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November 19, 2006

Use Rawhide Lamp Shades for A Southwest Bedroom

 

 

 

Rawhide lamp shades are what can turn your bedroom into a designed showplace of southwest style.  By accessorizing your bedroom with rawhide shades you are infusing the key elements of the decorating process.  It is the natural character of rawhide that captures the essence of southwestern design and adds the rustic beauty to your room.  With just a few changes to your lamps and lampshades you too will find the warm inviting feel of a southwestern bedroom.

 Bedroom with Pottery Lamps & Rawhide Shades

You might be surprised to find how many different types or styles work with southwest design.  For example, you might find that you already have all the lamps you need and the addition of rawhide lamp shades makes them work perfectly.  By displaying them differently with rustic shades, many lamps can be transformed from traditional to rustic style.  It’s not so much the lamp as it is the shade that displays the rustic texture you want.  Get creative with an old lamp by adding rawhide shades and watch the room come to life.

It is best to match your rawhide lamp shades in your bedroom by color.  For southwest style bedroom lighting, a light bleached rawhide shade is the color of choice.  Draw your bedroom together with rawhide floor lamp shades that match the shades on your bedside lamps and any table lampshades that you might have in the room.  Different heights and diameters of rawhide shades are also very attractive and add an interesting sense of drama to the room.

Lighting is a key element in the bedroom. You will want to bee able to change the mood of the room.  For romantic times you may want to use subtle lighting, but you will also want bright lighting for dressing.   Most bedrooms are under lighted, or poorly lighted by using one overhead light.  This causes a lot of glare and doesn’t have the mood creating properties of individual lamps.  By using several different lamps in your bedroom, you can create focal points in different areas of the room for different moods, and use higher and lower wattage bulbs to set the right intensity of light.  Natural rawhide lamp shades create an ambiance that will coordinate the southwest theme that you want to create.

Weather you use your existing lamps or purchase new rustic lamps for your bedroom, the key to having the correct look in the bedroom is to layer the lighting.  In other words, create lighting zones that give you the ability to create areas of light that are suited to a specific function.  One great trick to enhance your new or newly created rustic lamps is to use a dimmer switch.  Because rawhide lamp shades are a natural product, different lighting moods can be set by allowing more or less light to filter through the rawhide.  Another nice idea is to use remote controls, timers and automatic switches to turn light on or off in certain areas.

Bedroom lighting is important and rawhide lamp shades will add a quality of life through a beautiful warm atmosphere that you will enjoy day after day.  And along with that also comes the function that allows lighting to serve you better.  Lighting affects us on many levels and natural rawhide lamp shades will help you create the harmonious and peaceful bedroom that you need.

You can use lamps with rawhide shades in many locations around your bedroom, beside the bed, on a desk, as floor lamps and indirect lighting.  Remember to use separate controls for reading lamps and to place the lamps so the light is projected from behind the reader to eliminate glare and shadowing.

Rawhide lamp shades will work miracles on your rustic bedroom makeover.  We have been discussing southwest style, but rawhide shades are also available in dark western hide for ranch or lodge décor and in unique colors for country décor.  Each type of rawhide has its own special lighting characteristics.  So weather you want to lighten your bedroom, darken it, or add rustic color, you will find inspiration in hand crafted rawhide lamp shades.

November 15, 2006

Native American Drum | Indian Hand Drums

 Both double sided hoop drums and one sided shaman drums are available in large quantities.  If you are looking for Native drums as gifts, now is the time to order before the Christmas rush.  Authentic Indian drums are very popular this time of year.

November 03, 2006

Native American Drums For Rustic Furniture

Native American Drums For Rustic Tables

Native American drums used for rustic tables are the exact opposite of the cold look of contemporary style and ultra modern decorating.  People are making a strong shift in their expectations for their furniture’s comfort and design by embracing Native American. Drums suite both form and function when one desires to build a sense of home into their design.  Warmth and friendliness have become the emphasis of this popular décor with Indian drum tables, antler lamps and rawhide lamp shades leading the way.  The congeniality of a country smile or closeness with dear friends is the atmosphere sought after in today’s rustic design and becoming a reality through Native American drums. 

Drums, Native American designs and natural materials are playing a big part in the reversal to comfort and simplicity.  By combing various accents, decorators are creating rustic home décor with down home feel that is affordable and interestingly beautiful.  Native American drums seem to fit the bill perfectly. 

Cedar Pow Wow DrumLarge pow wow drums are used as center or coffee tables while smaller Indian drums make perfect end tables.  The primitive natural rawhide of the drums and the rich wood tones bring a rustic theme to the room that harmonizes all of the elements.  It’s truly amazing what a unique look can be accomplished by using tables made from Native drums.

 

Native American drums as furniture hasn’t found a place in the lime light of flashy magazine photos of  contemporary homes with hard steel and glass, but Native drum tables certainly have found a place in the hearts of Americans, Native or not.  The homey relaxed feeling that it’s ok to take off your shoes and sit on the furniture is made with fabrics of homespun character, quilts and rag rugs, bent wood rockers and cedar drum tables. 

Table drums also help the flow of the room because of their rounded corners. Coffee table drums help keep the room from looking overcrowded.  Some of the greatest examples of rustic décor using Native American Indian drums are those that have a feeling of a country cabin or lodge, open and warm.  Tarahumara Indian drums in particular are a type of Native American drum especially well suited to rustic furniture adding a rough hewn look with warm color for a great cabin look.

Native American Pedestal DrumPedestal drums range in size from 12” to 24” diameter making them just right for corner and end tables, while the larger powwow drums can be as large as 42” in diameter.  Both use a perfect combination of beautiful rawhide with natural pine and cedar for an inviting feel.  Think Native drums American style, by using country crafts to warm your whole room and add a touch of rustic charm.  Imagine the rekindling of by gone days when Teddy Roosevelt made the masculine hunting lodge style so popular.  Antler chandeliers, bears carved from logs and antique hooks for hats and coats.  Try using a lot of wrought iron lamps and accessories with your new drum tables.  If you love western furniture as well as southwest style, try an old horse collar mirror or wrought iron horseshoe wall hanging as well as painted Indian hoop drums as accents.

Native American drums as rustic furniture may be a new concept to some, but there is nothing more warm and simple than a Navajo rug under a Native drum, with Indian pottery and a log ladder near by to make a subtle but amazing affect.  Southwestern designs on wool throws and tapestries are also perfect for this style.  So make a bold statement in your favorite space with beautiful Native American drums.

Author: Craig Chambers  Mission Del Rey is preserving the culture of the Tarahumara Indians through traditional skills.  This article may be freely reprinted with an active html link to Native American Drums is included.

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