Enjoying Life In A Southwest Living Room

Are you bored with your current dull living room and dread spending time in what is supposed to be a favorite place in your home? Add some pizazz to your life by turning your living room into a southwest sanctuary, no matter where you are located geographically. The biggest question of all is where to begin when designing a warm and cozy southwest room, where you may happily welcome family and friends. The first step when re-decorating is to decide what your interpretation is of southwest decor. Various ideas come to mind and differ from person to person. Do you think of southwest as Mexican or Spanish with bright bold colors and room with rounded archways? Or does a western cowboy and Indian theme with colors of rust and brown and Native American art come to mind? 

The awesome thing about decorating in a southwest theme is that you can use just one aspect of the southwest or combine any and all of the themes, depending on your own personal likes and dislikes. A good beginning point is to choose a color of paint for the walls that you feel creates a southwest feeling. Popular southwest colors would be deep reds, oranges and yellows. Turquoise, browns and rust also work well if you are leaning more toward a western or Indian theme room. It’s an exciting first step to take! Next, when purchasing furniture for your southwest living room, the pieces should lean towards chunky wood and wrought iron and beautiful upholstered leather. These items seem to work well no matter which way you lean when deciding on a southwestern theme for your living space. When accessorizing your room, choose unique things that make a bold statement. Accent pieces are like placing pieces of your personality around the room, so be sure to incorporate accessories that you love. 

Things like throw rugs add warmth and character and are able to add texture and color to your room. If your room has a fireplace, consider using a woven wool rug either in front of the hearth or above the mantle. In a southwest environment, both look fantastic. An area rug under your coffee table is another great way to add color and pattern and will be a unifying force, blending colors from within the room. Throw pillows made of animal hides make great accent pieces and look so at home. No room would be complete without artwork. Look for pieces you are fond of in any of the southwestern themes such as Mexican, western, or Native American. Why not consider helping out a starving artist by purchasing an unusual piece of their work for a fraction of the normal price. Who knows? Maybe someday you’ll own a painting created by someone famous! It seems that in a southwest room, rustic wooden frames complete the picture. One last area to include in your southwest decor is artifacts. Artifacts could be unusual things you have collected throughout the years while traveling or something you may happen to run across at a flea market that lends a taste of the southwest. 

These objects will add a touch of realism to your living room and be great topics to discuss with family and friends. Native American baskets or hand made wooden dolls, mission style bells or religious statues, a cowboy’s used lasso or a branding iron or Mexican pottery or burro baskets are just a few ideas to help you get started. Things that are personally purchased from the craftsman will be delightful additions. What a pleasurable experience it will be to create your own southwest living room. With thoughtful preparation, your finished room filled with elements from other cultures, will make you feel as though you have crossed borders and traveled continents, all within the comforting walls of your home.

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