How to Decorate a Room With Boats & Maps

Lay a vintage, antique or colorful map from another country on a desktop under glass. This adds a subtle decorative detail to a workspace in a home office.

Dedicate one wall in a room to a model boat display. Hang narrow, black or white painted shelves on a wall from floor to ceiling going the length of the wall or in short sections, depending on the size of your collection. Place model boats along the shelves mixing boat sizes and styles as you go.

Use a decoupage technique to cover the drawer fronts of a whitewashed side table. Remove the drawer pulls and measure the front. Apply a one full piece of a map or tear a map into pieces and apply in a collage manner. Reattach the drawer pulls.

Display a valuable toy boat collection or antique boat model in a display-case coffee table. Place an old map on the bottom of the display shelf to serve as an eye-catching backdrop for the boats.

Apply maps to one wall in a wallpaper fashion to make a big impact in any room. Use prepared map-motif wallpaper or use your own map collection and hang items on the wall using wallpaper glues and sealants.

Use spray adhesive to attach maps to the back of a bookcase or display case. Place a boat collection on the shelves to create an attractive display.

Hang boat- and map-related movie posters on a wall to reflect a boat and map interest. Movies such as “Dead Calm,” “Longitude,” “ The Perfect Storm,” and “Titanic” are a few possible choices.