Do You Taxidermy

I love organic details in interiors — shells, stones, wood, corals and the likes. I would like to think that I am pretty open to many interior decorating styles, from the modern to the more traditional, including hunting lodge/cabin/mountain retreat style.

One of the mainstays on cabin/hunting lodge decor is the use of taxidermy or hunted animals in decoration.  You often see a deer’s head or an antler of some sort on the wall in cabin decoration.  Though I am in a bit of awe when people have this detail in their interior spaces, I could not get myself to use those elements in our house.  The furthest I have gone is the use of a cowhide rug in our open dining/kitchen space and I would not really consider that taxidermy.

So when we visited a taxidermy store in the Catskills last weekend, I was again confronted with many decorating accessories that incorporate animal skins, feathers, bones and the likes.   Some of the items were gorgeous. But, alas, I could not do it, I could not purchase an animal head or antlers for our house.  All I can muster up is to get a wonderful driftwood candleholder that will be a nice addition to my table top accessories.

What about you? Have you used animal antlers, tusks or skins in your decorating?