Style : DESIGN : Back in the Saddle

Perhaps it’s a reaction to the high-tech homes of the “Star Wars” generation or maybe it’s just a matter of baby-boomer designers who’ve never grown up, but the increasing number of stores offering kids’ Western furniture is sending a clear message: The Old West strikes back.

At Studio E in North Hollywood, designer Lorelyn Eaves eschews hard plastic and flexible foam. For her Sit Still! line, she favors old-fashioned wood framing and upholstery. “I wanted furniture that kids could sit in as kids do--over the arms, on the arms, upside down and diagonal,” Eaves says. A chaise covered in vinyl and a reissued ‘50s cowboy fabric becomes a make-believe horse; an armchair with suede fringe and a prancing-mustang motif (based on an Indian petroglyph) is perfect for an afternoon siesta.

Rituals, one of the first Los Angeles stores to specialize in Western furniture, now carries reproductions of children’s designs by Wyoming craftsman Thomas Molesworth. “An original Molesworth child’s chair, like the hand-carved burl pine and red leather one, would run three to four times as much-- if you could even find one,” says co-owner Saundra Abbott. Like the reproductions, hand-painted toy chests by Taos Style in New Mexico are investments: “Young couples buy them as heirlooms for their children,” Abbott says, and others buy them to use as storage or coffee tables. Western furniture, it seems, is for buckaroos of all ages.

Stylist: Paula Elins/ Zenobia Agency; hair and makeup: Renee Parenteau/ Zenobia Agency; model: J.D. Stone/ Mary Grady Agency; clothing courtesy of American Rag Cie Youth, Los Angeles, and Leathers & Treasures, Los Angeles; props courtesy of Western Treasures, Los Angeles, and Arte de Mexico, North Hollywood