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Electric light, although valued for its usefulness, seemed harsh and unnatural to Arts and Crafts designers. To tone down the glare and create a soft, subtle light, they used a wide variety of materials to shade the bulbs. The results were lamps of great beauty. Unlike earlier shades, Arts and Crafts shades were designed to throw light downward into the room or onto the table. This not only increased the useful light in the room but also allowed heat generated by the light bulb to escape more easily, so a greater range of materials could be used for the shade.

Incandescent bulbs were covered with shades made of stained glass, mica, or colored blown glass, all of which satisfactorily softened their glaring light. Shades were also made of linen, silk, and heavy parchment. Mica, a transparent or subtly colored mineral that naturally occurs in thin layers, was highly valued for shades. Shards of mica layered with shellac were often placed in a frame of copper, which gave the shade its shape. The mica, in tones of palest ivory through amber, softly filtered electric light and cast a golden glow over rooms. Dirk Van Erp was famous for his mica shades, which are valuable objects today.

Stained glass was also a favorite material used to shade Craftsman style lamps. From the simple cone-shaped shades of the Roycrofters to the curving forms designed by Tiffany, stained glass was valued both the soft glow it imparted and the motifs it could express. Handel Company lamps are particularly prized by collectors of Craftsman style lamps.

Frosted glass was also popular. Gustav Stickley designed hanging fixtures like lanterns in his Craftsman Workshop. They were elegantly simple frosted glass tubes set in hammered copper frames and suspended on matching chains. This simple design is a classic choice today.

The bases of Craftsman style lamps were as beautiful as the shades. Many materials were used to make the bases for table lighting, including quartersawn oak, walnut, or mahogany; art pottery and leaded glass; and metal such as wrought iron or beaten copper and bronze. Teco Pottery, in Terra Cotta, Illinois, was famous for the architectural shapes of its art pottery, and it used the same aesthetic in designing lamp bases. A Teco lamp is a prized possession for collectors.

Arts and Crafts architects designed interiors as well as exteriors, using one inspirational theme to unify all elements of a design. The motif would be repeated, perhaps with some variation of form, in the lamps and shades as well. Frank Lloyd Wright invented the indirect alcove lighting so popular in modern construction. The frosted glass globes suspended in wooden frames created a bright band over windows or built-in furniture. Greene and Greene designed a lantern of wood and stained glass in shades of amber, caramel, gold, and green that repeated the cloud motif they used as a unifying theme throughout the house. It hung over the dining table and could be raised or lowered with a system of pulleys.

Harsh electric light was forced to conform to the values of simplicity and naturalness with a great variety of beautifully designed Craftsman style lamps.

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• The Craftsman bungalow is a particularly American version of the bungalows found at the English seaside, which itself originated in India. The one-story thatch-roofed native houses in the province of Bengal were called “banggolo” or “bangla.” British colonists adapted these houses for use as summer homes, adding deep verandas to shelter themselves from the sun. The kitchens, dining room, bedrooms, and bathrooms were arranged around central living rooms. This efficient plan was adopted by American architects. Bungalows exemplify structural simplicity, efficient use of space, and understated style.
• The Craftsman style home has been an American classic for over a century. These houses are characterized by the use of natural materials, an emphasis on structural form, and the integration of interior and exterior spaces. Their open floor plan prefigured the ‘ranch’ houses so popular in the second half of the 20th century.
• American’s spend more than a billion dollars each year on Mexican rustic furniture and art. The combination of natural materials, exquisite craftsmanship, cheap prices, and (with America being so close to the Mexican border) the ease of transport make this southwestern rustic look a very likely choice for many Americans. Perhaps one of the reasons that Mexican furniture is appealing to Americans now more than ever is the creative use of color and texture to achieve the artistic look that the furniture has.
• In a Craftsman house, the design of the house and the interior decoration are considered together, two parts of the same whole. Architects designed interiors as well as houses. Gustav Stickley, Greene and Greene, and Frank Lloyd Wright all created interiors that were as carefully thought-out as the buildings they designed. Some of these wonderful Craftsman houses still survive – but even if you aren’t lucky enough to own one, you can still have a Craftsman style interior in your home.
• Admired for its simplicity and directness, Craftsman architecture is experiencing a resurgence of popularity today, more than a hundred years after its beginnings. Like the architecture of the Arts and Crafts movement in Europe, it relied on readily available native materials and reflected the historical influence of the builder. Architects sought to harmonize the structure with the site, blurring the line between interior and exterior. New ideas about health encouraged outdoor living on terraces and porches.

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Greene and Greene are credited with developing bungalow style. The houses they built in California in the early 1900s were influenced by the austere beauty of Japanese houses as well as the tenets of the Arts and Crafts movement. Their houses were widely publicized in magazines and received enthusiastically by the growing middle class. Soon a flood of pattern books made plans for the Craftsman bungalow available across the country. By 1920, the bungalow had become the common builder’s house throughout America.

The Craftsman bungalow has many variations in style, but it is usually a one or one-and-a-half story house with a low-pitched, gabled roof. The roof usually extends to cover a large porch, and a small gable shelters the front door. The rafter tails are ordinarily exposed. Porch columns can be made of wood or stone. They are large and square, resting on pedestals that rise out of the foundation and also function as endposts for the porch railings. The foundations are often built from local stone, blending earth and house in a way much admired by the Arts and Crafts movement. The Craftsman bungalow is characterized by the use of natural materials, an emphasis on structural form, and the integration of interior and exterior spaces.

The windows of a Craftsman bungalow are carefully proportioned to harmonize with the lines of the house. Typically, they are outlined with wood molding. Four-over-1 or 6-over-1 sash windows are the most common, although leaded diamond shapes or other geometric patterns are also common. Stained-glass motifs were sometimes included in the design.

Inside, the most distinctive element of the Craftsman bungalow is the use of wood. Walls are paneled, floorboards are polished, and ceiling timbers are exposed. The grain and color of the natural wood is part of the beauty of the style. Local materials are favored here as well; depending on the area in which the house is located, cedar, oak, fir, or mahogany may be used. California bungalows display redwood doors and paneling, and cypress wainscotting is found in the Southwest. Eastern bungalows are often paneled in chestnut, since it was oversupplied when the chestnut blight swept through the forests.

The Arts and Crafts ethic is also expressed in the interior layout of the Craftsman bungalow. The large, relaxing front porch replaces the formal entry hall, and the front door opens directly into the living room. Interior space is free-flowing, with the living room open to the dining room. Communal space, rather than private space, was desirable.

As beautiful as it is practical, the Craftsman bungalow is still a desirable style for Americans.

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• The Craftsman style home has been an American classic for over a century. These houses are characterized by the use of natural materials, an emphasis on structural form, and the integration of interior and exterior spaces. Their open floor plan prefigured the ‘ranch’ houses so popular in the second half of the 20th century.
• In a Craftsman house, the design of the house and the interior decoration are considered together, two parts of the same whole. Architects designed interiors as well as houses. Gustav Stickley, Greene and Greene, and Frank Lloyd Wright all created interiors that were as carefully thought-out as the buildings they designed. Some of these wonderful Craftsman houses still survive – but even if you aren’t lucky enough to own one, you can still have a Craftsman style interior in your home.
• Mission or Craftsman tables were plain, simple, and solidly built. Devoid of ornamentation, they were an American interpretation of English Arts and Crafts furniture. William Morris, one of the founders of the movement, felt that furniture fell into two categories: state furniture, “sideboards, cabinets, and the like, which we have quite as much for beauty’s sake as for use,” and daily furniture, which included “chairs, dining and working tables and the like, the necessary work-a-day furniture.” He felt that daily furniture should be “simple to the last degree; nay, if it were rough I should like it better.” This precept had a profound effect on American designers.
• Mission or Craftsman style furniture is the American version of Arts and Crafts furniture. It has a distinctive organic appeal that makes it popular today, a hundred years after its introduction.
• The beauty and durability of this wood make unfinished oak furniture a popular choice. Oak is a very hard, open-grain wood. Red oak, which has a slightly pinkish cast before finishing, is slightly more popular than white oak. Both varieties accept stain well. Oak was the favorite wood of early English craftsmen, and it was a prized building and furniture-making material for American colonists. The wood most commonly used for ready-to-finish furniture is oak.

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While modern kitchen design isn’t quite how it was perceived in “The Jetsons,” the materials are modern – made of linoleum, plastics, steel and chrome, along with artistic touches of granite, marble, and wood. A simplistic elegance haunts the kitchens, with many of the major appliances hidden in small out of the way cabinets, allowing the room to remain open in breezy.

Refrigerators are the most visible appliances encompassed in modern kitchen design. Some blend beautifully into the background using faces of wood, and others stand out boldly made of steel. Modern kitchen design brings you the ability to have your personal taste in color match the rest of your kitchen, without spending more money or looking in the far corners of the Earth. In some modern refrigerators, you’ll find ice machines and small computers to help you plan your meals. Even better, these computers can remind you to thaw your meat overnight and help balance the nutrition of your diet.

Dishwashers, which until modern kitchen design were the household members, are now commonplace, usually taking residence next to the kitchen sink. Dishwashers allow for dishes to be washed in near-boiling water, allowing for the dishes to be perfectly sanitized and beautifully dried – each time. To accompany the dishwasher, a garbage disposal is found under the sink to allow for the easy disposal of foodstuffs and other kitchen by-products.

Oven and stovetops are just as discreet, and in many kitchens you’ll find the oven and stovetop hidden in the counter area. With flat-surfaced burners, it’s become easy to hide the stovetop, and with the self-cleaning oven it’s easy to forget its there when not in use!

On the granite and marble countertops, you’ll find microwaves, which can cook food as fast as lightning! The invention of these devices over 30 years ago revolutionized cooking, and in the interim has created an entire industry relating to the producing of foods therein. In modern kitchen design, you’ll find microwaves where you can scan just the barcode of the item to be cooked, and the microwave will do the rest.

Cabinets are plentiful in modern kitchen design, and can be made of a plethora of material. You can find cabinets made of oak, pine, plastic, fiberglass, and many more materials. The structure and architecture of the kitchen allow for ample cabinet space, bringing cabinets above the head and rotating lower cabinets that can house much more items than in previous designs.

Flooring, while often overlooked, is also made of newer materials. While you can still find many kitchens floored in wood, many floors are also covered in linoleum and carpets, and others are elaborately adorned in tile and marble.

As you can see, the decoration and design of the kitchen has changed dramatically in the past 100 years. Modern kitchen design allows for a great number of appliances and materials to be used, thus making it customizable for anyone!

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• Admired for its simplicity and directness, Craftsman architecture is experiencing a resurgence of popularity today, more than a hundred years after its beginnings. Like the architecture of the Arts and Crafts movement in Europe, it relied on readily available native materials and reflected the historical influence of the builder. Architects sought to harmonize the structure with the site, blurring the line between interior and exterior. New ideas about health encouraged outdoor living on terraces and porches.
• Contemporary rugs are a wonderful fit for a beautiful art deco, modern or contemporary style room. Rugs are used to accent the floor design and material or the furnishings surrounding the rug. Rugs can add color, texture, interest and space definition to the room décor and their popularity is escalating.
• Even though the practice hasn’t changed much in several hundred years, modern sculpture is still a very popular form of art. It is a form of artistic expression where hard or plastic materials are worked, by carving, molding, or welding, into three dimensional art objects. The designs may be embodied in existing objects, reliefs on surfaces, or in environments ranging from tableaux to context that envelop the spectator. Sculpture can be made of clay, wax, stone, fabric, wood, plaster, rubber, and other seemingly ‘random’ materials and objects. These materials can be carved, molded, modeled, cast, wrought, welded, sewn, assembled, or otherwise manipulated into the sculpture.
• Danish design is a hallmark all its own. While Danish furniture is well known for its comfort, its craftsmanship, and the sheer simple elegance. It is often overlooked how important design is in incorporating all of these features into what becomes Danish furniture. This design style is uncomplicated and to some simplistic, yet within the simplicity lays an elegant beauty that is unmistakably Danish.
• Contemporary sculpture is not your mother’s sculpture! Since the end of the 1960s the only real definition of ‘contemporary sculpture’ is the fact that it fits no mold – it fits into no other sculpting genre. It’s not limited by materials or source, indoor or outdoor setting, function or design or influence. Contemporary sculpture as taken a life of its own – and thanks to the modern sculptors the movement keeps changing and morphing to fit the whims of the artists.

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Gustav Stickley’s houses were the first to carry the Craftsman name, which he also used for his Craftsman Workshops, his Craftsman Home Builder’s Club, and The Craftsman magazine. Strictly speaking, the only houses that can be truly called “Craftsman” are the ones built from designs that appeared in the magazine, but his style was so popular that the term was soon used for other houses of similar style. Stickley’s floor plans usually included suggestions for an exterior architectural scheme, including Tudor, Spanish Mission, Dutch Colonial, and Bungalow styles.

Gothic and Tudor styles were very popular. The first Roycroft buildings were influenced by St. Oswald’s Church in Grasmere, England, echoing its style with plain Gothic windows and post-and-beam construction from natural logs. The crenellated tower of the print shop echoes the medieval castles of England but is built of native glacial stones. Fourteen buildings on the original Roycroft Campus have been designated as National Historic Landmarks. Fonthill, built by the tile manufacturer Henry Mercer, was inspired by the medieval fortresses of Europe and was filled with a fabulous tile collection.

In California and throughout the Southwest, Mission or Craftsman architecture reflected the Spanish history of the area. Houses characteristically included stucco walls, wrought-iron grillwork, and glazed accent tiles. They usually had courtyards or other outdoor living areas. Terra-cotta tile roofs were common.

In the heartland of North America, Craftsman architecture reflected the unbroken horizon with Prairie style, developed by Frank Lloyd Wright. These houses were characterized by low, nearly flat roofs with deep overhangs. Heavily squared columns supported the porches, and geometric art glass windows were favored. The Darwin Martin complex in Buffalo, New York, is arguably Wright’s finest work of that period, and is now being restored.

Four-Square houses, which developed in the American Midwest, are another version of Craftsman architecture. The straightforward lines and practical squared shape represent the “honesty” prized by Arts and Crafts reformers. These houses were characterized by a square footprint and second story; sometimes the attic had dormers and was used as a third floor.

The most famous style of Craftsman architecture was the Bungalow, which could range from a tiny cottage to a very large house. Greene and Greene designed the Gamble House, now a museum, in Pasadena in the early 1900s, incorporating many Oriental elements. Other architects followed their lead, incorporating low, sweeping rooflines and verandas in their house plans.

The diversity of Craftsman architecture is fascinating. Each region created its own version of Arts and Crafts architecture, using local materials and honoring individual heritage.

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• The Craftsman style home has been an American classic for over a century. These houses are characterized by the use of natural materials, an emphasis on structural form, and the integration of interior and exterior spaces. Their open floor plan prefigured the ‘ranch’ houses so popular in the second half of the 20th century.
• Mission or Craftsman style furniture is the American version of Arts and Crafts furniture. It has a distinctive organic appeal that makes it popular today, a hundred years after its introduction.
• Craftsman style is a distinctively American version of the international Arts and Crafts style. The Arts and Crafts movement, though remembered for its distinctive architecture and interior design, originated in social and political philosophy. By the mid-nineteenth century, a strong reaction to the Industrial Revolution – and the corresponding excesses of Victorian taste – was developing. Critics such as Pugin, Crane, and Ruskin looked back to the tradition of medieval guilds, and embraced the ideal of objects made “for the people and by the people, and a source of pleasure to the maker and the user.”
• The Craftsman bungalow is a particularly American version of the bungalows found at the English seaside, which itself originated in India. The one-story thatch-roofed native houses in the province of Bengal were called “banggolo” or “bangla.” British colonists adapted these houses for use as summer homes, adding deep verandas to shelter themselves from the sun. The kitchens, dining room, bedrooms, and bathrooms were arranged around central living rooms. This efficient plan was adopted by American architects. Bungalows exemplify structural simplicity, efficient use of space, and understated style.
• Mission or Craftsman tables were plain, simple, and solidly built. Devoid of ornamentation, they were an American interpretation of English Arts and Crafts furniture. William Morris, one of the founders of the movement, felt that furniture fell into two categories: state furniture, “sideboards, cabinets, and the like, which we have quite as much for beauty’s sake as for use,” and daily furniture, which included “chairs, dining and working tables and the like, the necessary work-a-day furniture.” He felt that daily furniture should be “simple to the last degree; nay, if it were rough I should like it better.” This precept had a profound effect on American designers.

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Of course it takes a little more than a light fixture or two to recreate the rustic lighting and atmosphere of your favorite mountain lodge, but lighting is one of the cheaper touches that can be added that will have a significant impact on the overall rustic nature of your room. Of course, you must remember that cheaper is a relative term here. When you consider that rustic furniture will easily cost in excess of a thousand if not a few thousand dollars, $250-300 doesn’t seem all that large of an investment.

Combine your new rustic lighting fixtures with a few homemade touches from a local forest (pine cones, branches, and a little ingenuity can go a long way towards an inexpensive yet rustic décor) and you are well on your way to a rustic lodge in your very own living room, kitchen, bedroom, or bath.

Keep in mind that rustic lighting is not just the fixture but the level of light also. Softer warmer light is much more rustic than bright white light. Your goal should be to cast a soft warm glow throughout the room. While it is important to have adequate lighting in a room, you can achieve this by having more fixtures spread throughout the room rather than relying on one overhead light fixture. You can use wall sconces and lamps in addition to the main overhead light fixture in the room. By having several low light areas within the room you can create multiple areas within the room that are much cozier and more intimate than one single room at large.

Rustic lighting is an important feature as far as rustic décor is concerned. If you bring too much light into the room it will hamper the overall intimate effect you are trying to achieve. If you bring too little light into the room, you take away a good deal of the functionality of the room. By creating several small, low light areas that use soft light you are adding warm dimensions to the room and increasing the overall functionality and family friendly environment that you were most likely hoping to achieve.

The very nature of lighting works with many other elements within a room to create not only atmosphere but also warmth. If you are going for a rustic style in a room or within your home at large you may really want to consider rustic lighting to maximize the overall rustic effect in your home.

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• If your goal is rustic, interior decorating the following tips and hints can make all the difference in the world. There are many things you can do big and small that will give a room a very rustic feel. The very nature of rustic decorating is the idea of bringing the outdoors inside. It is actually quite simple to do if you use your imagination, or you can follow examples of others that have gone before you in the rustic style of decorating.
• The kitchen is the heart of any home and a rustic kitchen décor says home and hearth like no other. There are so many creative ways you can make a kitchen seem rustic without even going to a great amount of expense. Rustic, when referring to a kitchen décor spells out natural or referring to nature. There are all kinds of natural ‘touches’ you can add to your kitchen to accomplish this overall appearance and ‘feel’. The correct furniture can do so much to add to the rustic atmosphere of a kitchen, perhaps more so than any other decorative touches that you can add.
• One can hardly think of Danish lamps without thinking of the world famous PH Lamps. These lamps are famous because they combine form and function, in traditional Danish character, to create a lamp that provides the perfect glare free light. Poul Henningsen created what many believe is the perfect light. Originally it was meant to be a multi-shaded lamp. The genius of these lamps is that they are bright enough that people can work by them without creating the glare that makes such work problematic.
• Danish lighting, like most other Danish products is almost a superior version of something that is ordinary and plain to the rest of the world. I have gained such a deep and abiding respect for Danish craftsmen over the course of my research. While so many seek the glory of new research and discovery, I find that I am more impressed by the man who stops and looks at what there is, and simply says, ‘I can make that better.’
• In the style of Art Deco, lighting is used to accent and highlight other pieces. Although, a skilled art deco lighting designer will be quick to point out that their pieces can be the center point of any room. Art deco lighting is characterized by the materials (and their characteristics) they’re created from, the fixtures used to create the pieces, the figure of the lamp and more.

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As time progressed, the once-popular wrought iron bed frames fell out of favor. This was due, in part to a change in tastes on the part of consumers. The highly decorative look that once prevailed in home decoration was slowly replaced by a less detailed and more colorful sense of style.

Additionally, wrought iron beds were not able to maintain a competitive price compared to mass-produced wooden frames. Wood became cheaper, more uniform, sturdier and more readily available and mass production of furniture became increasingly common. Wrought iron beds were generally handmade by artisans and the time-consuming process of making a beautiful wrought iron frame made them far more expensive than a variety of fairly attractive alternatives.

Today, some are looking at wrought iron beds again. This reflects a willingness among consumers to consider historical options in decorating. For decades, homeowners focused on adopting the newest styles and looks. As modern design radicalized, however, many began to look back through history for aesthetically pleasing options. This willingness to backtrack in style has led many to recognize the timeless beauty of wrought iron beds. Wrought iron is making a comeback in many settings, and the bedroom is chief among them. Antique styled dressers with wrought iron hardware and beds made from wrought iron are both climbing in popularity.

Though some buyers’ tastes are turning back toward the nineteenth century look, price tags for a good wrought iron bed remain relatively high. In fact, the price differential between standard wooden beds and even cheaper no-frills metal frames is even more pronounced today than it was decades ago. As such, those who want to capture the antique look of wrought iron must be prepared to pay for the privilege.

Most makers of wrought iron beds are smaller operations focusing on custom construction. They build the bed frames in a manner remarkably similar to the artisans of the past and show a painstaking attention to detail and quality. The beds are ornate, beautiful and extremely well made. In fact, their durability considerably outdistances that of most mass-produced alternatives. One may pay more, but they can get more in return.

If you are looking for a way to make a bold and beautiful statement in your bedroom, you may want to consider wrought iron. This old-fashioned element of design can today serve to reinvigorate a room. There are many features of antique furnishings that still have a striking visual impact today. A perfect example of this are hand-made wrought iron beds.

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• An ornate wrought iron gate was a staple of fine homes throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Highly decorative gates made of wrought iron frequently greeted visitors to the homes of the wealthy and tasteful. Wrought iron is a commercial grade of iron that has a very low carbon content, making it particularly malleable. Although somewhat prone to rusting if not correctly treated, wrought iron can be worked into a variety of patterns and was popular for gates because of that flexibility.
• Wrought iron hardware can be a great way to improve the look of one’s cabinets and furnishings. This nineteenth century style, featuring a low-carbon form of iron that is usually painted black, can be effectively integrated into a twenty-first century home.
• Wrought iron entry doors are not made exclusively of wrought iron. In fact, many of the doors in this category make relatively little use, in terms of overall materials, of wrought iron. The term is used to describe any entry, or main, door that features ornamentation or decoration made of wrought iron. With a huge and always growing selection of wrought iron entry doors, one can certainly find a door for any home. The timeless beauty and elegance of these doors makes them a perfect fit for many homes.
• The Craftsman style home has been an American classic for over a century. These houses are characterized by the use of natural materials, an emphasis on structural form, and the integration of interior and exterior spaces. Their open floor plan prefigured the ‘ranch’ houses so popular in the second half of the 20th century.
• Wrought iron furniture can be a great addition to many homes, patios or other outdoor areas. In some cases, however, people make unwise wrought iron furniture choices. Most of these mistakes are avoidable if one goes into the buying process with a few key factors in mind. Let’s take a look at some of the things for which you should be looking before buying wrought iron furnishings. Keeping these factors in mind when looking at furniture options should help you to make a quality decision.

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American Arts and Crafts furniture was in general plainer and more austere than English and European furniture influenced by the movement. Architects like Greene and Greene or Frank Lloyd Wright often designed furniture to harmonize with the houses they built. Most Mission furniture employed exposed mortise-and-tenon joinery, solid rectilinear forms, and native woods. Pieces were sometimes inset with simple metal or wood ornamentation.

Strictly speaking, only tables designed by Gustav Stickley and produced in his Craftsman Workshop can be called Craftsman tables. His deceptively simple tables are in fact masterpieces of design. He displayed his first Craftsman table in the Grand Rapids Furniture Exposition of 1900, and also advertised it that year in Chicago newspapers. From 1904 to 1916 he published The Craftsman magazine, which not only popularized the new style but also gave plans for building his furniture.

Stickley preferred to work with red or white oak, quarter sawn to enhance the beauty of the grain. This is sometimes called “tiger-stripe” oak because of its wavy grain pattern. The boards are cut from the log perpendicular to the growth rings. This sawing method makes for a dimensionally stable board that’s resistant to the warping and width changes caused by changes in humidity.

Stickley also fumed his oak furniture, further enhancing the grain. The process involved setting up tents of very heavy canvas. The furniture was placed inside the tent. Vats of ammonia were wheeled in and uncovered, and the tents were tightly sealed. The ammonia gas reacted with the tannin in the oak, changing the color of the wood from a pale yellow to a beautiful warm brown. Afterward, the piece could be shellacked and polished.

Like other designers, Stickley used exposed mortise-and-tenon construction for his Craftsman tables. The legs were usually straight and held together with stretchers. Sometimes a corbel supported a tabletop, and side slats were often included.

The legs of Stickley’s tables were unusual. The distinctive grain of quarter-sawn oak is only displayed on two sides of a board. A solid table leg, therefore, would show beautiful grain on only two sides, while the other two would be plain. Some artisans solved the problem by covering the flatsawn faces with quartersawn veneer. Stickley, however, made each table leg from four trapezoid pieces, with the quartersawn face on the long side of the board and the two adjacent sides angled at 45 degrees. When the four pieces were fitted together, a solid-looking leg with four quartersawn faces resulted.

Stickley was a remarkable designer, a man who combined the artistic vision needed to imagine his distinctive furniture with the expert craftsmanship necessary to create it. His Craftsman tables are as beautiful today as they were when he made them.

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• Mission or Craftsman style furniture is the American version of Arts and Crafts furniture. It has a distinctive organic appeal that makes it popular today, a hundred years after its introduction.
• Craftsman style is a distinctively American version of the international Arts and Crafts style. The Arts and Crafts movement, though remembered for its distinctive architecture and interior design, originated in social and political philosophy. By the mid-nineteenth century, a strong reaction to the Industrial Revolution – and the corresponding excesses of Victorian taste – was developing. Critics such as Pugin, Crane, and Ruskin looked back to the tradition of medieval guilds, and embraced the ideal of objects made “for the people and by the people, and a source of pleasure to the maker and the user.”
• The Craftsman bungalow is a particularly American version of the bungalows found at the English seaside, which itself originated in India. The one-story thatch-roofed native houses in the province of Bengal were called “banggolo” or “bangla.” British colonists adapted these houses for use as summer homes, adding deep verandas to shelter themselves from the sun. The kitchens, dining room, bedrooms, and bathrooms were arranged around central living rooms. This efficient plan was adopted by American architects. Bungalows exemplify structural simplicity, efficient use of space, and understated style.
• The beauty and durability of this wood make unfinished oak furniture a popular choice. Oak is a very hard, open-grain wood. Red oak, which has a slightly pinkish cast before finishing, is slightly more popular than white oak. Both varieties accept stain well. Oak was the favorite wood of early English craftsmen, and it was a prized building and furniture-making material for American colonists. The wood most commonly used for ready-to-finish furniture is oak.
• Admired for its simplicity and directness, Craftsman architecture is experiencing a resurgence of popularity today, more than a hundred years after its beginnings. Like the architecture of the Arts and Crafts movement in Europe, it relied on readily available native materials and reflected the historical influence of the builder. Architects sought to harmonize the structure with the site, blurring the line between interior and exterior. New ideas about health encouraged outdoor living on terraces and porches.

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Art deco is an art movement whose roots lie in simplicity. Simple shapes and lines create beautiful pieces of artwork, furniture, and sculpture. Because of the social and economic changes following the end of World War I, there was an enormous need for furniture that was both pleasing to view and functional in many way.

The lines are smooth and sleek in art deco. Hardware is hidden between levels of materials, where it’s not easily seen or found. Thus, the furniture is seamless to the naked eye – and having the appearance of being formed out of one or two solid objects. When the hardware is hidden as such, it’s considered a craft unto itself.

Another use for art deco hardware is for light switch coverings. While they can be made of many materials, the most beautiful I’ve found have been made of steel, chrome, aluminum, and other similar materials. They can be very ornate or plain, but usually they are seamless in design, as their furniture counterparts, with contemporary themes and ideas.

You can also find the usage in electrical outlets as well. As with light switches, the hardware for the electrical outlet can be made of chrome, aluminum, steel, plastic, or other materials, but the underlying attachments between the pieces are the functionality and beauty of the design.

Another good place to accent your room with art deco hardware is the doorknob. The doorknob, for example, is a piece of hardware which gets regular use through house and room visitors, and is usually one of the first items noticed when entering or leaving a room. The doorknob, like its other hardware counterparts, can be made from a plethora of materials, and occasionally you’ll find the pieces accented in precious medals such as gold or silver.

As you can see, there is a wide variety of choices when it comes to art deco. Hardware can be made of almost any materials, and can be placed in any utilitarian area to create a sleek, chic, and modern look for the home of anyone who loves the art deco period of art and furniture. While it may not be easy to find the art deco hardware you desire, if you have a highly focused internet search you’ll be able to find the perfect pieces for your home or office.

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• In a kitchen or bathroom, adding rustic door hardware is a great way to add a rustic touch without going to a great amount of expense or hassle. Rustic door knobs and drawer pulls can be found at almost any hardware stores in many different shapes, sizes, colors, and styles. There are almost as many drawer pulls and door handles on the market as one person could possibly imagine, if not a few more than most people can imagine.
• Modern rugs are sleek, stark and spacious with angular lines and shapes. The popularity of this style of design is escalating, and with it is the demand for modern home décor accessories. Modern rugs can add color, texture, interest, and space definition to your décor. In the past, it could be difficult to find a modern rug to fit a consumer’s precise space and contextual requirements; today, however, there is a growing number of rug companies that manufacture modern rugs and more stores, in turn, are stocking these brilliant and popular designs.
• Art deco interior designing is a long, arduous task. It requires a lot of knowledge in the architecture of buildings, and a lot of knowledge in the beauty and functionality of art deco interior design. While the process of art deco interior design is a craft and skill, there are many techniques the layman can utilize to give the effect of design by a qualified designer – without the costs.
• As with any style, art deco fabrics can be made of almost any material, with almost any pattern (or lack thereof), at any grade of quality. Finding the perfect art deco fabric for your room can be difficult, but at the same time can be fun as you play with the different options you have. This article will help you find out what it is you need in art deco fabric, from material construction to durability and pattern.
• Art deco decorating is an art form unto itself. The beauty of art deco is based on lines, shapes, and colors – and having an eye and appreciation for the craft will help you with your own art deco decorating tasks. The key to art deco decorating is paying attention to light, angles, colors, and finding the perfect complimentary furniture.

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Because contemporary rugs are easier to find and they’re being decorated with many popular patterns. While traditional patterned rugs are still available, there is a whole new movement of rugs that contain designs that you will find hip, new, and refreshing. There are a number of companies manufacturing contemporary rugs, and in turn many more retailers are open to providing this alternative to the traditional market.

You can find contemporary rugs in almost any shape or pattern – ranging from the very geometric and angular to patterns including wildlife, nature, personal, political and other scenes. Finding the perfect rug to compliment your home is a breeze with all the patterns and designs to choose from.

Because contemporary rugs are becoming much more fashionable, and easier to make, the costs associated with buying and maintaining a high-quality rug has diminished greatly. No longer are rugs for the very rich – even middle class families can afford to buy and maintain a great contemporary rug that compliments the homes’ décor.

In addition, there is another form of rug called the metro modern rug collection which has a minimalist form and has exquisitely refined details. These rugs are accented by their neutral colors, tone-on-tone designs, and underlying simplicity of line, shape, and form. This range of emotions that the rugs depict makes them a hit for consumers and designers alike.

You can get a contemporary rug created from three basic yarns: wools, nylons, and polypropylene. Wool is the most expensive, next comes nylon, and the cheapest is polypropylene. The quality of the weave in the rug has increased dramatically within the last hundred years, especially since the utilization of mass production, thus the longevity of the rug has been extended. Rugs can be expected to last up to 20 years, needing only occasional cleaning. Rugs are now a easy to maintain and relatively cheap form of artwork for the home.

When you’re shopping for your contemporary rug, make sure to speak with the retailer about your needs. Chances are, your retailer will be able to help you find the perfect rug for your durability, stain resistance, and traffic needs. Because of their inherent knowledge in the field, they will be able to show you which rugs will compliment your home and needs, and which ones stay away from.

As you can see, rugs are now available for all modern consumers regardless of social status. Because the creation process has sped up the creation time of contemporary rugs, you are able to find beautiful, decorated, rugs to accent your home décor – at a reasonable price.

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• Modern rugs are sleek, stark and spacious with angular lines and shapes. The popularity of this style of design is escalating, and with it is the demand for modern home décor accessories. Modern rugs can add color, texture, interest, and space definition to your décor. In the past, it could be difficult to find a modern rug to fit a consumer’s precise space and contextual requirements; today, however, there is a growing number of rug companies that manufacture modern rugs and more stores, in turn, are stocking these brilliant and popular designs.
• Art deco hardware is not hard to find, however without proper training, finding the correct art deco hardware to compliment your room can be difficult. It can come in many shapes, sizes, colors and functions – and without proper knowledge of art deco hardware design and function, it could be easy to turn a room from an art deco haven to an art deco hardware hell. There is an intrinsic beauty to the style “art deco.” Hardware for the room must remain true to the form and purpose of the art.
• Danish furniture has become synonymous with contemporary furniture over the last several decades. Some of the most elegant modern furniture on the market today is of Danish design. Not only do people associate the classic modern lines and look of this furniture with Danish craftsmanship but the general quality of this furniture makes it one of the most popular styles of furniture on the market today. And, this popularity is showing no signs whatsoever of fading.
• Art Deco Curtains are hard to find, if you’re looking for the originals. However, it’s very easy to find reproductions of the patterns used in the early 1920s era of art deco. Curtains can be made of almost any kind of material, and with almost any design, but the most prominent piece of the curtain may very well be the curtain rod ornamentation.
• Contemporary sculpture is not your mother’s sculpture! Since the end of the 1960s the only real definition of ‘contemporary sculpture’ is the fact that it fits no mold – it fits into no other sculpting genre. It’s not limited by materials or source, indoor or outdoor setting, function or design or influence. Contemporary sculpture as taken a life of its own – and thanks to the modern sculptors the movement keeps changing and morphing to fit the whims of the artists.

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Danish furniture requires no ornamental scrollwork or bright and bold patterns. It’s simplicity and sleek design is part of its appeal. One of the things that you will immediately notice about this furniture is its use of wood in combination with other materials. The other thing you will notice is that it is built for comfort and functionality rather than for looks.

While the furniture does have a modern and often sleek look to it, there is purpose in the modern lines that goes far beyond appearance. Most Danish furniture is designed with the human body in mind. The form of the furniture is meant to conform to the contours and shape of the human body. Not only does this furniture offer superior form and comfort, you will also find that it is very beautiful for the very simplicity of its design.

Some of the most elegant things are really quite simple. A simple, single strand of pearls is one of the most beautiful and elegant jewelry pieces a girl can own and yet there is no real adornment, no fancy settings. The simplicity of the strand is what makes it so beautiful. The same principle holds true for Danish furniture. It doesn’t have to extensive patterns, scrollwork, or complicated lines. The mere simplicity of this furniture is a significant component of its beauty. The superior comfort is vital to its appeal. The combination of the two is the reason for its unsurpassed popularity over the better part of the last century.

With furniture lines for the home office to the home theatre and everything in between, Danish furniture makers have been quite busy. The fact that they continue to remain ahead of the trends and demands of the public is almost uncanny. The makers of this phenomenal furniture also have the ability to improve upon existing concepts and make them more comfortable while retaining the overall look and appeal of the furniture they are improving all the while continuing to create new and innovative furniture as they go.

These talented craftsmen do not limit themselves to copying and improving works of others, nor do they find themselves above it. If something works with the body they are perfectly willing to adopt and adapt the new technology to increase the performance and comfort of their furniture. If it looks good but isn’t comfortable, they can adopt the look and find ways to increase the comfort. I applaud their efforts at creating furniture for the human form. The Danish furniture makers are modern miracle workers if you ask me.

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• Danish design is a hallmark all its own. While Danish furniture is well known for its comfort, its craftsmanship, and the sheer simple elegance. It is often overlooked how important design is in incorporating all of these features into what becomes Danish furniture. This design style is uncomplicated and to some simplistic, yet within the simplicity lays an elegant beauty that is unmistakably Danish.
• While not a fan of harsh lines and start contrasts that are often seen in modern furniture. I am a recent convert to the love of Danish interiors and furnishings. Even though Danish craftsmanship tends to run in the direction of modern and contemporary furnishings, they retain a certain level of simplistic elegance that is lovely in and of itself. In addition to that, Danish designers tend to make judicious and generous use of wood in their designs and I’m a sucker for natural looking wood products.
• Danish chairs are perhaps the most comfortably designed chairs in the world. If you haven’t had the good fortune to sit in one, you should really try one out the very next chance you get. In fact you may never want to sit in another chair again. Danish furniture makers have for a long time been famous for the sleek contemporary look of their furniture. They are however, becoming equally famous for the unsurpassed comfort of their furniture.
• If you are in the market for office furniture for your home office or the work place you may seriously wish to consider Danish office furniture. This furniture offers beautiful symmetry, lines, and excellent use of material in addition to exquisite craftsmanship. With offering from traditional and classic to modern and futuristic Danish designers have a lot to offer for your office needs.
• When one thinks of modern furniture it virtually impossible not to think of Danish modern furniture, the Danish have been defining modern furniture for the better part of at least half a century and are showing no signs of fatigue on that front. What this means for the rest of the world is that we are playing catch up. The supreme irony is that while we are playing catch up for the modern edge, Danish designers are improving on the furniture designs from other countries.