How To Decorate a Basement in Western Style

Think of all the old Western movies you've watched, or old TV series like "Gunsmoke," and imagine how much fun it would be to live inside one of those make-believe sets. You can turn your basement into a close copy of the Wild West and have the perfect place for relaxing and parties. Used, but comfortable, furniture and special "finds" at yard sales and thrift stores let you have the look without a huge outlay of cash, too. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

How the West was fun!

1

Put the drop cloth on the floor and paint the swinging doors dark brown. Let them dry completely. Hang them at the entrance to your basement so the Western mood is set immediately.
Paint the table and chairs dark brown, too, and let them dry.

2

Pick out where you want the bar to be in the room. If you have a big mirror, hang it on the wall behind the bar and draw around it with a pencil.
Now take the mirror down temporarily and nail the pieces of used wood to the wall, outside the lines you drew showing where the mirror will hang. Saw the wood pieces to fit if you need to do so.
Paint the mirror frame brown and let it dry. Now hang the mirror back behind the bar.
You've got a Western-looking wood wall with a mirror hanging behind the bar, like the old-time saloons had.

3

Cover the sofa with one of the Western blankets.
Blanket-stitch two bandannas together like a sandwich to cover each sofa pillow, or tie knots at the bandanna corners to keep them from slipping off the pillows.
Use the other Western blanket as a tablecloth for the table, or cut it into a table runner if you prefer.

4

Put up a wooden hat rack for cowboy hats--keep one hanging on it at all times--and hang a coiled lasso there, too, for some real atmosphere.
Check discount stores for prints of cattle roundups, wagon trains and cowboys to use as inexpensive art for the walls.
Watch yard sales and thrift stores for old Western movie posters, a kid's Roy Rogers lunch box, set of cap pistols or a horse bridle. All of these can be used as accessories for display shelves or hung on the walls.

5

Paint the canvas drop cloth with big patches of brown paint to look like a cowhide and let it dry completely. Use it as a rug in front of the sofa or under the table and chairs.