Mexican Rustic Furniture – a Popular Choice

Brilliant colours and designs are available to brighten up your home.

Mexican rustic furniture was once a well-kept secret. Drawing on designs and technique brought to the country by Spanish furniture makers, Mexican peasants began in the early 1900s to fashion utilitarian chairs and tables from old lumber, doors, and cast-off wood. Over the last century, artisans discovered that Durango and Chihuahua ponderosa pine not only suited Mexico’s hot and humid climate, but also made fine carving wood. Along with intricate carved designs of suns, moons, fruits and palm trees, wrought iron was eventually introduced as a complementary decorative motif. Today, the distinctive design of Mexican rustic furniture is sought after internationally.

At Expo Mueble in 1999 in Guadalajara, 300 Mexican furniture manufacturers exhibited their wares to 20,000 visitors. Importers from Britain, Ireland, Europe, Scandinavia and the US bought and took home with them Mexican rustic dining room sets, lounge furniture and bedroom sets. In 2000, $3.2 billion US worth of Mexican furniture was exported to the States alone. On New York’s Madison Avenue, trendy stores are selling the latest line of Mexican furniture which they’ve dubbed “Mexi-Chic.” Fusing traditional techniques with modern design incorporating leather and ironwork, a coffee table in the Mexi-Chic stores sells for a mere $1,000US.

Mexican rustic furniture dates back to the Spaniards.

Today in Mazatlán, you don’t have to go far, or spend much, to create a warm and pleasant Mexican environment in your home or condominium. In fact, you can furnish a two bedroom apartment for around $4,000US. And the pieces are made to last.

“Rustic furniture is not made like regular furniture,” explained Susan Silva who has dealt in the line. “For one thing, in Mazatlán we have to be careful of termites, so even before the wood is cut we fumigate it. When the table or hutch is finished, we melt tar rocks in diesel oil until the desired shade is achieved. Then we paint the piece with this mixture, which also deters termites and ants. And I’ll give you a tip,” she added. “If your rustic furniture is being attacked by termites, drill holes in the wood, fill it with drops of diesel and shellac over it. Termites hate diesel oil.”

Once the wood has dried, it is given a coating of shellac. The next stop is the iron worker who weaves his, or your own, imaginative design into the furniture.

“The wonderful thing about Mexican rustic furniture, is that no two pieces are the same,” Susan said. “Because they are made by hand, each piece is unique. And you can talk to the artisan about a favorite wood-carved or wrought iron theme in all your furniture pieces. It makes it very personalized.”

Although rustic in appearance, some modern touches have been incorporated in the manufacturing of Mexican furniture. There are still no nails or screws used, simply wooden dowels. But makers now install drawer runners and sturdy hinges. Now available are entertainment centers with hidden TV doors, pullout DVD shelves and CD storage. More importantly, the pine from which the furniture is manufactured is now kiln-dried to combat the effects of Mazatlán´s humid climate. Without this process, the wood can split and warp.

It is a sign of the times, as well, that large Mexican rustic furniture manufacturers are beginning to turn to the computer. In a recent survey of the approximately 19,000 manufacturers in Mexico, 31% use computers, 52% still hand make pieces and 17% use a combination of both methods.

Mexican rustic furniture is evolving and changing, but the true heart of it remains. Sturdy and built to last, it is an expression of not only Mexico’s longevity and history, but also its artistic culture.