African Decor

Africa is one of the most diverse places on Earth. Since humans have been there longer than anywhere else, they have had plenty of time to branch out and individualize their disparate cultures. Africa's size and shape spread it across such a range of latitudes, that climate varies widely, as does topography. Climate and topography have a profound effect on culture as is reflected in the decor of various African ethnic groups. Therefor, you could spend a life time studying and collecting the arts and crafts of Africa, and decorating your home with a plethora of treasures.

When designing a room's African decor, you must first decide whether you are going for a very traditional theme or a more contemporary one. Are you keeping to a particular region, or mixing and matching? Within a region, will you be using a rainbow of color in keeping with the aesthetic of a tribe like the Samburu? Or will you be keeping to a more earth toned pallet, like that of the Turkanna, their neighbors and enemies?

Some African cultures, especially in places like Senegal and Cameroon, specialize in colorfully printed cotton. These make good upholstery fabrics. Others use the hides of goats and cattle. These make good seats and other accessories. Kente cloth is woven, and is dominated by yellow. Strips of this make good console table runners. If you use Kente cloth as runners for shelves or tables , be sure that the hardware and accessories near by are gold colored. West and Central Africans use gold in their jewlery, while North Africans use more silver in their bead-work and amulets. East and South Africans use more plastic or glass beads. These can all be incorporated into accent pieces hung on lighting fixtures, hung on the bare wall, or made part of display shelf arrangements.

Wooden chairs that are constructed like scissors have a distinctively African design. Stools carved from a single piece of wood with each leg carved to look like figures of people and animals, are also quite typical. There are plenty of end tables carved with African designs as well.

The large animals of the East African savanna are often carved out of wood to make very large statues. Carving statues of people, in both realistic and stylized forms, are also very beautiful African traditions.

Since many of these carvings of both people and animals are over-sized, with very tall thin proportions, they help make a small room feel larger, and they don't necessarily take up all that much floor space. This makes them a decorator's dream accent piece. A mother and baby giraffe are a perfect example of a set of over-sized statues that make a room feel bigger and look lovely.

The gauzy white material used for clothing in Ethiopia makes pretty translucent drapes, and the woven or embroidered trim adds a splash of color. By using a traditional silver amulet as an ornament hanging from the curtain rod, your window dressing becomes fascinating and distinctly Ethiopian.

Every culture must solve the problem of how to carry liquids from place to place. Traditional crafts for hauling water and oil are often quite distinctive and decorated with great beauty. In Kenya, large gourds may be etched and or painted and used to carry water or milk. Goat's organs are cured and sewn into a bag to carry oil that is corked with tethered wood. These tools for everyday tasks make beautiful accent pieces displayed on shelves, or hung on the wall from their own leather straps. However, goat musk is quite pungent, so take that into consideration if you are creating a traditional decor theme. You might prefer a picture of a goat to the real thing.

A Frafra mask from Ghana makes a good focal point in contemporary African decor themes. In contemporary African decor, the furniture is crafted with more precision, and when figures are depicted, they tend to be slightly more abstract than literal in form.

Many colorful Batiks feature people working, dancing, shepherding, and cuddling children or babies. These make beautiful wall hangings and bed spreads. Batiks also feature charismatic animals, landscapes, and the shape of the African continent.

Photographs of Africa's landscapes are often breathtaking. An enlarged photo that emphasises the sky will be a particularly uplifting part of any African decor theme.

Finally, don't buy anything made of an endangered species or wood from unsustainable harvesting. That should go with out saying with any decor theme.