Using Southwest Bedding To Enhance Rustic Home Decorating

Inexpensive southwest bedding is the way to go when it comes to decorating a rustic style home, cabin or lodge. A few years ago, I was searching for an inexpensive way to redecorate one of the guest rooms in my home and give it a touch of the old west. I found some southwestern blankets at a discount linen store and decided to add them as part of the western decor. I liked the country western style they created in the room so much that I decided to put them in all the bedrooms of my home to give them that great, rustic flare you see in designer home magazines.

Since I used these blankets and throws everyday as bedspreads, shawls, or as lap blankets, I became interested in the history of southwestern blankets and started researching their origin. The more I studied, the more intriguing the story became. I never realized that although very popular today among home decorators and in modern style homes, southwest bedding for use in rustic home decor actually grew in the early 1900's, when trade blankets were put on the market.

Most people I talk to, believe that the blankets and throws they commonly use for southwest bedding were originally made by Native Indians. I also believed that, until I started digging deeper into the beginnings of these southwest blankets and found that, although American Indians were the prime inspiration behind the designs and production of trade blankets, they were not made by them.

In fact, as you research the intriguing history of western blankets, you will learn that they were actually made by machines, and produced by large weaving companies for the sole purpose of supplying the Indians with needed blankets. These southwestern blankets were then sold to the frontier trading posts where the Native Indians would buy and trade them and use them to wrap themselves in instead of a modern coat or jacket.

Another thing you will find interesting as you study the history of trade blankets to use as southwest, is that as women became more interested in interior design in the early 1900's, rustic decorating and western designs rose in popularity. These "Indian blankets" as they came to be called, were sought after by people across the nation who wanted them for southwest bedding and as decorative couch or chair covers to accent Native American home decor. The Indian trade blankets were great for covering exposed legs when in a wagon, sleigh or buggy, and in the new horseless carriages. Later on, they became popular as blankets and throws for camping, sporting events and a new pass time called motoring.

Now days, you can easily buy southwest bedding online and in stores that sell western and American Indian home decor. Whether used as a rustic bedspread, blanket or bed throw, southwest bedding will add great charm to your home and environment. If you are looking for authenticity and traditional American Indian values and are searching for a wonderful way to create southwestern style in your rustic home decor, then you will no doubt enjoy owning and decorating with southwest bedding.