There are as many styles in the world of furniture and design as there are tastes to desire them. From the somber dark woods of the Jacobean period to the geometric characteristics of Art Deco, there is something for everyone, and often making a choice is the hardest part. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it is certainly true in the furnishing world.

Let’s run through some of the more well-known styles, defining and categorizing them so that with a little understanding, we can better analyze our tastes and desires. From rustic to formal, simple to elaborate, furniture creates a mood and shows off personal taste to best effect.

17th Century Furniture – Furniture has come a long way from the heavy 17th century Jacobean influences. This mediaeval-style furniture was typically plain wood with rush seats, straight lines and characteristically dark wood. In later years Early American style evolved, with typical European influence brought by the immigrants to the New World of America. In contrast, Louis XIV was busy creating the splendours and opulence of Versailles, with ornate gold carvings, fine artwork and magnificent craftsmanship in every room.

The later William and Mary style brought trumpet turned legs, ball feet and padded upholstery to English parlours with a new look in oriental lacquer work.

18th Century Furniture – As Queen Anne ascended the English throne in 1702, furnishings became more refined, with graceful cabriole legs, rococo ornate trimmings and shell curves. Tapestry and chintz were popular and this became known as Queen Anne style.

Colonial style American furniture was more conservative than English furniture of the same period, featuring carved pillars and less ornamentation. Following Queen Anne, Georgian style appeared and was particularly identifiable in architecture. In furniture, carved cabriole legs were the fashion, along with S-shaped curves and motifs. In the latter half of the 18th century, Chippendale furniture was in vogue, especially after the publication of Chippendale’s book of designs. His furniture was graceful, delicate and cultured and was further developed by Adam and Hepplewhite who introduced tapered legs, veneers and inlay to great effect.

From 1780-1820 Sheraton style was the most reproduced style in America during the Federal period, with bow-fronted chests and cabinets. Chairs now had sloping arms and upholstered seats with central splat detail on the backs.

19th Century Furniture – Shaker furniture is still a popular style today. It is defined by the simple, utilitarian furniture approved of by the religious communities in America. It is typically plain and unadorned, as was the architecture and lifestyle of those early immigrants.

Back in England, the Victorian era heralded much heavier and darker furniture than before. It is easily recognizable by its Gothic influence, and heavy substantial proportions. It often had elaborate carving or ornamentation to offset the dark finish of the oak, mahogany and walnut woods.

20th Century Furniture, and Onwards – With the dawn of the 20th century, Art Nouveau was a refreshing change. Furniture made a tremendous departure from what had gone before. Chair backs were balloon-shaped or bentwood. Furniture had curving lines, scalloped fronts and intricate patterns. This morphed into the Art Deco period which featured abstract designs, ornamental motifs, rectilinear shapes and a certain geometric style. It took the world by storm at the Paris Exhibition of 1925 after the dreary days of World War I. The Art Deco style is clearly illustrated in the pastel-coloured architecture of South Beach, Miami and the furniture within.

In furniture the Mid-Century Modern style was progressing, particularly influenced by Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen and Gio Ponti, whose mass-produced designs in man-made materials revolutionised furniture in the mid 20th century western world.

From the 1960’s onwards furniture became Contemporary. Scandinavian ideas featured light natural wood, with simple lines, utilitarian design and very little ornamentation. This was later developed still more by such designers as Marc Newson into the Post Modern and Contemporary style which is popular today for modern homes.

This is the story so far, but progress does not stand still. With the advent of new materials, glass furniture and new innovations, styles continue to develop. No doubt by the end of the 21st century, several new terms will have been added to the dictionary of furniture design and style.

From contemporary modern furniture, all the way back to antique furniture – Crawleys Furniture has a wide range of items that can work with your home or office needs.

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.

A Bedroom that Looks and Feels Good

Is your bedroom an inviting oasis of relaxation? Or does it look more like a storage unit, a veritable wasteland of clutter, dirty clothes, dirty dishes and kid’s toys.

If your room is the latter and you’re finding it increasingly more difficult to find the bed when it’s time for bed, you may want to consider giving your bedroom a well-deserved makeover.

With just a few changes, some hard decision making and some tough love, you can transform you bedroom into everything you ever dreamed it should be. And it’s easier than you think.

Start with the basics

First, your bedroom is not a storage facility. If things in the room do not contribute to relaxation, enhance the beauty, add space or provide some entertainment, get rid of it. Pack it up, move it to another room or put it in the garage or trash. If you like to watch a little television before calling it a night, consider getting an armoire to hide it away when it’s not in use. If you’re an avid reader, make sure your nightstands have a drawer so you can put your book or magazine away, along with your glasses. If you love the latest fashions, add more dressers, wardrobes and a closet organizer to the room. Finally, get a hamper for the dirty clothes so you’re not tempted to leave them wherever they fall. As they say, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.”

Add furniture to the mix

Now that your room is clear of clutter, it’s time to add beauty and charm to the space. Start by looking at your furnishings. Do they have the same style or at least complement one another? Are there pieces that should be moved out to make way for others? Does the style of your furniture match your tastes? For example, if you have a love of modern or contemporary furnishings, why do you continue to hold on to that monster of an oak four-poster? Creating a cohesive or at least complementary look is essential to promoting relaxation and a sound sleep. As you review your bedroom’s needs, consider the space you have to work with as well. If you are in desperate need of another dresser, do you really need the California King or can you do with a platform bed instead? This is not the time to be in denial. Once a piece of furniture is purchased, it tends to stay with you for a long time, so you want to choose carefully and deliberately. Nothing is more maddening than creating a bedroom retreat where the furniture is so big you can’t make it to the bathroom without stubbing a toe or cracking an elbow.

Think of your future storage needs

The old adage; “stuff expands to fill the space available” is certainly true in the bedroom. Fashions change seasonally, and what’s hot now may not be next year. So clothing and footwear seems to multiply as the years pass, even though storage remains the same. Here’s a couple ways to gain space in your bedroom without knocking out a wall or doing a major remodel. First, choose bedroom furniture that offers maximum storage. A platform bed with space or drawers underneath provides a surprising amount of additional storage without adding to the overall furniture footprint. The same is true with dressers. A nightstand with drawers is a better choice than one with a single open shelf. Several highboys take up the same space as a low dresser, but offer two to three times the space. The same is true of a lingerie chest. A shoulder height lingerie chest offers more storage than a Queen Anne dresser for your unmentionables. When you’re evaluating the space you need to store your clothing, don’t ever think you have enough. It’s far better to have a few nearly empty drawers for a few years than to have drawers so tightly packed that you have to struggle to get them open in the morning. Nothing puts the damper on a day than getting a black eye from a bra strap that got caught on the back of an overstuffed drawer.

Don’t go it alone – ask an expert

A well-designed bedroom doesn’t happen by accident. If you’re not comfortable with doing it yourself, there are lots of good resources out there. The Internet has sites devoted entirely to the subject of interior and bedroom design. Another good source is a reputable furniture retailer. Because they deal with design, style and fashion at every turn, these experts can help you create a bedroom that meets your needs perfectly. They can also provide you with good advice about colors, materials and fabrics so you can mix and match with ease and confidence.