Western Furniture & Cowboy Decor
The Western Cowboy look is perhaps one of the most 'fun' styles of popular decor. The advent of television, as well as popular movies, gave rise in the 1950's to a huge demand for all things Western. It's all about action, courage and life lived to the full - work hard, and play hard. Pit your wits against a wild bronco or a rampaging steer, then barn dance till you drop to the country sounds of the guitar, banjo and violin. It's about history, and heritage, and an era of strong men and women striving to overcome hardships.
Cowboy Camp Chair.
The Western Look
Western decor combines the historic, the ethnic and the picturesque. Western Cowboy furniture can be primitive, featuring rough-sawn logs, nails and coarse fabrics, looking as if it had been thrown together quickly by a busy ranch hand. Simple bunk beds, tables, straight-backed chairs and rough-hewn cupboards reflect the style of the bunkhouse that served as a temporary home to an ever-moving labor force. On the other hand, the Western look can reflect the beauty created by a lonely cowhand, with little to do in the evenings, and something of the soul of an artist. Using the materials closest to hand - Ponderosa pine, cow hides and horns, horseshoes - beautifully polished and carved woodwork was combined with gleaming tooled leather and simple ornamentation to provide attractive and original pieces of furniture.
Western Gun and Curio Cabinet.
Native American Influences
Native American Indian influence is very much to the fore in this type of decor. Navajo wool rugs, horseblankets, fringes, feathers and beads are used to advantage, both as accessories, and as ornamentation to an otherwise plain piece of furniture.
South Western Furniture
Colors are strong reds, blues and greens, and fabrics can be leather, denim or colorful Navajo prints. South western furniture will be richer in Spanish and Mexican influence, and colors will tend towards the desert shades: oranges, yellows, mauves and deep browns. Leather furniture western style may reflect the rough, rawhide look, or may be fine leather cowboy furniture: soft, supple and highly polished.
Western Styles
Western motifs are used generously. Carved, painted or added in media such as cow horn: Western furniture is almost always richly decorated. Wagon wheels, broncos, boots, spurs, cactii and lariats decorate everything possible! A touch of the rustic can be added with such items as twig-framed mirrors, or chairs and tables in coarse wooden textures.
Childrens Furniture
Western Cowboy decor is a popular choice for a child's room. Children's western cowboy furniture is often of simple design, painted in attractive colors and boldly decorated in a Western theme.
South Western Clock.
Simplicity & Imagination
Furniture Western Cowboy style gives great scope for originality and personal taste. It can reflect the simplicity of pioneer cowboy furniture, or can be composed of unique, almost outrageously imaginative creations and designs of leather, cow horn and metal. Perhaps the best effect can be obtained by a simple, well-coordinated theme contrasting with just one creative and original item to provide a talking point.
Western Iron Barstool with Leather Seat.
Home and Office
Cowboy style furniture is ideal for a log cabin or bungalow used as a weekend retreat, but it is also a popular choice both for the home and the office. Western office furniture will typically include comfortable, attractive pieces rich in leather and native wood. Rustic cowboy furniture is ideal for the garden or patio. Western decor can give interest to the living area of your home, and can also be a restful and comfortable choice for the bedroom.
Western Wood Cowboy Shelf.
Historic Western furniture will be with us as long as there are Western movies, Western novels, Western line dances, and Western rodeo extravaganzas. It is part of the great American heritage.
