When you visit Wild West Designs, what you’ll find there can’t be categorized as simply rustic, or Western, or mountain modern. Owner Linda Rumsey explains, “People come from all over the world and expect to see a certain look here—and that look can only be described as ‘classic Jackson Hole.’”
Wild West Designs’ Jackson location specializes in furniture with that distinctive Jackson Hole look for the entire home. For those wanting something more contemporary, the company’s new 28,000-square-foot showroom in Idaho Falls, Idaho, offers pieces with industrial and trendy designs. Customers can buy items directly off the showroom floor. At both locations, each piece is unique, high-end and handpicked for Wild West Designs. Most of the items are handmade and manufactured in the western United States.
“A lot of our pieces are art,” Rumsey says. “It sets the style of the home. It tells people who you are.”
Just as Jackson Hole has grown and evolved over the last half century, so has Wild West Designs. The business began with the design and creation of antler chandeliers in 1972. Made of massive elk and moose antlers, the chandeliers were immediately popular, evoking the feeling of a hunting lodge, or true Western cabin in any room where they hung. It’s a feeling that never goes out of style, Rumsey says. Still best-sellers, the chandeliers suspended from Wild West Designs’ ceiling are now world-famous and what customers often remember most about the showroom.
When the company first started selling antler chandeliers, most of its clients were furnishing large log homes. Rumsey noticed that people were searching for furniture to complement the chandeliers. “If they had antler chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, they needed something on the floor,” she says. “That was a natural progression to go into furniture. There was a need for pieces that had the right look.”
Rumsey already knew craftsmen building the homes, so she could anticipate what type of furniture the homeowners were seeking. She selected items that made the homes feel cohesive and cozy, even if they were massive.
A lot of our pieces are art. It sets the style of the home. It tells people who you are.
~ Linda rumsey
The company’s progression to the larger showroom in more recent years has been just as natural. Jackson has changed, as have the homes in the area. Western houses are no longer predominantly large log cabins; they now include a range of designs, from those that offer a nod to the classic Western look, to the ultramodern and everything in between. With that evolution, so has the demand for furniture changed. That’s why Rumsey refuses for Wild West Designs to be pigeonholed by any particular style, unless it’s simply classic Jackson Hole.
