Aztec Rugs Are A Hidden Gem

Decorating with Aztec style is not simply the assembly of items in a way that is pleasing to the eye, it serves vital cultural and personal purposes. The keeping of one’s home, first and foremost, is most often a keeping of one’s own family history, of family ceremonies and rituals. We make our space ours by filling our it with the things that matter most to us–and we rarely decorate our walls with money. While a house may keep out the weather–a home provides a place of sanctuary, and the decoration of that house is how our home is identified. If the walls are not the right color, the sight, smell, and feel of the dwelling is not familiar and comfortable to us, we may as well have walked into a stranger’s house. Thus, decor matters because how we make a space our home, identify it for ourselves and others as ours, and create a personal connection with it all has everything to do with what we have in our home.

Our family traditions, cultural heritage, and personal history influence how we keep our home, what we keep in our home, and what those things mean to us. Our family rituals require certain furniture: tables, chairs, areas to gather and share food. Our ability to feel completely safe at home is made possible by comforts: warmth in our shelters, Aztec rugs from Southwestern Rugs Depot under our feet, we know we can forget the world for a moment and relax. Aztec decorating is what turns an assembly of walls, flooring, electrical, and water fixtures into a home, a place you love so much it becomes a part of you.

It all started when I was about 5 years old, sitting on the couch with my mom and watching Trading Spaces. Do you remember the silk flowers on the bathroom wall? Or the hay wall treatment in the living room? How about the cabana themed room with the sand on the floor? As long as I can remember I have been enthralled with decorating shows and dreaming up the perfect bedroom set up. Neither of the above scenarios was at the top of my list as far as design options would go but the ideas and creativity set my imagination wild. What would I want my perfect bedroom to look like? I ended up with periwinkle walls, a collaboration of pink, white & periwinkle bedding, white furniture, a desk with a purple velvet seat cushion and fairies. It was girlie perfection and my collection of stuffed animals loved it!

Fast forward about 10 years and the teenage years have me wanting to retreat to my bedroom, spending countless hours upon hours of alone time. My sanctuary was no longer the yellow of my baby room nor the periwinkle of my elementary school youth. I needed something a bit more along the lines of my personality. Nothing overly sparkly, frilly or girly girl and definitely no PINK! I needed uncluttered, minimal décor, blank walls and simple color schemes. Solid colored window treatments, a striped duvet cover in shades of blues and my white furniture minus the purple velvet desk chair which was replaced with a blue velvet stool and a makeup vanity. My room is now a clean, streamlined, calming place, perfect for an organized clean freak.

It is now time to plan for my college dorm room and I am so excited to design this brand new space. My palate has changed and I am back to a blush color scheme, only slightly pink! I want soft and comfy fabrics that I can sink into and give me a feeling of coziness and home. A hint of rose gold sparkle in my accessories is the perfect touch. A minimal amount of knick-knacks will complete what limited space I do have but, I know each will have a special meaning for home & friends. Of course, I am still an organizational overachiever and Pinterest is my favorite decorating and organizing tool. Board after board has my dorm room wants and wishes and I am adding to my storage bins, ready to move in mid-August. Did I mention I am an organized individual?

I am already looking past my college days to my first home. Back along those lines of minimal décor and organization and I would love a tiny home. From watching Trading Spaces to Pinterest pinning and to all of the Tiny Home TV shows, décor is personal. It reflects your personality, although ever-changing, and brings you comfort and calm. It is a feeling of home, even when you are away from home.

Décor breathes life into a place. Without it, walls are blank and without personality, and bedrooms are just rooms without any comfort and without the feeling of ownership. There are reasons why places like Ikea exist—people love making a place their own. Buying a new apartment or house, or even moving into a dorm like I did earlier this year, is a huge moment and how it is decorated impacts the life of the people who live there. The right décor either breaks or makes a place, and makes it a home or just another room.

Assessing The Furniture In The Home

My family home is the place where I feel most comfortable. Thinking about it reminds me of our light blue walls with an orange slice at the top where our roof is convex and of the lake theme in our bathroom, with the anchors on the walls and the cloud wallpaper. The lighthouses lining the shelves in our living room are testaments to our love of Duluth and our numerous family visits and my mother’s love of walking the piers to the lighthouses every time we visit. Our basement is ‘woods’ themed, with paintings of deer and a hunter vibe—this was for my father, the outdoorsman. I am not saying that it is necessarily the best décor, or the fanciest, or the most well put together, but it is home. My room when I was young was light blue and Spongebob themed. The thought of a room designed after Bikini Bottom and a talking sponge is horrifying, but at the time, I was quite pleased with my Spongebob bedspread, Spongebob TV, Spongebob chair, and Spongebob stickers. It is safe to say that while my designs would not win me any prizes, they made me happy at the time. Spongebob was a huge part of my life, my favorite show, and the memory of this room reminds me of childhood and happy, simple times when I was not worried about finals and financial aid. Now, my room back home is painted lime green and has zebra curtains and sheets—I am honestly not sure if that is any better than Spongebob.

The décor of my room has been quite personal; throughout the years, it has represented me and my ever-changing interests. Our family home has represented my mother’s love of Lake Superior and lighthouses, my dad’s love of the outdoors, my sister’s youthful wish that we lived somewhere with ocean beaches rather than lake beaches, and my own childhood love of the show Spongebob. Therefore, décor has not mattered just one time in my life, but my entire childhood. Décor has made a house into a home, a home that I love returning to during holiday breaks now that I am in college because it reminds me of the first portion of my life which shaped me as a person