Walking Into the Wild West

When people walk into your home do you want them to feel as if they have just walked into a long-forgotten ranch in the Lone Star state? Creating this climate involves much more than just a cowboy painting or wagon wheel table. It means a swapping out any modern furniture in your home. 

You should look at the styles of western furniture on the market, then look at your home and decide what will fit. Many people choose one piece of furniture they ‘must have’ and build the rest of the room around that particular piece.  

If your living room or great room is the space you want to westernize, you’re going to need a few major pieces of western style furniture – sofa, chairs, tables, and lighting.

When it comes to the sofa and chairs there are a few routes to take. First, you can choose either fabric with a western theme or western furniture. Either of these will fit the in the theme you’re trying to create. With the trend towards the rustic theme, there are a plethora of rustic upholstery fabrics, although leather will also add a little bit of the sound effect, sounding like someone is getting in and out of the saddle on the ranch as they sit down.

Next is picking the right table. There are so many to choose from! You could choose the wagon wheel table, or a reclaimed barnwood piece, or maybe a hammered copper table.  Here is where you have to start matching things. You don’t want a sofa and chair set with dark stained wood, while you have a light barnwood table, you need to make sure the pieces are going to go together and create the right balance.

And what good is all that great furniture if no one can see it? Time for some good western lighting. You don’t want to muck up the image you have created with an ordinary lamp that doesn’t fit the rest of the background. You need something with a western feel. Choose a lamp that is wood based, wrought iron, or even one with leather or parchment lampshades to complete your western dwelling.