for awhile, Said says it has recently picked up.

“This style has now become more fashionable,” he says.

“Young people are starting to look for handcrafted objects, they are sick of Ikea and stuff made in China. They want to come in and touch the items. You see the imperfections, the joins but they are unique, like people are unique.”

Mr Brassman, 71 Spit Rd, Mosman

Other exotic e-tailers

Asian Tide, asiantide.com.au

Asian antiques, furniture and homewares

Exotic Interiors, exoticinteriors.com.au

Balinese and Indonesian statues and water features

Table Tonic, tabletonic.com.au

African juju hats, Turkish kilim rugs and Indian bedspreads

Vilaasi, vilaasi.com

Indian 100 per cent cashmere throws

Originally published as Bringing your holiday back home with you