Boho Classroom Decor for a Fascinating Global Classroom

Another school year is barreling upon us again! My how the summers fly. But at least I get another chance to do what I love – decorating my classroom! And this year, I was able to stray a bit from my longtime Spanish-class decor to a slightly broader cultural theme – a global boho classroom decor. I was tempted to put up another hat wall which is a nod mostly to the Hispanic culture. Then, I decided it is time for a boho classroom theme that incorporates a variety of cultures – which is how I decorate my home.

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At the end of the school year, I accepted a new position as the English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher for my campus. If you’ve followed long enough, you may remember that I was an ESL teacher for about eight years. However, I taught both ESL and Spanish during this time. Then, I went back to full-time Spanish. Now, a new adventure awaits as I will be serving our ESL students full time. Since cultural teachings and cultural appreciation is a huge part of an ESL classroom, a boho rainbow classroom theme should be perfect.

I was moved to a new classroom this year – another one without windows. I’m crossing my fingers that this is the last year without windows. But for now, I enjoyed the challenge of taking this room from sad to happy with this global luxe classroom style. 

The room definitely needed some color pop. To acquire a boho classroom feel, I needed plenty of texture, pops of color, eclectic decor, chunky baskets, maps and globes, a little macrame, and plants. Lots and lots of plants.  

Classroom Welcome Door Hanger

But let’s start first with the door. How cute is this classroom welcome door hanger I custom ordered on Etsy? Hopefully, anyone who walks in will feel welcome from the start! Unfortunately, the Etsy shop appears to no longer be open. When I am ready to change things up, I add a macrame welcome door hanger to my door.

Using Textiles in Boho Classroom Theme Decorations

I pulled out my favorite global-inspired textiles – some old Mexican serapes and an Indian kantha quilt. Also, I gathered my favorite Panamanian mola pillows and a pillowcase my mom just made me from an African mud cloth print. The kantha hides five crates of storage beneath. Textiles go a long way to helping pull off a global luxe classroom style.

On the floor is an inexpensive plastic floor mat I found at World Market. This rug is no longer in stock, but Fab Habitat has a similar reversible floor mat. The expanse of color and pattern on that floor covers some broken tiles and enhances the place.

Adding Color for a Boho Rainbow Themed Classroom

On the side and front bulletin boards, the layers of striped bulletin board trim play well with the world flags on the smaller back board. I just love graphic punches among lots of color and patterns. The faux wood bulletin board paper on the two bulletin boards adds a fun modern twist. 

This small board will be used as a word wall and visuals board to correlate to our weekly units. For now, it is just holding some of my teaching resources because blank bulletins boards drive me crazy.

I’m excited about having my newcomer kids do an “all about me” activity on the first week of school. We will use this boho rainbow classroom theme board to showcase the finished products. This set of marquee string lights can be changed throughout the year to make whatever statement I want.

Adding Details to Boho Classroom Decor

A new addition I’m really excited about this year is my scratch-off watercolor world map. With ESL or foreign language students, the possibilities for a map like this are endless! My plan is to have my students scratch off the region of the map that represents their homeland.

Then, I will have them write their names, their countries, and the year they are in my class along the sides. The kids will feel valued at being able to not only show their homelands to others but also permanently add themselves to this map. I am keeping the map behind my desk because…you know…middle schoolers. I don’t want them scratching off things just for the sake of scratching things off.

Most of the kiddos who will be in my room will have come from far away places. I want them to feel welcome and at home. Our rooms may be the safest and happiest place our students have in their lives.

My intention is to take “family style” photos of my students from time to time and display them in these customizable wood photo blocks from Jane. Of course, I will get parent permission before I start taking and printing photos. I also plan to print some of the photos for my kids to take home. Many ESL students do not purchase yearbooks at the end of the year. Their parents may be grateful to have some prints from throughout the year.

Looking back on some of my previous classrooms, I realize I made the rooms mostly about me and not enough about my students. Hopefully, seeing themselves in photos on display in the classroom will add to a feeling of belonging. For now, I have included a picture of myself with some past ESL students – two sisters at their joint quinceañera – and another of two students I met in China. (Their faces have been blurred to protect their privacy.) I love these pictures, and I hang them up every year.

At Jane, there are so many customizable items of decor. I am in love with this personalized distressed metal nameplate. It is great with my global luxe classroom theme decorations, but it would be just as cute in a farmhouse theme and lots of other them

A few other pieces from Jane have really brought this global luxe classroom together. I love the new boho laptop decal for my teacher computer. It is a perfect addition to a boho classroom.

I also ordered this cute little boho notepad holder for Post-It Notes.

Finally, I added some last touches of eclectic decor to the bookcase as it is one of the bigger focal points in the room. Some of these things are things I had in my Spanish classroom. The photo boxes with the map design are from Home Goods. The old vintage globe came from the old Catholic school where my mother-in-law retired as a third-grade teacher. A lot of the cultural elements are items I’ve picked up in my travels.

Curated Gallery Wall for Classroom

This corner gallery wall was a lot of fun to put together with a lot of the art and hats I have picked up during my travels. The majority of the decor in the room is authentic art or authentic textiles. But on this curated gallery wall, every single piece is a precious piece I have picked up from my global travels.

No doubt, every classroom needs a plant or 10. I purchase almost all of my class plants from Lowe’s. Check out my post on classroom plants which highlights the best houseplants to have in your classroom. If you look closely, you see my plants each have a plant tag with their “name” and their home of origin. I thought this was a fun touch for an ESL classroom.

Thanks for checking out my boho classroom decor! I hope my kiddos enjoy these global classroom theme decorations and can feel the cultural appreciation flowing in this room.  In addition to my hat wall linked at the top, you might want to check out my  Yo Vi Espanol bulletin board! Surely, you will want to catch my posts on classroom letter board quotes and  plants for a dark classroom! And you won’t want to miss my huge list of favorite teacher must haves on Amazon! 

I hope you enjoyed this year’s classroom tour with my boho classroom decor!