Southwest décor is about the atmosphere. The environment that someone stays in or builds around them says a lot about the person. Everyone wants to surround themselves with beauty and comfort, so they can relax and escape the outside world; have a sanctuary to retreat to. Most men could not care less about having an aesthetically pleasing room and just fill a house with whatever random furnishings they find. Oh, the tragedy of the early American garage sale motif, so sad; truly embarrassing.

Southwestern Rugs Are An Absolute Gem

Where does salvation for the decorative-eye-challenged male come from? Enter the competent, strong, inspired, and capable women. As a man, I must admit that my wife is the only atmosphere I really care about. Before my wife, some hideous functional furniture picked up from here and there with nothing on the wall, but emptiness is all I ever needed. My ignorance was bliss; dreadful and embarrassing until my eyes were opened. Without the blessing of perspective, people generally look at life with rose-colored glasses on; only to be mortified later in life by hindsight.

My wife has taught me hindsight about our house and how we live. It sounds funny to say hindsight instead of foresight, but the perspective says two years from now, will you still want the house to look like this?” The foresight about hindsight has completely changed the way that I purchase southwest decorations and furnishings. I am never to purchase alone; all prospective purchases must be cleared by the professional, my wife. The result has been the most comfortable environment to live in; something to be proud of and one of my favorite additions to our home was adding southwestern area rugs.

Southwestern décor was something I really never paid attention to until I went off to college. I never had the opportunity to actually decorate a room for myself. I remember going dorm room shopping for my freshman year. I bought all the basic stuff I would need by following a list I found online. After setting up my room, it wasn’t decorated too much but I was satisfied since I had all my essentials.

My freshman year of college turned out to be a very rough time for me. It was challenging for me to be far away from my family and friends. I also found it difficult for me to make new friends. I was constantly homesick and just wanted the school year to come to an end. I spent most of my free time in my dorm room. I eventually became depressed. After looking around the bare white walls of my dorm room, I remember wishing I had taken the time to decorate my room. I started hanging pictures I had of my family and friends up on the walls. I tried to surround myself with things I liked. It was during this time period that I realized why décor is important in my life.

I discovered that your everyday surroundings can influence your mood. Because I had a depressed mindset, my dorm room setting was not helping me feel better, and made me feel worse at times. I could not afford to go out and buy southwest decorations for my room. So I was forced to step out of my comfort zone and spend more time outside of my dorm room. I started attending more social events and eventually made a new best friend. I survived my freshman year of college and took a mental note that for the years to come, I would try to set aside some time and funds to decorate my future dorm rooms.

I am now currently entering into my second year of veterinary school. Going into my first year of veterinary school, I was very nervous and definitely worried that I may have a similar experience to my freshman year of undergrad. I wondered whether I would make new friends or get homesick again. But I could not stress over those things because I knew they were out of my control. One thing I did know I could control was the design of my apartment. Knowing that I was going to spend the majority of my free time in my apartment studying, I knew I had to go out and buy some southwest décor. I used my three favorite colors for the color scheme of my room. I made my room bright and lively! I hung up pictures of my family and friends as well as pictures of my fur babies. After a long day of classes, I am always happy, not sad, to return back to my apartment.

I am very grateful that I was able to learn from my past experiences. I learned that décor helps make a place feel like home, especially when you’re missing it the most. I now have a new love for home décor and can’t wait for the chance to decorate my future home after graduation.