Antler lamps are an excellent way to create western decor. So much more than a way to light your home, antler lamps add character to your home. If you own a rustic cabin or southwest style home, the rustic appeal of antlers with their beautiful shapes and variations in natural color will give your area the unique old west feel you are hoping to create.

Ranch owners as well as those designing contemporary houses have chosen antler lamps for decades as the beautiful rustic lighting to enhance their ranch style home decor. Because of the smooth shape of antler lamps and chandeliers there is a unique charm in the antlers themselves that wonderfully accompanies any variety of western furniture. There is something distinctive about antler lamps that ties in every element and gives off a sophisticated country feel within the room. Antler lamps have a unique quality about them that distinctly enhances rustic beauty in any environment.

Antler lamps also compliment many other rustic elements in home decorating. In the Northwest or "north woods" antlers may be added to snow shoes and complimented with rawhide lamp shades to use as fabulous wall sconces. The light colored wood and rawhide lacing of the shoe, combined with the leather binding and pleasant glow of the rawhide shade, make it a wonderful match. No matter if you decide to adorn your antler lamp with southwestern light rawhide shades or western style dark rawhide lampshades, the choice is yours and the effect will be stunning.

Smaller antler chandeliers are sometimes fashioned from whitetail deer antlers while large chandeliers may have many tiers of huge elk antlers. Weather your decorating space is large or small an antler chandelier will compliment western home furnishings.

In Jackson Hole, WY the town's square is embellished with arches created from Elk antlers. It is certainly unique and you can create the same spirit with antler lamps. Small lamps are created from whitetail deer antlers while large light fixtures such as chandeliers may have tiers of elk antlers with rawhide lampshades. One of the most popular lamps is created with moose antlers, recognizable with their beautiful dark palms and dark rawhide lamp shades.

Every year, groups and associations such as the Boy Scouts will find the prized sheds. If you ever discover antler sheds in the wild, it is an amazing occurrence. Antler lamps create that same style in your home and can change your home's ambiance in a beautiful way.

Antlers are acquired in varying qualities that are valued like rare coins. The best quality is awarded an "A" grade. The grading system, indirectly, has to do with the how much time the sheds lie exposed on the ground before found. The longer they are left exposed, the more they break down. New antler sheds are dark brown in color. Sheds that are not discovered quickly will begin to bleach in the sun until they become a chalky white. Another reason they loose their value is because of chew marks from small rodents and stains from wet ground or moss.

There are also different techniques for making the antler lamps themselves. Some lamp makers use glue to hold the antlers together. Others may fasten them together with rawhide thong for a rustic Indian look. And some of the most attractive antler lamps may include a combination of being glued, drilled and screwed together, with the holes sealed for a natural look. Better quality lamps will almost always include rawhide lamp shades.

Each antler is a little different than any other, so each antler lamp is a unique treasure and works wonderfully for rustic lighting. Try antler lamps with rawhide lamp shades in your home to create true rustic charm and to give it that warm, inviting look and feel that everybody loves.