Come Along and Ride on a Maptastic Voyage

8 million years ago I wrote a post on my map fixation, and you all seemed to agree that maps rule the world. Well, don't spend too much time fixating on how I brilliantly used language and the internets to write something long before the Big Bang, because part deux is coming at all you map lovers bright and early this morning. Set your international time clocks to awesome and let's get this globe trotting. Now I could do my usual patter that goes something like: maps... globalization... maps... economy... maps... self deprecating political joke. But in my own little latitude x longitudinal coordinate, pollen is dripping from the trees in our canopied neighborhood and making my life a living hell, so I'll settle for maps... pretty. That works, right?

Interior designer, S. R. Gambrel goes nautical in this room decoupaged with maps. I'm a thinking this look can move beyond the solely sea worthy, though. Industrial glam would work equally well.

Annie Schlecter makes this map retro fresh by adding a dash of Mimosa yellow to cool gray, dropping in a sprig of shiny pendant goodness, pouring in a heaping helping of shaggy delight, and garnishing with a burl wood cross section that acts like nature's own growth chart. Delicious.

Per Ranung

This humble little map pirouettes on center stage like a prima ballerina in this... boy's (?) room. Whatever. I'm keeping the metaphor. Boys can dance, too, right?

At night, little Billy Elliot in training could cover up with an amazing map quilt by Leah Evans. This beauty is already sold, but you should check out her other work which walks the line between symbol and abstraction with stunning intricacy.

OWI

This Belgian architect couple spends six months out of the year traveling around Europe in a very swank mobile home, and the other six living in a garage they've tricked out with various and sundry creature comforts. A map is a must for planning future journeys.

Here they show off their essentials: Ligne Roset's Togo sofa, kitchen appliances, a picture of their beloved camper, and the ever popular globe.

Speaking of globes, check out what this crafty chica did to hers. One whole makes two halves (and a very cool pair of pendant lights).

Here's another nifty idea for all your peeps unafraid of a little glue, courtesy of The Bedlam of Beefy's funny blog. Based in the UK, online retailer All Things Original stocks their virtual shop with tons of cute and quirky selctions. Good thing the interweb makes hopping across the pond nothing more than a skip and a jump.

This incredible TEXTILE by Young British Artist (YBA) Gavin Turk hits all those political notes I alluded to but am too lazy to actually cover in this post. The map is fashioned from bits of commercial packaging that reflect the increasingly global nature of consumerism. What's most important is that Coca Cola is available in Uzbekistan, right? Insert your own analysis here.

Nope. Not the same house as the first image, but just goes to show that great minds think alike. Courtesy of the now defunct Domino, via Alicia B. Designs.

Say hello to my current obsession: maps of Tokyo designed by cartographer extraordinaire, Hajime Ishikawa. This little gem is even conveniently featured in chartreuse and turquoise, a hot color combo discussed here and here. Its veiny rivers and jagged arteries set my heart to double pump!

Mmmmm... topolicious.

We Are the World

I know, I know. The map trend has already made a few laps around the proverbial block, but all of the sudden it seems urgent to know where Georgia is in proximity to Russia, to know with certainty that Iraq and Pakistan DO NOT share a border, and to be able to draw a giant geopolitical flow chart that shows the connections among all of the countries currently fueling the global economy (hint: America is not one of them). So, for those of us who cannot see Russia from our back porches, I present a day of international geography as viewed from a domestic perspective. Hopefully we'll all learn something, myself included. Because I may or may not be able to identify all 50 states in their correct positions. Although I do know where Alaska is.

First up, this gorgeous map from the desk of At Home At Home. I'm pretty sure I have no idea what landmass is depicted there. I could cheat and look it up, but... that would be cheating. For now I shall bask in my ignorance until someone enlightens me. Anyone? Anyone? Buelllllllerr?

Perhaps if I slept in this room decorated by Flickr user kbreebo, I would already know with certainty that the unidentified landmass is _____ ? Well, at least her lucky son will grow up with the kind of intellectual acumen that I might also have acquired if only I hadn't slept through geography class. Although geography class in a Texas public school consists largely of identifying Texas on a map. Well, and maybe Arkansas, because you must be able to pinpoint with laserlike accuracy the position of your true mortal enemy.

Look! It's Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Mali, Niger, Chad, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran (you know, the "I" country that DOES share a border with Pakistan). It's probably a miracle that I can even read (I'm talking to you, Texas High School), but these digitally printed map tiles seen on Remodelista have nice, big print.

On the other hand, these delicate butterflies made from vintage maps seen on Imagesurgery could be problematic...

Squiggles and colors and dots, oh my! I can't identify a single thing here. Ok... I am identifying some lust. I want a swarm of these gorgeous specimens to fill The Hole behind my couch, and maybe I could put a magnifying glass and atlas below the frame in the vain hope that I could (or would even bother to) edumacate myself. Oh beauty, thou art a gloriously distracting trollop.

This amazing vignette by Steven Sclaroff poses a similar set of problems, chief among them the incontiguous arrangement of map parts. How am I supposed to track the Bridge to Nowhere when nothing is linear???

I suppose I could make my own map table, like this one photographed by Caroline Burghardt.

That way I could just hunker down with my studies and let my tush be cushioned by a fabulous Persian rug. Now where was Iran again...?

Or I could park my tush elsewhere and sit for a spell.

It's probably pretty important that I know where Saudi Arabia is, and after I finish with business, I can plan with pleasure my trip to South Africa where I shall visit the fabulous Heather at Elle Decor SA. Thanks, Apartment Therapy!

Wait! I think I may have learned something today...

The images in these paper clothes meticulously crafted from maps by Elisabeth LECOURT look suspiciously like the UK. Now, my geographic knowledge is probably up to average for the average American student, but I can't settle for mere mediocrity.

Battleship napkins and badass world map RUGS from Thorsten van Elten will ensure that I continue to broaden my cartographic repertoire. Soon, I'll be able to recite all 7 continents. That is, if we don't continue to confuse Sunni with Shia, ignite WWIII and get bombed back to Pangea first.

I'll just pretend (for now) that won't happen, and in the meantime I'll use these placemats to work my way towards a more detailed knowledge of our world's highways and byways.

Who am I kidding? I don't even think I could catch a bus to 6th street in Austin. I once spent three hours riding the bus around Hawaii because I couldn't figure out where to get off. The driver finally kicked me off at the end of his shift when we arrived at the central bus terminal, which was nowhere even remotely close to my destination. Did I mention that my sense of direction is ridiculously, unfathomably bad?

I can't let my inherent lack of aptitude get me down, though. I'll keep my nose to the grindstone and my eyes on the prize with these recycled map bowls by Liz Grotyohann.

And with this nifty wall sized world map clock by Johannes Wohnseifer, I'll be able to see that while night falls and study time is over for me, the sun also rises on the opposite of the world for others, like Miss Raina over in New Zealand.

Here's to hoping that the children of tomorrow will be better studies of the world than I was yesterday. Although today I have learned that I may want a giant map for The Hole on my wall, and that's something.