As the owner of a small house with a couple extra rooms, I have often made a habit of trying to keep a boarder or two to help pay for expenses. Mine is a bookish house, ok that just sounds snobby… I have too many books! Now I’ll never be featured on TLC’s Buried Alive or anything, I’m at least neat, but there are books in just about every room save the restroom. Periodically I go through and prune but it doesn’t take long before I’ve replaced what I cut. Ok so I digress. It was probably about five summers ago when I and my cousin, who was living with me at the time, went looking for a new book case. It was June or July and we were dressed appropriately for the summer heat i.e. shorts and t-shirts. We stopped off at a local and well known furniture store, and were greeted by an elegantly dressed, attractive, youngish woman, with an attitude that was anything but. As we entered the establishment the woman looked us over and inquired rudely, “What are YOU looking for today?” “Just looking for book cases,” I replied sheepishly and a bit sarcastically. She told us with mock disappointment the store didn’t carry bookcases. We chose to take her at her word even though we could see they had several on the sales floor.

Furniture stores are funny that way. There’s often a great deal of pretention that goes along with selling furnishings. “I don’t think we sell that sort of thing here… We sell exclusively Carl Farbman’s designs. Did he ever design book cases?” Well I found a furniture store with incredible merchandise and without all the snobbery. Western Heritage Interiors is located on highway thirty one, just off the west loop. The products they carry are all western themed and highly unique. The merchandise is all beautifully crafted, and while it is rustic in appearance, it is unlikely that you’ll find too many examples of this kind of quality in an old bunk house. And Western Heritage carries much more than just furniture. The store is filled with all manner of art, from paintings, to sculptures and everything in between. Ok, so lamps and tables made of elk racks, deer antlers or steer horns are a bit too rustic for me. But many people appreciate that sort of oddity. Overall this is a great store where patrons are sure to find all sorts of conversation pieces.

At the time of my visit I was accompanied by a two year old, and had no intention making a purchase, I was simply there for the purpose of writing this review, a fact I didn’t mention by the way. But the gentleman I spoke with was gracious and seemed unconcerned by the presence of a child in his store. Try that at another furniture store in Tyler. I should also mention that the store is locally owned and operated, so most of what is spent there, stays home in Tyler. Western Heritage also has a website, but it appears to be under construction because it doesn’t scratch the surface of the inventory the actually carry in store. I suggest visiting in person for a more realistic look at what they offer. Their web address is www.westernheritageinteriors.com. To reach them by phone, call 903-592-9803.