Though largely unknown outside of Mexico and parts of the United States, especially the Western and Southwestern regions of the country, Mexican living room furniture is a beautiful and functional style of furniture which comes from a woodworking tradition centuries old in which Spanish and Native Mexican influences are mixed. It shares many elements with New Mexican furniture, and you may find the two terms used interchangeably. This is furniture at once exotic and familiar, with a strong local flavor that nevertheless translates well to many non-Mexican living rooms.
Although the Mexican furniture making tradition is alive and well and many designer/craftsmen have added more influences to this tradition, the Mexican rustic furniture that many people have in mind continues to be popular. Today, traditional Mexican style furniture has also taken on the influence of the arts & crafts movement, which shows itself in elements like wide pieces of wood and fine details that add charm to an article of furniture. Many types of furniture could be considered Mexican beyond the tradtional styles that come strictly from Mexico. Much of the furniture labelled “Mexican” may simply be influenced by Mexican designs or contain elements of the furniture of that region. It’s up to the buyer to decide which creations he or she feels can be rightly classified as Mexican and proceed to make a choice from there. There are two dominant themes in Mexican furniture as as result of the Franciscan and Spanish colonial influence. The former tends towards simplicity, function, and austerity, while the latter can be more intricate and fancy. Of course, the furniture of the Mexican people, traditionally peasants, is simple and oftentimes cheerful looking whether this is achieved through color or form.
Traditionally, a lot of Mexican furniture was made from pine and this is still the case today. Wood is generally left fairly natural with a wax finish. Conversely, it is also commonly painted; Mexican painted furniutre can feature some bright colors in contrast to the normally dark or white living room furniture found in many homes. Mexican pine furniture perfectly suits the material it is made from and can be a great choice for people searching for pine living room furniture.
Mexican sofas are generally upholstered with leather, and these leather sofas often have a distincly “wild west” feel about them.
Wrought iron is also a commonly used material for Mexican furniture, and you may wish to incorporate this metal into your living room design as part of a coffee table or end tables.
Mexican living room furniture can be cheap- most likely if you want to get it in Mexico! But even the ones made there and sold elsewhere can have very reasonable prices.
Generally, the end and coffee tables made in Mexican style are of a proportion that conveys solidity and these pieces will take up space in a way that is confident yet not overly showy. One of the interesting things about the furniture coming from this tradition is that both plain and adorned furniture can look stately and charming at the same time, though furniture featuring wood carvings are sometimes breathtaking. As a rule, this furniture is unpretentious and a pleasure to have in the home. These styles don’t rely on novel effects or dazzling finishes to impress, the best designs have a quiet, noble presence that makes them always welcome and and never boring or stale. Because Mexican furniture wasn’t made up in some designer’s head, but rather comes from a long process of evolution, refinement, and cultural mixing that still continues, the designs are very often timeless.