Going for a Global Appeal: Picking the Best Globe for Your Home

    Globes are one of the few multi-tasking accessories you can place in a room. Both beautiful and functional, globes don't only depend on their looks for their appeal. Instead, it's their seemingly endless knowledge of the world that draws us to them. Globes make it easy for us to find a country that was mentioned in a newspaper article or to see where the island is we plan to visit next June. But we decorate with globes for more than just that. Globes have the power to keep us humble - to remind us how small we are in this big world. They give us the feeling of being cultured, and the comfort that understanding this world isn't all that hard. Globes communicate a strong message in a room, and in order to get that message right, you need to know what to look for when choosing a globe.

Physical Appeal: Picking Globes for Beauty

    It used to be that globes did not come in many different styles. You had your standard blue ocean globe, an antique brown globe and if you looked hard enough you may have been able to find a contemporary globe with a black ocean. Today that's not the case. There are numerous different globe styles ranging from traditional to contemporary, and you might find that instead of having too few choices that you have too many.
    To narrow down which globe is the right one for your room, think of it as any other decorative accessory. The colors on the globe should complement the colors in your room. The globe colors don't have too match the colors in your room perfectly, they should just accent each other nicely and look pleasing to the eye when placed next to each other.
    In addition to looking at the color of the globe, you should also consider its size. Globes are available in both floor and desk models. Whichever type you choose, should be to scale with the place where you put it. If you buy a desk globe, you don't want it to look like it's crushing or lost on the table you placed it on. The same goes for floor globes. You don't want the floor globe to look like it's crammed into a space or terribly lonely because everything else is so far away. The globe you choose should look as if it were meant for the place where you put it.
    The last thing to consider is style. While the sleek, new contemporary globes may catch your eye, putting one in a very traditionally decorated home might not look right. The style of globe you choose should fit with the current décor in your home.

Mental Appeal: Picking Globes for Function

     Not all globes are made with the same information as I discovered during my trip to Replogle Globes, and if you plan on buying a globe to actually use it, you'll want to check to see how many place names are listed on it.
    "Depending on the size, the diameter of the globe ball, you're able to fit different amounts of information on the map itself," Maureen Kehoe, direct marketing manager at Replogle Globes, said. "Our larger globe balls lend themselves better to lots of place names, lots of country details, topographical and political details; whereas, if you have a smaller diameter globe, you just run out of space."
    Typically, the bigger the globe, the more place name and details it has. However, that is not always the case. Sometimes the globes style will affect the amount of detail on the globe's map.
    "The traditional style globes feature lots of place information, and as we get to more contemporary styled globe maps, they are a little more minimal," Kehoe said. "Fewer place names, and that's done just for pure aesthetics. [The contemporary globes are] supposed to be sleek and easy on the eyes and simple."
    In addition to the amount of information on a globe, you'll also want to consider the type of information you want. There are numerous different types of informational globe maps including, antique globe maps, political globe maps, constellation globe maps, topography globe maps, and children's globe maps. All of those different types of globe maps typically have their information displayed in one of two ways: with just words or with words and small figures.
    "The figures [on globe maps] are interesting because it makes you do some research outside of what you see on the globe because it immediately triggers some questions," Terry Donovan, the chief cartographer at Replogle Globes, said. "Whereas sometimes a globe with just placenames is something you have to study. ... When you look at a globe, you read a globe. You don't just use it as decoration, although it's a big part of how it can blend in and add to a personal environment."
    Donovan's right. Globes are more than decorations in a home, which means when you choose a globe, your considerations should extend beyond that of color and size. You should consider the type of information you want on the globe map - whether it's historical or political or topographical.