The trick to well-travelled decor

True story: a friend of mine knew Danny K before he was Danny K. Well, maybe not so much “knew” as “met”. She was doing marketing in the security industry and attended a neighbourhood safety meeting hosted by his mom, Pam Koppel. The point of the story is that the family home made more of an impression on her than the gangly teenager. (Apologies, Danny, if you’re reading this. In my friend’s words – “You’ve grown rather yummy since then”)

There is a point to this trip down memory lane, you see, the Koppel home is filled with precious mementos of lives well lived and a world well travelled. The jaw-dropping interior showcases sparkly trinkets from India, leather finds from Turkey, real-deal rugs from the Orient and one-of-a-kind artworks from all over. This all being more than 15 years ago, it’s possible that these pieces now nestle alongside Chinese jade carvings, Mexican silver platters and Cambodian bamboo screens. All souvenirs of wherever the Koppels’ travels have taken them.

And while not all of us can consider the world our oyster, I think it’s safe to assume that we’ve all been on holiday at least once – and that the trinkets and doodats that were stashed in our suitcases now reside, long forgotten, in a drawer or musty cupboard.

Well, it’s time to dig them out, dust them off and decorate!

Have you road-tripped through the Karoo? (Or even built your home off-plan?) Unroll your maps (or architect’s drawings), frame them and display them. They are, after all, a piece of your life’s journey.

If you’ve ever spent a peaceful afternoon collecting pebbles on SA’s desolate west coast, now’s the time to dig them out from the garage and … use them to tile your shower floor. Or put them in the empty antique glass jar from Oom Samie se Winkel (remember Stellenbosch?) and root an orchid on them. Or super-size your home-office paperweight. Or … whatever helps takes you back to those wistful shores.

If you’ve spent a morning trawling for shells on the glorious west coast – come on, we’ve all done this! – re-incarnate their pearly sheen by crafting a chandelier.

Or use the feathers that will always remind you of the crazy 10 minutes you spent riding an ostrich in Oudtshoorn to decorate a lamp.

Did you, like many proudly SA travellers, leave Clarens with a rusty bicycle squeezed Tetris-style into your car boot? Position it on your patio and fill up the baskets with blooming cosmos. Or, dare to be different and squeeze it into your bathroom, using the baskets for freshly-laundered towels and feel-good bath-time treats.

If you’re planning a fly-fishing trip to Dullstroom, make sure to stop in at Harriet’s Pancakes. Enjoy Harriet’s treats (trust me on this!), nick some paper menus and, when you manage to drag yourself home again, laminate or decoupage them to make delish place mats for your own feasts. And while you’re at it, frame the lures – whether you caught anything with them or not.

Come on, become an armchair traveler. Nestle into something comfy (like this generously proportioned leather and chenille Embassy suite from Grafton Everest, wrap yourself in your Merino blankie from the Midlands Meander and start planning your next trip. And remembering all your previous forays.