Rustic Furniture

Posted By admin on July 14, 2011

ehow.com

Southwest style architecture, design and furniture comes from inside the boundaries of five states—New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Texas. The style is characterized by the landscape around it—wide open countryside awash in sunshine, the colorful strata through the foothills and mountains, cool white paint punctuated by bright colors, soft-edged adobe architecture and the rustic, worn nature of objects that have endured for a long time in the sun and wind. All of these elements have made their way into the southwest style interiors and furniture.

Living Rooms

Furniture in a southwest style living or family room is informal; the objective is to allow people to gather often and partake in conversation. In a typical southwestern style home, the floor is tile and the walls are white, so the overstuffed chairs, sofas, and ottomans tend to either be covered in elaborate textured fabrics reminiscent of the local Native Americans’ rug patterns, or are informally slip-covered in white cotton or linen. Large pillows covered by pieces of antique rugs bring color to so much white furniture. Some southwestern style couches and chairs have well-built, rustic (built from unrefined tree branches) wooden frames and overstuffed cushions and pillows. You can also polish wooden furniture in southwest style décor, as long as there are other rustic pieces to tone it down a bit. Polished wood pieces tend to be chunky and straightforward; there’s little curve or ornamental element to the frame of any wood piece. Ottomans play an important role; replacing the usual coffee table with a large ottoman expands seating options. Most southwest style living rooms don’t contain much more than seating and artwork–rugs, old tree branch ladders and southwestern pottery to round out the space.

Dining Rooms

The southwest furniture for dining rooms, like living rooms, tend toward informality. Tables are usually rectangular, and if space permits, long enough to seat at least four on each side. Again, tables made from tree branches are common, as are very old and rustic tables, which are either stripped of all paint and varnish or contain the worn out remnants, for example, of bright turquoise paint applied decades ago. Chairs are marked by having straight backs and wide seats, although if the table is very southwestern looking, sometimes a simple, lightweight modern-style chair provides a contrast. Another favorite thing to do in southwestern dining rooms is to place distinct chairs around the table—old and new—none alike. As long as the chairs are simple in both line and form, and are made of wood, they fit in with southwestern style.

Bedrooms

Mission-style pieces (originating in California) sometimes work their way into the boundaries of southwest style furniture, simply because the lines are as simple and unadorned as southwestern pieces, and the warmth of the wood is the primary design element. Beds with spindled wooden headboards and footboards are common, and so are old white iron bed frames. As in the living room, color tends to enter the picture through Native American-style throw rugs, blankets, or covered pillows. Antique armoires or newly made—but rustic—armoires (or tall dressers) tend to be the only other furniture in a bedroom aside from perhaps a chair or a bench. The southwest style armoire is either extremely rustic and basic, or it is rustic and painted brightly in southwestern colors—whites, turquoise, corals and pinks. More graceful chairs appear in the bedroom—chairs made of bent willow branches or less chunky wood-framed chairs with a single-layer stretched leather back and seat.

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For more information on Mexican furniture, rustic furnitures, and prices on rustic furniture, please visit our rustic Mexican pine furniture informational site.

For more information on Southwest furniture, Southwest rustic furniture, and prices on rustic furniture, please visit our Southwest rustic furniture informational site.

For more information on Southwest furniture, Southwest rustic furniture, and prices on rustic furniture, please visit our Southwest furniture informational site.

Category: southwest furniture
Tags: southwest furniture