Western Design 101: What is Western Design

Is it Rustic Décor or Cowboy Décor?  Perhaps you’ve even heard it called Lodge Décoror just plain cabin furniture.

Western Design has not been recorded with standard parameters that make it “text” book.    It is a design genre without hard and fast boundaries.

Western in the best sense of a definition represents the style of the West.  Western Style is widely interpreted, that means it is free spirited, usually utilizing organic forms and natural materials.  Western style was borne out of necessity.  Western furniture and western fashion were created to fulfill a need    Today’s western design reaches back to the roots of the design genre echoing the western elements that have stood against time.

Rustic materials for western furniture were readily available to those who first came West and they continue to be important in the genre today.  They include these unmistakably western woods:  pine, burl, juniper as well as leather, steel, antler and stone.  Native American designs, especially those of the Plains Indians are also catalysts for western design.  Buckskin, hides, beadwork and fur were as essential then as they are now to western fashion.  At a time when few possessions could be carried in wagons, horseback or on foot, the pioneers of the West made do with what they could find.     They built their own furniture and made their own clothing from materials that were readily available in the region.

Western design is unique in that it is eclectic, many times created from found or recycled materials now interpreted as green design.  It is a genre that supports artists who step outside of the box mixing new materials, testing limits with others.

Western design is a reflection of the West and the people that make it their home.