• Use antique items around your house.antique box image by Salem Alforaih from Fotolia.com
  
  While the southern design style has its roots in the southeast, it’s a look that works in all areas of the country. For Fort Worth residents, it just involves making the design style work for you. The style has a warm and friendly feeling and uses warm colors that seem inviting to others. The homes often contain some antique and vintage pieces, but those are mixed with more modern or contemporary pieces. For a southern living house in Fort Worth, you just need to play with what you have.
  
  

Display Your Treasured Items

• Take your treasured possessions out and turn them into a display in your home. Group similar items together, especially those that are antique or vintage. For example, use a buffet in your dining room and display a few pieces of china on top and hide the rest inside the buffet. Place family photographs in vintage-looking picture frames and group those over a fireplace mantle or on a bookshelf in the living room. This is the time to take antiques out of storage and display them around your house. Even adding a few of your grandmother’s antiques into a modern home helps you use the southern design style.
  
  

Take a Rustic Approach

• Southern living primarily relies on comfort and making others feel comfortable and welcome in your house. Combine this idea with your Fort Worth sensibility and Texas pride by displaying a few antique horseback riding and rodeo or cowboy pieces. Use an old metal horseshoe over your front door and lay old saddle blankets over your couch. Look for cowboy inspired artwork, such as a horse statue or painting and add that to your room. Use warmer colors that mimic the Texas sky and landscape, such as a rich, chocolate brown and a clear, bright blue.
  
  

Work with the Details

• The southern living style also works with the architectural details in the room. You have the choice of using items that complement these details or highlight the details. Adding crown molding to a room is an easy way to add some historic integrity to the room. You also want to take note of any existing historic details in the room and find ways to draw attention to those. Try painting older metal heating grates and refinishing wood floors in your home. Add some more warmth to your home by adding wood furniture that works with the style of your home, such as an armoire or shelves that look like they were built into the walls.