Southwestern Rugs Depot

Western Rugs

There is something to be said about sharing space with someone. Whether you be laughing or sitting in silence, sharing space with others is a special experience. But what influence does the physical “space” itself have on such experiences? When you walk into a room, what is the first thing you notice? It’s a sensory overload; the colors, shapes, sizes, textures and smells filling the space from wall to wall. What do those senses convey to you? Personally, when I first walk into a room I feel either a sense of either comfort or discontent from such senses. I believe there is a direct correlation between the décor and resultant ambiance of a room and the energy it puts off. When I think back to my time at a place, there are feelings I relive that were associated with those memories. Appropriate décor may set the mood of a room and enhance the feelings and memories being formed within.

As you enter someone’s home, every detail, from the colors of the walls to the placement of the furniture, speaks to the personality of those who live there and to the atmosphere which they are creating within a room. When my parents moved into their new home, their moving truck was delayed for several weeks, and then entire interior of the house was a bland, faded tan—every single room. With only a couch and a bed that they had bought from the previous owners as the only furniture in the entire house, the space felt characterless and empty. Once the moving truck finally did arrive, they were able to begin to bring about their vision of what the spaces within the house would look like. However, it was not until I returned from college over the summer that my mother and I came up with a plan to paint the interior, and we also decided to add curtains and change several photographs and wall hangings.

Western Style Home Decor

That summer filled quickly with trips various home improvement, furniture, and antique stores. As we choose colors and tackled room after room, my mom discovered a pattern in our paint choices throughout the house. She laughed one morning and pointed out the ring of polka-dots on her favorite set of plates. We had subconsciously been painting the entire interior of the house from the color palate of these plates. In order for a space to feel coherent, I find it important to approach color and decor with a palate and style in mind. That said, I also prefer a flexible style that accommodates for seasonal decorations as well as changes in taste and new memories, photographs, art, or trinkets, without total upheaval. Becoming too attached to the magazine, picture-perfect design would leave me feeling restricted not only with regards to how I change or add decorations, but also to how I regularly use a space. For instance, in the house I grew up in, my father wanted to have some kind of office space which the floor plan of the house seemingly would not allow. Rather than undertake an intensive and expensive project of creating another room, we simply rearranged the furniture in the living room. We positioned the sectional couch against two walls with an opening toward the kitchen and the TV flanked by two large bookshelves, essentially creating a small hallway between the living room and a smaller space which functioned as my father’s office.

I encountered a similar conundrum of attempting to define a room within a larger space while painting my parents new house. The design of the house is such that the dining room opens up to the entry and living room. In many of the houses in the neighborhood with the same or similar floor plan, the dining room either mostly functions as a place to display fancy glassware, etc., rarely used to eat meals together, or it becomes a part of the living room. However, my mother loves using the dining room and wanted to make sure that the space felt distinctive. Therefore, I suggested that we paint the two full walls a different, darker color than the rest of the space. When my mother explained our plan to a neighbor, they insisted that, if you are going to have an accent wall, you should do only one. We ended up painting both of the walls, and even our neighbor admitted that the finished product looked amazing and clearly defined the room. I have had lots of fun with coming up with designs or decorating in the past, and I know that I will continue to explore interior decorating from an open, artistic lens in the future. For me, interior design embodies more than simply trying to make a space look appealing—it strikes a balance between aesthetic and practicality in order to have the function you need with the image you want.

When most people look at me, they may not always think of interior design, but that is because, just like when looking at a house from the outside, they only see me from the outside. I utilize my interior design skills both within the house that I live, as well as within my own inner spirits. I have always believed that the way your residence looks reflects the way you feel, or want to feel, on the inside. One of the most important routines I have when I wake up in the morning is to simply making my bed. Although this may seem insignificant to most people, every morning I realize what this means for me. No matter what happens in my life throughout the day, I will always have a made bed to come home to at the end of it. Although small, this tiny piece of interior design means so much to me; and it's reflected within my own inner self as well.By using my commitment to making my bed every time I wake up as a start I also remind myself every morning about the importance of remaining positive. This inner way to make my bed, helps me stay optimistic no matter the challenges that I could face during the day. The way my made bed looks, helps compliment the rest of the layout for my own interior design with my house.

I always like to go with a more simple, yet elegant type of look within my house. My simple looks with mixtures of sleek grey and white wakes me up with a feeling of modern wholesomeness that can't go unmatched by my own reflection within myself. I reflect my own personality by maintaining my inner peace through hardship. This inner peace I feel is a reflection of my modern wholesomeness I wake up to every single day. Everyone has their own unique way of interacting with their own interior design; and mine is that it serves as a reflection of my own inner peace. What might be my biggest reflection is the display of numerous poems by the poet Rumi. Rumi was, what would be roughly translated into English as, a Sufi master. I myself am a Sufi student and love to learn from the teachings of Rumi. One of the things Rumi was most noted for within Sufism was the popularization of the meditation called "Sema", more commonly known by their practitioners, the Whirling Dervishes. This meditation, along with other Sufi meditations, are a common routine I will perform daily. My interior design is what allows me to enter my meditative state and remain in it. This further shows the reflection of my inner self into my interior design as my tranquility I receive from my meditations is guided by my interior design. My interior design is not only a reflection of my inner self, but also a revelation about how I want to feel. Whether its as simple as a made bed and simple designs, or as complex as poetry that helps me with my meditations, interior design is one of the most important parts of my life.