Many people love the Amish furniture while others prefer the look of Colonial furniture. Yet others prefer the intricacy of the old French furniture style or the fine graceful lines of Thomas Sheraton. What’s your style: do have any specific furniture style that makes your pulse race when you see it?
Many of us do, although most of us cannot afford the real thing – at least not as far as Louis XV or the two Thomases, Sheraton and Chippendale, are concerned. However, you can furnish your home or even just a room in your home, in your preferred style if you are prepared to accept reproductions. Some reproduction furniture is so good that the untrained eye cannot tell the difference luxury furniture.
If you like Amish furniture then you are even more in luck, because there are several firms that produce this style of furniture, including Simply Amish where every piece is made by hand. Whether it is that, Colonial furniture or something else, you have wonderful choice of options online to furnish your home in whatever style you prefer.
Let’s look at two opposing styles: Amish furniture and French furniture. In one case the genuine article, hand crafted by genuine Amish carpenters using tradition skills handed down the generations, and in the other, reproductions made to look like original pieces from the 1715-74 Louis XV period or the succeeding Louis XVI period.
Amish furniture is simple and functional. It is made from solid American hardwood, hand-made and hand-finished just as it always has been in America’s heartland. This furniture is built to last and built to carry out a job. Chairs are steady and strong, tables are solid and cabinets have solid wood drawers than run freely and smoothly.
French reproductions are made to look good; they are intricately carved or scrolled and expertly upholstered. The Louis XV period was one of innovation with intricate carving and graceful curves, based on the cyma curve, or elongated ‘S ‘ shape that provides a fluidity and sense of movement in the piece.
French furniture crafted during this period tended towards the ornately feminine, and was fairly small but very comfortable with plush fabrics on softly sprung upholstery. Rococo furniture was also in vogue during this period, heavily upholstered with heavy cushions and exaggerated carvings and embellishments on the visible parts of the wooden frames.
You can purchase reproductions of all these online today from furniture companies such as Southwood Furniture Corporation, while Colonial furniture is available from Stickley. There are many more furniture vendors you should be able to find online. If you have a wish to decorate and furnish a room in the Lois XV or Rococo style, then you can do so. The same holds true for the Colonial style, where you could use either antique Colonial furniture or reproduction pieces.
Many choose Amish furniture simply because it will be genuine and not reproduction. As already explained, modern Amish furniture is genuinely Amish. It is made by hand by Amish people with traditional skills. What would it take to furnish a dining room with Amish furniture?
First you will need a table, and there are many to choose from. You could use an Amish gathering table, with a basic 60 inch table and the option to purchase additional 18 inch leaves to extend it in length. Double or Triple pedestal tables are also very popular, or you could opt for a simple fixed-length trestle table.
Each of these is available in a selection of woods and finishes, and many firms will be able to match a shade sample as closely as possible. Dining chairs, or side chairs, are available in many shapes and styles, including the traditional bentback and ladder back designs. They are available to purchase singly in woods and finishes to match the table.
You would likely also want a sideboard, crafted in a variety of styles and in traditional woods such as maple, walnut, cherry and hickory. A stacking red oak wine rack capable of holding up to 32 bottles would be nice accompaniment to your table, chairs and sideboard. You don’t want too much furniture since that is not the genuine Amish style.
In fact, if you use a site such as Simply Amish, you can build your own Amish furniture. You choose what you want and are then provided with a PDF file containing a blueprint from which to choose your initial shapes, edge shapes and your choice of legs. That is the ultimate in customization!
Whether your preference is for Amish furniture, Colonial furniture or French period furniture, you can decorate and furnish any room in your home to that specific style. Even just one room satisfies most people’s desire to see their style personified in their home. Find the right website and they should be able to handle your requirement.