What it is: Southwestern style evokes the charm and romance of desert landscapes as well as the Old West. It combines old with new, rugged with refined and earthy with fanciful to make a design with exude power and warmth.
Why it works: Maybe more than any other fashion, the Southwestern appearance immediately conveys a visceral sense of place. Its overt vibrancy and serene aura draws us and transports us. It is a fashion of contradictions and complements, as striking as the contrast between a sun-scorched mesa and a snow-capped mountain summit.
You will love it if … You have a set of cowgirl boots for every outfit. You dry homegrown chile peppers and create your own mole. Your screen saver is a shot of Arches National Park. You not so secretly love spaghetti westerns. Cacti are the sole crops you can keep alive.
Gritton & Associates Architects
Style Secret: Vibrant Colors
Shrinking violets, look elsewhere — there’s nothing bashful about the Southwestern palette. Rich colors like salmon, terra-cotta, brick red, turquoise and lavender gold come straight from the desert skies and landscape. Pepper a mostly neutral room with high accent accent tones, or move daring and drench the entire area in colour.
But recall … Too many powerful shades in one room will fight one another. Limit your colour scheme to three or two prominent selections to keep things in check. Dusty red and turquoise in the kitchen above radiate warmth and cheer against a mellow ochre background.
Dresser Homes
Style Secret: Sturdy Furnishings
Southwestern furnishings possess solid (even chunky) profiles along with a rugged sensibility. Mix and match pieces crafted from craggy timber, patinated tin and iron, and woven branches and branches. Painted furniture matches this fashion also, especially when it bears trimmed borders or a distressed feel. For upholstered furnishings, choose natural, durable materials like leather, cotton and burlap.
But recall … Too many heavy components may make a room feel leaden. Balance thick-bodied furniture with spindlier bits to lighten the visual weight. Try a skinny cocktail table or 2, a slender chair or a spare shelving unit.
Doerr Architecture
Style Secret: Rustic Wood
Natural timber anchors Southwestern layout, from traditional wooden ceilings, beams and columns to furniture and decorative accents. Hand-scraped or distressed finishes along with a weathered patina indicate the rugged origins of this Southwestern aesthetic.
But recall … Wood tones should be warm and resonant. Very pale woods like maple, or too many dark specimens like walnut, feel wrong for this fashion. Mixing painted and natural wood finishes is nice, but keep paint colours powerful — too much cream or white will see more as cabin than Southwestern.
CustomMade.com
Style Secret: Curved Lines
Southwestern decor goes easy on brutal angles in favor of gentle curves. Arched door openings, rounded corner bedrooms and sloping walls provide Southwestern spaces a sense of softness and fluidity. Even corners, like those on this kitchen range hood, are blunted and honed down.
But recall … Curvy does not mean swirly. Rounded components have powerful profiles and unbroken lines instead of intricate curlicues and undulating swoops. The one exception? Scrolled metalwork, which works nicely with the aesthetic.
Hufft Projects
Style Secret: Desert Chic
they may feel out of place in a coastal bungalow or conventional Tudor, but the symbols of the Southwest have a certain faith in regionally proper interiors. A well-edited assortment of Native American icons, animal hides or cowhand tools — like a coiled lasso mounted as wall sculpture — may make the appearance feel authentic.
But recall … Avoid kitsch. There is no need to pile walls and shelves with dreamcatchers, silver and turquoise bric-a-brac, Navajo rugs and smudge pots. The set of longhorn skulls mounted in this area have a minimalist, sculptural quality that marries well with this simple, spare decor.
Latin Accents, Inc..
Style Secret: Colorful Tile
Hand-painted, brightly patterned tiles are a Southwestern signature. Their distinctive designs and happy colours give a festive atmosphere, and they hint at the artisanal character that defines a Southwestern space. Use them to line the edges of countertops, stud backsplashes or cloak an accent wall.
But recall … Don’t combine too many different tlle patterns in one room — otherwise they will compete together and put in up to visual turmoil. And as a rule, these tiles really are best used sparingly so they don’t hamper the space. The planter box within this courtyard has just enough presence to make it an engaging focal point.
Melaragno Design Company, LLC
Style Secret: Earthen Pottery
Pottery in rich terra-cotta and earth tones is just right for the Southwestern sensibility. Mingle matte and glazed finishes with solid colours and painted designs for interest and variety.
But recall … Pick pottery with a hand-thrown texture and an range of different shapes and sizes. A group of mass-manufactured terra-cotta planters won’t have the same effect as bits that bear the mark of this sculptor’s hand.
Greg Logsdon
Style Secret: Textural Surfaces
Highly textured walls, ceilings and floors hint at the conventional materials and building methods that characterize Southwestern style. Pick stucco, plaster and adobe with a demanding, hand-troweled look, improved by decorative paint treatments and counter tops by thick, coarsely woven materials.
But recall … Length of feel stand out most when they’re split with smoother surfaces. Incorporate sleeker substances to keep from developing a room that feels one-dimensional.
Photos: Get more Southwestern style ideas
More ‘So Your Style Is’:
Conventional | Arts & Crafts | Hollywood Regency | Rustic | Old World | French Country
Transitional | Contemporary | Midcentury Modern | Industrial | Eclectic | Coastal | Cottage
Preppy | Art Deco
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