living in beauty
elements of surprise

Express your own brand of Southwest style with creative juxtapositions that complement your home’s regional roots.

By Linda Applewhite
Photograph by Claudio Santini

This article first appeared in Spring 2009 Su Casa

As a professional in my field, I am continuously exposed to the latest trends in color, style, and materials in the design industry, and I am constantly aware of how quickly trends come and go. But Southwest style is different. I’ve always been drawn to its enduring quality as a reflection of the region’s strong Western and Mexican roots—an expression of the history, the rich cultural heritage, and the creative people who live here. Southwest style lends itself to the inclusion of other stylistic elements, which allows you to establish a timeless eclectic feeling.

I experienced this firsthand while remodeling my old adobe on Santa Fe’s eastside. While exploring historic New Mexican architecture, I began searching for special pieces to incorporate from around the world to complement my home’s regional design. The contemporary art and sculpture I chose make it fresh and young despite its age, while antiques honor its timeless architecture. This juxtaposition surprises those who enter, making the home feel alive and vibrant yet authentic and historic. In the end, my old adobe retains its heritage and charm but doesn’t feel like it’s stuck in time.

perfect harmony
As you design a unique interior for your own Southwestern home, think outside the box and create a few surprises. Try making your space a little less predictable by combining objects for less continuity and more creativity. It’s easier than you think.

Look at the furniture, lamps, accessories, and art in your home with a fresh eye and note the feeling and tone they convey through their age, texture, and design. Do they look Southwestern, European, South American, Chinese, Indonesian, or American? Are they old, new, shiny, matte, rustic, refined, expensive, inexpensive? Is there anything you would not typically place side by side, that you don’t think works together? Start there and explore the possibilities.

The key to combining furniture or objects of different styles lies in simultaneously conveying contrast and similarity by repeating one or more elements, such as color, texture, or shape. This produces harmony no matter how different in style the objects are. In the photo at the beginning of this article, for example, the furnishings include an antique French armoire, a contemporary ground steel sculptural table, new wicker chairs, an antique iron urn filled with vintage pool balls, and an industrial chandelier made from a steel ring with attached exposed wiring. I achieved a pleasing effect in this eclectic vignette by repeating the colors gray and red; by repeating vertical lines in the window treatments, concrete pilaster, and armoire panels; and by including circular shapes in the table, chairs, and light fixture.

Often, the unexpected contrast of two different but related objects can bring a smile of wonder and encourage those who enter your home to look for other surprises they might find. Our lives are filled with beloved treasures that represent the richness of our diverse family cultures, experiences from our past, places we’ve visited, interests we have, artwork we love, and collections we’ve assembled. Combine these elements in a new way, always with an eye for how they work together, and your home will take on a whole new feeling. It will only cost you some time and a little creative thought.

eclectic inspiration
In my own Santa Fe home, I combined treasures from New Mexico and Mexico with pieces from France, Italy, England, Brazil, the Philippines, Spain, China, and Turkey. I found a wonderful 1920s grand piano in an alligator finish, popular during America’s art deco period, and placed it across from the home’s original kiva fireplace in the living room. The perfect table for under the stairway appeared at a local antiques store—a round Dutch Colonial pedestal table whose lovely curved legs complement the turns in the spiral stairway.

As often as I could, I contrasted stylistic elements. I combined old with new, rustic with elegant, country with contemporary, oversize with small scale, and sacred with whimsical. I placed two contemporary black-and-white pieces of sculpture purchased on Santa Fe’s Canyon Road on top of an 18th-century Mexican trunk. I hung a modern, outrageous, and overscale piece of art next to a nicho displaying a tiny 17th-century Mexican bulto (devotional sculpture) named God Our Father. An old carved and painted wooden Mexican bench greets guests in the entryway beneath an avant-garde textured newspaper and hemp artwork.

I bought a Dickensian shop counter with ancient red paint from England, topped it with distressed French zinc, and put it in the middle of my decidedly New Mexican kitchen to serve as an island. A modern fixture from Holland made from oversize forks and spoons attached to a stainless steel ring hangs over the old counter, adding to the eclectic look.

Have fun inventing your own version of Southwest style, which can include elements from around the world, your mother’s attic, or your own backyard. As you contrast these diverse pieces, remember to look for similar colors, shapes, or materials. Your personal style can allow you to work with things you love from different aspects of your life while respecting the regional Southwestern roots reflected in your home’s walls.

Linda Applewhite is an architectural designer, artist, and writer who divides her time between northern New Mexico and northern California. She recently published her first design book and teaches seminars in Santa Fe and in Sonoma, California, on the topic of living in beauty.