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The World on Your Walls

July 19th, 2010 | Author: Lori Sawaya | Posted in Color in Design | 6 Comments » |

Relocating from my Midwest home to the Southwest rekindled a fascination with geography and regional cultures in general.

Shortly after the big move I started noticing map art in home decor.

Walls adorned — even with just a tiny corner of the world — instantly infuses sophistication.  It’s a very smart look.

The art of making maps and charts is called cartography.  Mastering color harmonies is just part of the job for a cartographer.  An expert’s hand is apparent as softly nuanced color unifies the world in this wall mural.

Gracefully fitting into a wide range of function and design, maps not only spark our sense of wanderlust but we’re also reminded that they too can ‘”go” anywhere.  Formal and refined in a library. . .

. . .to perfectly placed in a playroom.  It’s never too early to learn about the big blue marble we all call home.

For every mood, there is a map.  Sleek and modern anyone?

Or maybe geographically kitschy is more your style.  Try a vintage tray.

Refolding a map is challenging enough, but weaving one into an art piece?  Can you imagine?   It measures a small, 9.3L x 7W x 1.5B cm.  Custom order for a larger size.  Purely artisan and cleverly repurposed.

How about you, can you envision a map warming up available real estate on your walls?

6 Responses to “The World on Your Walls”

1. Paula Doelling-Lynn
   6:13 am on July 19th, 2010

   Lori!! What a super duper article. So sophisticated and simple!! Loved it!! I love the closure: “Envisioning warming up real estate on your walls…..”

2. Kelly, Arte Styling
   8:25 am on July 19th, 2010

   Great post! I love a good map. I’ve seen them used in many ways in home decor, but have yet to embark upon “Geography Chic” in any projects. I think that kitschy tray is my favorite. And now I’m especially curious how those map colors are determined. Map making really is an art in itself.

3. Debra Disman
   7:58 pm on July 19th, 2010

   Great stuff Lori- love it!
   When I worked at Paint Effects in SF, one of our staff decoupaged a map onto an elegant, decorative table, and added gilding to the legs…offset with a creamy ivory basecoat-wonderful.
   FUN!
   Thanks for the post.

4. Donna Frasca
   3:53 pm on July 20th, 2010

   What a refreshing blog post! Something different. It seems many of the blogs I’ve been reading are getting a bit redundant.

   Thanks for keeping it fun!

5. funcolors
   5:52 am on July 25th, 2010

   Redundant? Ugh! Definitely trying to avoid overlap, DF. I do know what you mean tho. I’m thinking we aren’t going to run out of color topics we want to tackle any time soon – so hopefully Color Budz stays fresh.

   DD, the table sounds fabulous!

   KB, cartography is actually quite the fascinating art form especially with the advent of computers. Can you imagine how maps were drawn before there were computers!

   PDL, thanks. Glad you liked the post.

6. Heather Jenkinson
   6:54 am on August 3rd, 2010

   Another interesting post, Lori! I really love your podcasts – occasionally, at the end of a long day, I’ll lie down on the floor in the dark and listen to them. I really like enjoy them.

   Re: this post. I went to a talk at the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre for London Design Week, back in March and three designers were invited to talk about their favourite rooms. A well respected British designer talked about using large maps – if you want, you could read more about it here: http://livinginaprettyhowtown.blogspot.com/2010/03/london-design-week-chelsea-harbour.html <<< please, this is in no way an attempt of self promotion – it was really interesting!