My Fangirl Life is a geek lifestyle blog, or that’s how we describe ourselves. This means that we love to talk about every aspect of life as a nerd: from cosplay, Cons, & entertainment to cooking, fashion, & DIY. Today’s topic, Geek Decorating, falls squarely into the middle of all of that.
Both Kris and KG have given us a tour of their rooms in the past year. You can find those here and here and here. I could do the same, but I admit I have a lot of things that are the same or at least very similar to what you’ll find in their rooms. So I’m going to take a different spin with this: Wanderlust at Home.
When looking at my house there are two distinct themes: fandom décor and travel décor. My friends have largely focused on the fandom aspect. Today I’m going to focus on the travel aspect.
For a while now I’ve been really itching to travel. To just hop on a plane and take-off, escaping to see the world. The wanderlust in me cannot be quenched. It’s been months since my last trip and, while I’m actually currently on one as of the date of this post, this I haven’t left North America in forever. What I really want is to escape to Europe. Perhaps Finland 2017???
While I’m at home I have a number of things to satisfy my wanderlust. My trip to Europe in 2011 greatly inspired how I decorated my house – let me share!
Pictures – I have a lot of pictures on my walls. Like A LOT. And a large number of them are photos that were actually taken during that trip to Europe. The three cities that are the main focus are London, Paris and Venice. My kitchen is filled with photos of London and my living room has an entire wall devoted to Paris. When I moved last summer I realized I had 9 framed photos of the City of Love…
Picture Frames – I have a couple of smaller travel-themed frames throughout my house. First I have a frame where I’ve put 3 photos of the Eiffel Tower at different times of the day and another that’s covered in the map of the London Underground. The photo that resides in this frame is one of my favourites of Kris and I in Glasgow.
Candles – My favourite candle from Bath & Body Works is London Calling. It smells like tea & lemon, which is just so British. I also have a set of candles I bought from Urban Outfitters in New York City which are themed after some different areas of the city. The Brooklyn one smells deliciously like coffee.
Globe – When my grandparents downsized a few years ago this was one of the things I jumped on. It now sits on the bookshelf in my room. It’s pretty old (and not completely accurate any more) but it provides perfect ambiance.
Art – For my last birthday my sister bought me a series of Wanderlust plaques that are beautiful and now hanging on one of my walls. I also have a map of the world in cork board form on display.
Boxes & Tins – I have a set of boxes that sit atop one of my bookshelves that are covered in art of postcards and other items from various European cities. Fittingly, I have some keepsakes from my Europe trip kept in here. On another shelf I have a tin that has a different UK castle on each side. This is something I acquired when my other grandma was downsizing a few years back.
Travel Books – Kris and I blogged our entire Europe trip and when we returned home Kris turned it into a series of books. These include a number of photos and our entire blog. It’s the best keepsake I could ask for. All 5 books are on display on one of my shelves.
Starbucks Mugs – The ‘You Are Here’ collection of Starbucks mugs fills my cupboards. I have multiple on my shelves as well as a couple that have yet to make their way out of their boxes. This has become my go-to souvenir when I visit a new city. They are always so pretty and represent the place perfectly. Plus they’re practical. I have coffee and tea in one every day!
Shower Curtain – One of the largest travel themed items is my black & white shower curtain. This has photos from a number of cities on it and I finally think I’ve been able to identify all the cities represented. It’s one of my favourite themed items I have.
Fictional Maps – Not all of my travel items are based off real places. I love maps, especially fictional maps. For Christmas last year Kris & KG made me photos of Westeros, Narnia, Middle Earth and the Marauders Map. They’re perfect and on display with the rest of my travel items. You can learn how they made those here.
There you have it. My house has a distinct travel theme. Any ideas of things I should add? What travel themed items do you have? Let me know in the comments!
Till next time,
– Justine Alyssa
Photos: Featured Image
This is an easy place to start. The newest run of Ms. Marvel has been praised time & time again for its alternative look at a female superhero. Kamala Khan is not your typical ‘Girl in Tights’; on the contrary, she is so very normal that any fangirl will instantly relate. Yes, she gets grounded by her parents when she sneaks out or stays out too late on a school night (if only they knew she was saving the world!) …but it’s so much more than that. She writes Avengers fanfics. She ships Spider-Marvel, aka Spider-Man and the old Ms Marvel (Carol Danvers). She insists on taking selfies with any new heroes she meets. She does exactly what I’d do in her shoes. Basically she is me. Basically she is all of us.
Another obvious go-to here as far as girl power comics go; Lumberjanes is a feminist’s dream. It is full of strong female characters that are also spunky, smart, fun, and all-around real. It wears a feminism badge of honor yet does so in a brilliant way. It doesn’t preach at you; instead it presents females who you can hold as role models… hilarious, quirky role models.
DC Bombshells might not seem like an obvious choice based on the name, or even the cover art. If you are lobbying for the end of sexualized female superheroes, this is definitely not the series for you. However, imagine a world when we don’t need male superheroes. Ok, I know that we don’t have ANY superheroes, but imagine a fictional, comic book universe that doesn’t need men to save them. In DC Bombshells we are thrown back to the Second World War and the ladies of DC are the first ones to join the front line. Sure they look like perfect pin-ups, but they are also bravely defending their nation.
You can click 
