Southwestern Living Room Furniture

Southwestern living room furniture is an amazing blend of cultures. Some of the items have traveled north from Mexico, some come from the Conquistadores, while other parts are contributions from the Hopi, Navajo and other native Americans who lived in the New Mexico and Arizona region long before the European settlers made their way westward.

The southern residents of the U.S. in the 1800s made their contributions, as well. Both the white families from the south-eastern states who were looking for more or better lands and escaped African slaves, as well as African freedmen made their way into Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. All brought their influences.

“Southwestern” is both a distinctive style and a blending of several cultures. In a living room that reflects these cultures, you are likely to see bold, geometric patterns. People descended from the Anasazi – the builders of the ancient cities – had many skills, including weaving and silver working. Rugs, wall hangings, and blankets might include traditional weave patterns as well as storytelling designs.

The fireplaces of the region tend to be shallow and tall, geared toward building a small fire and making the most of it. In an area where wood is scarce, this makes excellent sense.

You might also see Spanish mission style furnishings – iron scrollwork, heavy couches upholstered in leather, hand-tooled leather ornaments of all sorts. And lace – lace curtains, mantillas, tablecloths, and more.

Sand paintings and pottery might round out the decorations, with tall, angular desert plants (look out for those spikes) completing the scene. You might expect to see thirsty oranges, light yellows, and deep black as part of the decorating palette.

Although there might be an occasional whatnot shelf or other bit of frippery from “back east,” most Southwestern furnishings are practical and comfortable. Although modern Southwesterners are probably not all that different from people in other parts of the US, the people who lived in the area when the United States was young were busy. In the arid regions that make up Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, it took hard work to make a living. Until the railroads were completed, it was a difficult and hazardous journey to bring good and supplies from the cities on the coast. Many of the things they used were made locally – blankets, serapes, hats, those heavy leather couches, and more.

Longhorn cattle and cattle ranching are part of the southwestern culture. Lean, rangy bovines that could make the most of the sparse forage available to them were more easily brought to market when the railroads provided a way to take the beef-on-the-hoof back east. The horns of those cattle became an iconic part of the decorations and ornaments of the region, along with silver conchos, which were silver medallions used to decorate chaps and other leather items, and mounted hunting trophies.