Kiva ladders or Wooden Indian log ladders are pueblo style accessories that work wonderfully for enhancing southwestern style in your home. While traveling or visiting the southwest you will no doubt notice that pueblo style log ladders have become the most recognizable symbols of American Indian style design and art, used to create captivating, rustic and southwest style home decorating. Kiva ladders are decorative wood ladders usually fashioned from pine logs that have been scraped by hand. The rungs of the ladder are then fastened to the two long poles with rawhide string. The ladder is smaller at the top than it is at the base, adding a dimension of height.



One great way to create the rustic look and feel in your home, without actually having pueblo designs, is to use the same primitive style, pueblo ladder or kiva wooden ladder. The ladders will create a subtle but definite pueblo or rustic look in the room. A kiva ladder also makes a great way to hang some of your most beautiful western tapestries or Navajo blankets. Other decorating accessories that look wonderful with decorative pueblo ladders are Navajo blankets, Indian pottery and drums, wooden dough bowls and primitive style lamps with rawhide lamp shades. You can also use ladders to draw attention to special designs you may like such as the kokopelli or other village designs. Using the kiva ladder as a way to display trinkets and nick-nacks will liven up the Native American theme in your interior decorating, add vibrant colors, and make the ladder functional in your home decor.

There is something interesting about pueblo style homes made of adobe bricks with their wooden ladders on the roofs. This image has become a true representation of rustic decorating and style. Many homes in the southwestern states are similar to the early pueblo style, and the kiva ladder is always an integral part. Pueblo designs are found on rugs, dolls, pottery, paintings, art, and rustic furnishings. And, the rustic wooden ladders have become popular in cabins, lodge style homes and also anywhere people like primitive or pueblo design style.

Use your imagination. There is no right or wrong way to how pueblo ladders can be used. You can achieve an interesting display or book shelf by using two ladders together and connecting them with boards in the middle. You most likely already own some tapestries you can use and put a small table beside it or an American Indian style drum and you will have created a unique and functional design.

A lot people also use kiva ladders as a place to hang southwestern throws to cover up with during those cool winter nights. You might use kiva ladders to display bed blankets or afghans in your guest rooms when not needed. You can use kiva style decorative ladders in all your rooms, in the same way or similarly without it looking overly done. So, if you want a truly outstanding Native style element to enhance your home decorating, use rustic decorative kiva ladders.