The book I'm referring to is Lone Star Living by Tyler Beard. I was hooked from page 1, which is where the introduction begins. Beard gives a brief background of his own ties to Texas living but quickly goes into detail about how Texas style originated. This is where I got really interested.
Growing up in a small city, but a city none-the-less, I always thought of cowboys as something that existed somewhat in story land. I never actually paid any mind to the fact that it was their lifestyle which created so many designs. These items were mostly influenced from the cowboys "isolation, imagination, and the lack of money." "Bunkhouse interior design" was a direct result of this.
These items are some of the more traditional, popular Texas themed designs; however, wealthy cattle men as well as the oil and cotton generation are to thank for all those early Victorian monstrosities throughout the state. The mansions were erected in large part because people finally had the means and money to ship supplies from New England and Europe. A crazy mix of East meets West, trendy and traditional tossed in with a little horn and hide, was how one could recognize that the home was built west of the Mississippi.
One thing Beard continually refers to is that Texans love to entertain and be entertained...the whole "The door is always open" motto which "applies to family, friends, and anyone a true Texan has not yet met." Another thing I was unaware of about Texas is that, "the state motto is "Friendship, " and that the word Texas, or Tejas, was the Spanish pronunciation of a Caddo Indian word meaning friends." So it all kind of starts to make sense, the reason why Texas doesn't really have one specific style.
I was especially shocked after reading that the tour, or showing off of the house, is considered peculiar and perplexes visitors from other states and countries! This is something I've participated in around the state since I was a child- from Amarillo's Parade of Homes to Swiss Avenue's annual Mother's Day Home Tour. I'm almost not to sure I buy into the idea that people don't enjoy sharing their home, their whole home, with their guests, haha!
Overall, my favorite part of the book is once again in the Introduction. Mostly because after taking an outward look at how I've been influenced over the years and why my very own store looks the way it does is in a large part due to this:
"The open spaces of Texas translate to freedom of expression and the notion that there is plenty of room for everyone to do their thing. Texans feel that going to extremes through building and decorating is a birthright. Whatever the personal taste, whatever the scale, home design inside and out has emerged as a vital form of self-expression- a monument to who you are, where you have been, and what you might become. Texas style is not one specific and constant motif, but an exotic hybrid born primarily of Texas's multiculturalism. The result is an unequaled heritage in home decorating and architecture."
Home on the Ranch
Pioneer Style with a Bias to Big
Texas Roots
Texlectic
The Old World in the Old West
