Furniture designers combine creativity with practicality.
The field of furniture design spans a vast area that extends from mass production through to fine art and custom cabinetmaking. Unlike fine art, successful furniture design requires the ability to combine the whimsical with the practical. Successful high-end furniture needs to be attractive but also durable and usable, and the ability to combine these elements requires years of training and practice to master. Does this Spark an idea?
Gustav Stickley
Gustav Stickley was one of the most effective popularizers of the Mission Style. Begun in England, where it was more commonly known as the Arts and Crafts style, this type of furniture was a reaction against what its creators saw as the excessive ornamentation of Victorian style. Mission style furniture is characterized by clean lines, unadorned natural wood and the extensive use of quarter-sawn oak, which is oak lumber that is cut radially around the log, rather than in straight lines, creating a stable lumber that features dramatic and pretty grain and is resistant to shrinking and swelling. Mission furniture remains common today, although much of it is no longer created by hand, and many pieces of inferior furniture have adopted its style in a shallow form.
The Shakers
The Shakers were a Christian sect that lived in New England during the 18th and 19th centuries. Their beliefs about frugality and simplicity were reflected in their saying "hands to work, hearts to God," and in their widely produced furniture, which was utilitarian and unadorned. Original Shaker furniture was often made of cherry or maple, two woods that grow widely in the New England landscape. Shaker cabinets feature raised panels enclosed by pegged board and batten frames, turned hardwood pulls and cased bases with simple curves. Ironically, the Shaker style lends itself well to mass production due to its simplicity and lack of carving and ornamentation and became common among consumers in the late 20th century.
The Modernists
Many early 20th century Modernists lent their hands to furniture design as well as to art and architecture. Piet Mondrian's "Red Blue Chair," which features square surfaces and primary colors similar to his art, is a famous example. Many Modernists valued the message and composition of the furniture over its comfort and utility, which may explain why many of these pieces are now in museums rather than in people's houses. More useful pieces of Modernist furniture, widely produced in the mid-20th century, include low-lying black leather chaise lounges, chrome legged dining tables, and cabinetry featuring black lacquer and other minimalist surfaces.
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