A History of Furniture Design

Furniture styles have evolved throughout history. Often a piece of furniture can be dated back to its creation simply by its design. Furniture, like fashion, has designs that go in and out of style with many 'retro' styles being very popular. However, these designs are not arbitrary. Furniture design is a direct result of market demand, or more specifically, who the market is at any point in time, and the technology available to create it. Early on, only the monarchy and other rich nobleman could afford to have custom furniture created for them. While average people could probably have access to basic chairs and tables, fine handcrafted furniture could only be afforded by the rich. In fact, some of the earliest forms of industry, deliberate factory like production of fine goods and furniture, were exclusive funded and patronized by royalty. King Louis the XIV of France had factories created just to make tea sets, tapestries and furniture to furnish the Palace of Versailles outside of Paris. The styles were classic with much ornate carving done to the woodwork and luxurious fabrics used in construction. Pioneers like Wedgwood and Buitton of Britain developed ways to mass produce items such as fine China and metals. Instead of having one craftsman take a product from start to finish, employees would specialize on specific parts and a team could assemble a product much faster. This was the start of assembly line manufacturing and marked an important turn in design as for the first time quality goods were affordable to less than extremely wealthy people. This was the beginning of the middle class and furniture design to this new market changed. There was now a market for furniture that was well made with style but not necessarily constructed out of rare and expensive materials. Furniture design after this period became much more diverse with styles other than classical becoming popular. In Europe, the arts and crafts movement, Bauhaus, neo-classicism and countless other styles came in and out of fashion bringing along with it many different styles of furniture. Some were ornate like the Rococo movement and some were stripped down like the Biedermeir movement popular in Germany. Often styles come in and out of fashion multiple times over history. Classically inspired furniture is always popular in one incarnation or another. With modern times the availability of modern materials such as metal and glass gave way to new styles of furniture. Visionary Bauhaus director and architect Mies Van der Rohe designed simplistic chairs using simply metal pipes and fabrics. Charles and Ray Eames pioneered the use of bent plywood and carbon fiber in mass produced chairs. This sleek new 'Less is more' look where the style was in the design and not the ornament was typical of post modern designs. Furniture style is dictated by who can afford what and what materials and technology are available. At any moment many different styles will be popular including new ideas and throwbacks to what is considered classic.

Louisa Coan is writing on behalf of Fleur De Lys Furniture, who are a fine designer furniture outlet in Bristol and offer and a>