Using Southwest Bedding To Create Unique Southwestern Style Decor

There is no easier way to give your home great rustic style than through southwest bedding. A few years ago, I was searching for an inexpensive way to redecorate one of the rooms in my home and give it a touch of the old west. I found some Native American blankets at a discount linen store and decided to add them as part of the western decor. I loved the Native American style they created in the room so much that I decided to use them in all the bedrooms of my home to give them that great, western flare you see in designer 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 began researching their origin. The more I researched, the more intriguing the story was. I never knew that although very popular today with interior decorators and in modern style homes, southwest bedding for use in western home decor actually began in the early 1900's, when Indian trade blankets were put on the market.

Most people I come in contact with, believe that the western blankets they commonly use for southwest bedding were originally made by Native American Indians. I also believed that, until I began reading about the beginnings of these southwest blankets and discovered that, although Native Americans were the prime inspiration behind the designs and production of trade blankets, they were not the ones who made them.

In fact, as you read about the intriguing history of southwestern blankets, you will learn that they were actually machine-made, and produced by large weaving companies for the sole purpose of supplying the Indians with needed blankets. These southwestern blankets were then supplied to the frontier trading posts where the Native people 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 decorating their homes in the early 1900's, southwest decor and western designs rose in popularity. These "Indian blankets" as they came to be called, were sought after by people across the country who wanted them for southwest bedding and as decorative couch or chair covers to enhance southwestern home decor. The Indian trade blankets were wonderful for covering exposed legs when in a wagon, sleigh or buggy, and in the new horseless carriages. Later on, they were used as throws for camping, canoeing and a new pass time called motoring.

Today, you can easily buy southwest bedding online and in places that sell western and southwest home decor. Whether used as a southwestern bedspread, blanket or bed throw, southwest bedding will add great charm to your home and environment. If you are impressed with authenticity and traditional Native American values and are searching for an easy way to enhance western style in your rustic home decor, then you will certainly enjoy owning and decorating with southwest bedding.