Saturday, December 31, 2016

Popular Horse Decor For Living Room Pizzazz

By John West


Art and crafts have featured the horse throughout history. That means that there is no shortage of horse decor for living room embellishment. Whether you want the stuff of legends or modern variations on the theme, finding the right pieces for your home is fun and easy. Shop online, buying new or used, and get just the effect you want.

From the first person to tack a horseshoe over the door - open end up to hold the luck - to the most exotic picture of a unicorn, you have an enormous selection. The ancient Chinese and Egyptians immortalized horses in sculpture, pottery, and murals. Ancient reliefs showed Greek and Roman gods driving horses across the sky and flying them to heroic heights. Middle Age knights, brave cavalry soldiers, and American Indians rode warhorses into epic battles. Every little girl wants a pony. All of this human ardor for horses has been translated into art objects you can use to decorate your home.

Statues of horses are effective table-top ornaments, free-standing or made into lamps. Carousel horses can prance behind a couch or over a fireplace. Spirited steeds with flowing mane and tail catch the eye on lamp shades, mirror and picture frames, or sofa pillows. A specially-designed flat casting in iron, with or without paint, makes a great door stop.

For a traditional look, get a vintage or reproduction hunt print. Actually, artists are still creating original paintings about contemporary subjects, since the sport of foxhunting is still flourishing in America. These scenes of horse and hound are generally matted in red and framed in dark wood - an elegant, country effect. These prints evoke the rich history of England, Ireland, and our own colonial period.

Other accessories using hunting print art are coasters, which look great on side tables even when not is use. Racehorses, both flat runners and steeplechasers, are other common subjects. Trophies shine on book shelves or mantles, if you are lucky enough to have had a winner. So do presentation silver trays under cut-glass decanters. Portraits of favorite or famous horses are especially nice.

This is all about English riding, but there is the wild, wild West as well. Cow ponies and wild horses make great subjects for pictures and prints, pillows and rugs, ornaments, or useful items like waste baskets, calendars, and book ends. You can also use real equipment, like boots or lariats or whips. These are more than decorations; they bring the outdoor sport in.

Western horsemen have always brought their outdoors world inside. A glossy saddle in the corner of the room, a bridle hanging on the wall, a saddlebag draped over a chair all make great conversation pieces. Horsey people love to share stories of their own or other's exploits. Since everyone likes horses, things that make us think of them intrigue and enchant.

For inspiration or to find great items new and used, browse the Internet. There will be everything from A to Z to make your personal space your very own.




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