Many people would be asking right now, how could blanket chests be a versatile type of furniture? Don’t they just belong at the end of your bed for blanket and quilt storage? Great question. If we look back to Early America, blanket chests usually held a prominent place in the home. Many hope chests were given a place of honor in the front room with the family bible placed upon the top and family treasures placed inside. This actually worked out well since many styles of Early American hope chests were fairly tall.

Many homes now show off blanket chests in their living rooms and dens as coffee tables and end tables. Others place these stylish chests in their front entryways to be used as sideboards to give it the ‘welcome home’ look. Tall blanket chests have been used in the form of buffets in the dining room. A big favorite is to use these wood chests as extra cozy seating area in front of large windows. Of course, some people still insist on placing these extremely versatile chests at the end of their beds which does give them the storage and seating they desire in their bedrooms.

Americans are buying blanket chests now not only to enhance their decors but to also add a new tradition for their families. Many people had steered away from family ties and tradition in the last couple of decades. Family traditions had ceased to be important to some or just too time consuming for other families. Now people are trying to recapture what they have been missing. Family traditions are very important since they help to hold families together. Part of this transition has included obtaining heirlooms that can be passed down to future generations. Every grandparent would love to give a cherished item to each grandchild.

Blanket chests, also known as hope chests and dowry chests, have long held sentimental value for families.These wood chests were usually given to young girls to fill with household items necessary for their future home when they married.This made a lot of sense since sewing and crocheting items by hand was very time consuming. Many of these hope chests had the name of the person who received the chest and date of presentation. This shows that families emphasized the giving of hope chests a very important event in a young girl’s life.

Some lucky families have centuries old hope chests since the wood craftsmen knew how to construct long lasting furniture. Mortise and tenon or dovetail were normally the joinery styles of choice for these beautiful hardwood chests. Both joinery styles not only have wonderful design elements, but have proven to be much stronger methods for long lasting furniture than other construction types. Used in conjunction with glue, the joints of these joinery styles have been shown to be stronger than the wood used in the construction of these wonderful wooden chests. These joinery styles are much preferred over the use of nails and screws in the box construction of blanket chests since these hardware items have a tendency to eventually loosen and fall out. Sometimes heavy damage is caused in the process.

Blanket chests come in all furniture styles, but the ones that create a nice ambiance are those that replicate the antique blanket chests. German immigrants that moved to Pennsylvania, made hope chests that were handcrafted during the 18th and 19th Centuries which have beautiful styling and joinery. These blanket chests have been the favorite among collectors. Some chests had subtle outer design elements carved on the front sides which were usually floral designs. Other wood chests had elaborate,colorful designs which included flowers, people on horseback, hex designs meant to keep away bad spirits, hearts and stars.

The New England coastal area also boasted highly sought after blanket chests which replicated many of the styles of furniture made in Europe. The Queen Anne style, which was started in England, was probably the most favored. It was given a more stylish look in America. All along the New England coast, every major city had its own particular mode of Queen Anne furniture. Each city had its own foot style and preferred leg and design construction. Most furniture experts would agree that the Queen Anne Style was at its absolute best when made by American wood craftsmen.

With so many designs and heights of blanket chests to choose from, it is no wonder that Americans are really beginning to see that versatile blanket chests can be given great placement in nearly every room of their home to add warmth and to add depth to every decor style.

With the kind of self contained and isolated communities that the Amish master craftsmen live in, earlier it was not possible for a lot of people to actually buy Amish furniture. The Amish, due their beliefs and practices, limit their interaction and contact with mainstream communities and have only the barest minimum business dealings with them. However, now with online buying of all kinds of merchandise becoming a common practice and a convenient option, the possibility of selling Amish handcrafted furniture online was explored. Generally a non Amish dealer or facilitator who would procure the furniture, run and maintain the website which sells it online and deal with the wholesale buying and retail selling of the furniture.

So this makes available the benefit of being able to purchase Amish made furniture online, which makes it so much more accessible to so many more people than ever before. There are many websites that deal exclusively with Amish made furniture; which one can browse by different items of furniture, by the room that you want furnished (say bedroom, dining room, living room etc.), by the style (Shaker style, Mission style, Queen Anne style etc.) or by the kind of wood that is used (oak, maple, cherry, pine, etc.) What these websites are able to do is offer you exclusive, solid, hard wearing, extremely durable furniture that has the sort of classic and timeless design style that never goes out of fashion. You can browse and buy top quality furniture from the comfort of your computer chair!

Since selling Amish furniture online reduces the cost of having a bricks and mortar outlet for the retailer, that cost saving can be passed on to the ultimate consumer or purchaser, which is you! You also have the option of browsing literally thousands of individual pieces of furniture so that you can find exactly what you want. And in the rare event that you cannot find exactly what you want, you can customize your order as per your particular requirement. Many online Amish stores offer the option of having the Amish furniture customized to the purchaser’s requirement.

And Amish made furniture is not just about basic pieces of traditional furniture. Now you can buy entertainment centers, billiard and pool tables, office furniture, children’s furniture, bar stools, and all manner of home accents for the home and garden as well. In Amish furniture is now available a diversity like never before! And often you can take advantage of online sales as well

Amish online stores also often offer the option of purchasing other traditional items made the old fashioned way, such as quilts, baskets, toys etc. Amish quilts are a thing of beauty which can be a joy forever, made the painstaking way with no short cuts. Amish toys again are a delight in this day and age where children’s toys chests are overrun by Chinese plastic and battery operated noise makers. These Amish made toys are a throwback to more relaxed times when people had the time to create beauty for children.

The Amish have a worldwide reputation for crafting beautiful and high-quality solid wood furniture. Since the Amish use only solid wood, they produce furniture that is both strong and durable, built to last for many generations. Not only do they use the best quality wood, but their workmanship is unequaled. Amish furniture certainly stands out in a modern world where nearly every product on the market is mass-produced. The Amish craft these high-quality products, not so much because of personal pride, but more of a way of worshipping their God through action.

Amish craftsmen are particular in selecting the right wood for their projects. Even though oak and quartersawn oak are mostly used, there are also pieces available in cherry, maple, hickory, black walnut, cedar, and even pine. With its beautiful grain lines and honey coloration, oak has become widely distributed in the United States and Canada. But a craftsman might choose cherry when producing a Queen-Anne-style piece. The lovely scent of cedar makes it a great choice for making storage chest for clothing. Notable for their extreme hardness and light coloring, hickory and maple are two other popular choices.

Amish furniture designs range from artfully simple to ornately curved, with the most recognizable styles being Mission, Shaker, and Queen Anne. Other common styles of Amish furniture include: Traditional/Heritage, Contemporary, Bavarian, Bunker Hill, Carlisle, Hampton, McCoy, Modesto, Slat Mission, Shaker Hill, Spring Hill, Rio Grande, Royal Mission, West Lake, Southwestern, Rustic, Cottage, and Beachfront. For a simple square design, look for styles such as Mission and Shaker; others, such as Queen Anne and Bunker Hill, offer much more curve and ornamentation. Styles will vary from area to area; however, most furniture is made by Amish woodworkers from the Lancaster and Indiana communities. With each woodworker adding his own individual touch to his furniture, each finished piece is unlike any other.

Whatever room you need to furnish—bedroom, living room, kitchen, dining room, or home office—there are a wide variety of Amish pieces to choose from. The most popular items tend to be beds, dressers, and dining room tables. Whatever the room, a matching set will complete a distinctive room décor. More unique pieces include heirloom-quality baby cribs and rocking chairs. Outdoor pieces for your patio or deck are also now available. Whatever your needs, there is definitely something for everyone.

Despite the popularity of their furniture, the Amish remain free from electricity, relying on diesel generators to power pneumatic or hydraulic tools to mill and construct their fine pieces. Diesel generators remain under Amish control, which correlates with a belief system that sees electricity as being supplied and controlled by the outside world. What’s nice about the generators is that they allow more time for the final finish detail work to be done by hand. This also gives a craftsman more time to handpick each piece of wood so that the colors and wood grains work together to create and eye-pleasing effect. When formal schooling is completed, a father will train his son in all the intricacies of woodworking, thereby passing his expertise on to the next generation.

Amish furniture used to only be available in antique stores and local shops. But today many of these shops are online and thus Amish furniture has become accessible to the world. Now “English” businessmen either buy directly from the Amish and do their own distributing, or they work with them to establish and manage an online storefront.