A RANCH HOUSE NEEDS A COWBOY COUCH
Fans of rustic, Texas-style home furnishings should take their shopping lists — and, perhaps, a U-Haul trailer — when they go to the 2017 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
NRG Center will be packed with wares from nearly 350 vendors selling everything from jewelry and western clothes to furniture, lighting and farm supplies.
If you need a piece, or enough to fill a whole room, you’re sure to find plenty of options, from rugs to art, sofas to cabinets, pillows and light fixtures. There will be plenty of big leather furniture and chandeliers made with deer antlers, but vendors are also
taking a more modern approach, with lighter colors and slimmer silhouettes.
Jan and Steve Lynch of Rustic Elegance in Kerrville will have their usual booth on the club level of NRG Stadium, working from 6 p.m. until each night’s rodeo and concert have closed.
The Houston natives will mark their 30th year selling home goods at the rodeo. They grew up visiting RodeoHouston, watching barrel racing and calf roping and eating carnival food. Today, they prefer ZZ Top and George Strait concerts to turkey legs, but as Jan Lynch says, they’re there for business.
Some 90 percent of their year-round business starts at RodeoHouston, with customers coming back for more every year. Their most popular item is the hand-stitched City Cowboy custom sofa. They also stock custom cabinets and have a wide line of home accessories, including rugs, artwork and decorative pillows.
While their Texas traditional brown leather and nail-head trim are still in stock, they’re freshening it up to be more on trend with grays and lighter colors in leather and upholstery. They’re stocking lighter wood tones, too. Sofas range in price from $4,600 to $6,900
“The modern look is light and airy,” Lynch said. “After rodeo last year, everybody wants gray. Every generation is different, and as a business, you have to go with the flow.”
In addition to its ranch-style line, Rustic Elegance sells furniture and lighting made with antlers. They carry Axis pillows and Archipelago candles (try the Havana scent; it’s their best-seller) and Jan Barboglio crosses.
Slick Rock Designs is another Texas vendor. The Coleman-based company, owned by Ashlee and Jeff Miller, sells more antler lighting and cowhide furniture, but you’ll also find stained-glass lighting and Christmas lights with a decidedly western flair.