is more than a DIRECTION
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by Diane Ciarloni | photos by What’s That Guys Name | Photography by Guy T
here are people who bristle when they hear a Texan, native or transplant, mutter that slightly cocky adage that says, “Texas is a state of mind.” What does it even mean? Well, in the Texas fashion world, it’s often referred to as “Texas Boho.” It means it’s perfectly fine to wear a mink coat and cowboy boots to antique fairs. Or maybe butt-hugging jeans set against wrists, fingers, and ears dripping with diamonds. You don’t need to live on a ranch or ride horses to carry off a Western-style. Last year, the prestigious magazine Glamour made sure its readership understood the legitimacy of the long-lasting movement when it wrote that it is “alive and well.” It’s that open “state of mind” interpretation that Tyler Hawkins is encapsulating successfully in The Ranch Arrangement in Denton. Hawkins is six months into his ownership of The Ranch Arrangement, a 6,000 square foot store that focused on rustic ranch furniture with a spotlight on custom leather sofas, chairs, and accent pieces at the time of his takeover. The
16 | LAKE CITIES LIVING | NOVEMBER 2021
35-year-old, single, former truck-driving oil-field-worker-turned-entrepreneur liked what was in the store, but he entered the venture with a specific plan.
“I especially love the leather,” he said, “and the fact we can customize it just about any way our clients prefer. I want to keep some of the rustic edges, but I also want to do some redefining of the word ‘west’ or ‘western.’” West/western, like Texas, is a permanently flexible state-of-mind. “I want to show people it can be rustic like it was in those early days, but it can also be a smooth, legitimate part of the present and the future,” Hawkins explained. “The store’s configuration is perfect for doing that because it has several spaces-withina-space. I’ve made those into separate vignettes, allowing customers to see and to experience how the rustic can have a natural flow into transitional, or even modern/contemporary. It actually gives life to that ‘state of mind’ concept.” Prior to Hawkins’ rearranging and redefining, the store’s generous inventory
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