Making Map Art Personal

Last year I was fortunate enough to visit London, England – my first time overseas!  At a London toy shop (or should I say “shoppe”), I bought a roll of wrapping paper with a vintage map of London streets printed on it.  When I came home, I decided to frame it in a vintage gilt frame that I had and hung it in my bedroom:

 

Framed Wrapping Paper – Repro Vintage London Street Map

 

I’ve really loved having this lovely piece of art to help me remember my wonderful trip abroad.  Recently, I found a fabulous source for decorating with maps of the special places in our lives. 

Tennessee Historic Map

 

This site offers affordable reproduction historic maps of almost any state, city, or country you might be looking for, like this 1800’s map of Ireland.

Historic Ireland Map starting at $32.99

 

Honor your hometown or even the history of the early-American railroad with reproduction cartography:

Vintage Railroad Cartography

 

You can score a giclee cotton canvas map (no frame needed!) for your family room for under $100.  Check out this post for more ideas about decorating with maps.


 

12 Comments

  1. Jamie

    Love it! Travis has a “vintage-esque” map of Tennessee that I really like…now I just have to find a rockin’ frame like yours to properly display it on that whole “Tennessee Wall” I have envisioned for our new place someday 🙂

    Reply
  2. Linda

    I have two large framed maps of my favorite place in the world.. Nantucket. I know every single spot on that island and I love looking at the maps and remembering good times I had there with my family….speaking of which, I think it’s time to go back for a visit.

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      i would love to visit Nantucket – i’m sure it’s fabulous!

      Reply
  3. Sheila Zeller

    Very cool! What a great way to bring a piece of your trip home. I love things like this.

    Reply
  4. Naturally Carol

    Hi Kristie..Cathy at chunkychooky has an etsy shop called ‘mybeardedpigeon’ and sells beautiful organic cushion covers with maps on them. They have recently been featured in magazines here and are amazing, they look great on couches and chairs. I am going to order one for a couple that are on their way by boat to Papua New Guinea, maybe they’ll find it useful if their equipment breaks down..lol!

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      Sounds wonderful- I’ll go check that out! Thanks for the tip 🙂

      Reply
  5. Kelly

    I really love that first framed picture in your bedroom! My favorite kind of art- something that means something special to you.

    Reply
  6. Barbara Bussey

    How very clever…wrapping paper! there’s a place in San Francisco, called Schein & Schein, that specializes in old antique maps. They’ll even custom frame them for you…but I doubt they have a wonderful frame anywhere as beautiful as yours. What a fun idea, that personalizes a home! Thanks!
    Barbara
    The Treasured Home

    Reply
  7. Lee

    We bought an antique looking map of Bermuda while we were there on our honeymoon and had it professionally matted and framed. It has been a wonderful keepsake for the last 24 years! Hubby also collected a few of those funky signs from the London underground stops – we’ve never done anything with them though. I really like decorating ideas that use very meaningful pieces like this! Thanks!

    Reply
  8. Naomi (Live Breathe Decor)

    I love the idea of framed maps. (Yours is the nicest, love its muted colour tones). I once saw a house that had a huge map of Paris that had been blown up and used almost as wallpaper over a dining room wall. It was great because you had something interesting to look at whilst sitting at the table, but I’m wary of proudly displaying a big map of a glam city unless I have some sort of connection with the place – or at the very least have been there! I’m concerned it’s a little try-hard. What do you think? Love yours though 🙂 Naomi x

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      I’m with you, Naomi! There’s got to be a connection with the place – either you visited and loved it, or you dream of going there (I think serious dreaming counts as a connection!).

      Reply

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