Ethnic Cottage Decor: On Antler Chandeliers, Turtle Shells & Taxidermy

Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but it's worse when they are wearing dark glasses and have streamers and ornaments in the antlers because then you know they were enjoying themselves at a party when they were shot. Ellen DeGeneres

The current obsession of decorating with antlers, antler chandeliers, turtle shells and taxidermy shows no signs of abating and they're perfect for ethnic cottage decor - faux real. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Maybe Ellen's take on deer heads has me in a silly mood!
After falling out of trendiness for decades, many designers using natural elements in their decors are once again turning to antlers and taxidermy. Just about every antique store you visit has at least one or two mounted game heads or some sort of animal skin available. Nate Berkus has a large faux turtle shell for 40 bucks at Target!

Whether you want to display your passion for the outdoors, hunting or fishing, or you just like the look and choose to go faux, the choices are bountiful. There's actually a website called womenhunters.com. I'm sort of a wimp myself, even though I live in the south where many, many homes have stuffed deer heads and fish on their walls. I especially love the look of the exotic animals' antlers but for me the cast resin antlers are a cool interpretation of the real thing. And I actually like the mounted antlers that are really just twigs and sticks! See, a real wimp. But there are some awesome chandeliers made of twigs and some mounted twig antlers that look real!
There are many ways to decorate with these "trophies" and here are a few:

Mix your mounted pieces with other types of decor to add an eclectic feel to your design scheme. My favorite way is to incorporate your faux or real mounted piece(s) on an art/gallery wall. Below are some great examples of this.

Most medium to large trophies can stand as the main decoration in a room when placed above a fireplace, sofa or bed.

Divide your existing taxidermy pieces by subject. For example, all of your fish mounts can be placed in the bathroom and all of your deer and small game heads can be placed in the living room.

Choose different ways to have your catches mounted. For example, have a smaller deer head mounted between trees on a statue or your pike mounted in a 3-D sculpture of river bottoms to design a view of them in the "wild." Taxidermists are experts and love a new idea and a challenge. Get their input and come up with something unique!

Use some of the pieces as functional decor when doing home decorating with taxidermy. For example, mount deer antlers for a key holder by the front door or mount a fish on a dish that holds mail.

Enjoy this selection of antlers, game, taxidermy and more in ethnic cottage decor!