Who doesn’t love a little rustic cowboy decorating? It certainly has a way of tying your house to the great outdoors, while still maintaining a warm, homey feeling. But here’s the problem. Have you ever tried finding DIY western theme ideas? You’ll find lots of pinterest pallet projects, and stupid mason jars. Seriously. I’m done reading about what you can do with glass canning jars, and small boards nailed together, that you need to carefully pull apart, to make your project. Just get lumber and a saw already!
Anyways, here are 40 ways to dress up your home, without using a darn mason jar or pallet.
1) DIY painted skulls. They can be cattle, bison, or deer (or the skull of your enemy, if you aren’t too busy drinking from it). They can be dipped in paint, bedazzled, or a combination of the two. They go great over mantles, headboards, entrances, porches, above your bathroom vanity mirror, basically anywhere you can hang one, you should.
2) Lanterns and oil lamps. They can either be a decorative item, or functional. You can put tea lights into your lantern to make the light flicker and glow, without the risk of starting a house fire.
3) Corrugated tin. Personally, I’d use new pieces instead of rusted ones, but thats all a matter of opinion. Screw it into your ceilings for a really unique look, use it as a ‘half wall’ in your bathrooms, a backsplash in your kitchen, or use it to cover your cabinet doors.
4) Iron artwork, welded horse shoes, and other decorative pieces.
5) Sliding wooden stall doors. Perfect for pantry, basement and closet doors.
6) Use lots of barn plank accents, on your walls, cabinets, thick picture frames, table tops, ceilings and furniture.
7) Use turquoise blues, and rustic reds as accent colors. When contrasting with a farmhouse white, or barn wood accents, its sure to stand out in all the right ways.
8) Rusted vintage license plates. Really cool when made into a collage on the wall, or bent to make DIY projects, such as birdhouse roofs, dormer borders, or you can use them to wrap around flower pots and boxes.
9) White wrought iron beds. So simple, elegant, and rustic.
10) Hide your thermostats and high plugins with boxy western paintings on hinges. Or- you can hinge a wooden boxy frame and staple or glue a gorgeous piece of cloth onto it like what’s shown here.
11) Use D ring bits. The bar on your oven that you hang your towel over? Instead of hanging your towel there, and it constantly slipping off, hang the D ring, and pull the towel through. Its more secure, and very attractive.
12) Wind Mill ceiling fans. Wouldn’t that look awesome with your barn plank ceiling?
13) Leather cowhide accents. Rugs, pillows, throws, stair coverings, even faux cowhide comforters for your bed.
14) Frame your TV with recycled barn wood planks or strips of tin.
15) If you have cast iron, hang it in your kitchen instead of tucking it away in your cabinets. Its beautiful and functional this way.
16) Mix and match wooden dining room chairs. Make them the same color, and possibly make leather or a paisley themed cushions, but let the style of the chairs vary.
17) Milk bucket trash can. Take a medium to large sized metal milk bucket, and tie a burlap bow on it. Simple!
18) Faux stone. Use it to cover your ugly built in tubs, as a backsplash, on the front of your steps, or to hide the gap between your cabinets and the kitchen floor. This stuff is also awesome for campers & horse trailer living quarters since some brands of it flexes.
19) Bent horse shoes as cupboard handles, coat hangers, bookends, etc..
20) Western belt buckles as curtain ties.
21) Wind turbine light fixtures over your dining room table.
22) Cover the arm rest fronts of your couches with tooled leather. It’s also very nice to do if you have cats that like scratching this section of your couch up (because cats are jerks).
23) Metal tubs as flower buckets, utensil holders, shoe bins, toilet paper stocks, and closet organizers. I’ve even seen people replace their shower pan with metal water troughs.
24) Add the tailgate of an old pickup to the back of a bench, to make yourself a unique pew
25) Jack Daniels bottles (or Captain Morgan, Maker’s Mark, etc depending on your taste,) as soap dispensers and table lamp stands.
26) Boot flower pots. Use worn out riding or work boots.
27) Tool Box Hope Chest. Use diamond plated tool boxes for the end of your bed.
28) Metal kettles to hold your whisks, spatulas, servings spoons, and other kitchen tools, can also be used to hold your make up brushes.
29) Saddle blankets and bandanas as coffee table sheet covers.
30) Books on shelves? Use metal clamps as book ends.
31) Stirrups as towel holders.
32) Hang a coil of barbed wire with a cute bow, and add ornaments and greenery for a one of a kind wreath.
33) Use a straight walker bit with a short wooden dowel rod in the bottom rein rings to hold your toilet paper.
34) Have a large, hanging portrait you want to enhance against the wall? Paint wooden shutters and mount them on each side of the enlarged picture.
35) Frame your favorite enlarge photo with old fashioned window frames.
36) Burlap window curtains. They’re perfect because burlap isn’t too dark or too light, and it still has an airy appearance since burlap is so thin and not tightly knitted.
37) Use red weathered barn wood as window valences.
38) Saddle Stands with (fastened!) western saddles as barstools.
39) Hang a cheap lariat around your round mirror. It makes your mirror look less plain, but without crowding it.
40) Upside down cowbells and cheese grates hung on the wall to hold flowers, or to loop towels in the handles off them.
What DIY western decor ideas have you made for your home? Have you ever used any of the items I listed? As always, thanks for reading!
