History of Furniture
Home furniture has been around literally for centuries with the first known furniture showing up around the Neolithic period as early as 3100-2500 BCE. At first, furniture was made out of stone because wood was not easy to come by. The first known furniture were dressers, cupboards and beds, basic furniture to store things and sleep off the ground.
The most common first type of furniture was the dresser, and it was used to display the early homeowner’s artwork and store common items. During the Neolithic area most of the early furniture was found in Scotland. The dressers were made of stone, and they were specially made for the display and storage.
Beds were made next, and most of them were made in the 9th-8th century for kings and queens in Egyptian queens and pharaohs. For more about the history of furniture, you can read here. They were made for the queens and pharaohs to rest their heads in their tombs. There were also chairs and wooden headrests, that were used instead of pillows.
Medieval furniture mostly consisted of early chairs made from heavy oak and were made for sitting on and not just for tombs. They usually had very intricate designs carved on them. These chairs were first made in 500 – 1500 AD.
19th century furniture was made by many people and some of that furniture is still around today. Furniture ranged from very simplistic and easy to make, to very intricate and taking months to build. The Gothic style was very popular during this period, and much of the furniture were fancy with designs that were cut out of the wood.
In the early 20th century, Early North American furniture was being made. There is more to read about Early North American furniture at this site: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Early-American-furniture. This type of furniture was more simplistic and made to be sturdy and more basic. It was not as fancy as the earlier furniture and was mostly just basic furniture including dressers, chairs, and wooden stools. The furniture was usually made from cherry or walnut because it was easy to work with and could easily be bent using steam.
After World War II furniture turned to Modernism, and it was sleek and simple with much of it being built by artists and designers, or at least influenced by them. Chairs were for mostly for comfort but were also very artistic.
In the 1920’s people were beginning to realize that the making of furniture was beginning to take a toll on the environment. This is when Ecodesign furniture began, and it was known for using materials such as bamboo that could be easily replace.
Contemporary furniture is anything designed from the early 1970’s on until now. There are many popular styles, some of which pick up from earlier designs. Lots of metal and steel are used in making contemporary furniture.
There are many places to buy contemporary furniture in the United States. One place that is in Ohio is Scioto Valley Home Store, selling many types of indoor and outdoor furniture in all styles. The furniture there is also very reasonably priced.
History of Outdoor Furniture
The first instances of outdoor furniture were found in ancient Egypt and was made from reeds and swamp grasses. Some of the furniture was used indoors, but much of it was also used outdoors.
Wicker furniture was also made, it is made from stalks and branches and was weaved into intricate designs. Wicker was brought into America in the 1850’s by Cyrus Wakefield. He saw that rattan was being used to protect items on the ships and thought that he could use the inexpensive material to make wicker furniture. He found out that it was expensive to get the people to make the intricate designs needed and that it was very time consuming.
Later, the Heywood brothers designed a loom that could make the wicker work go faster and, therefore, cheaper. While they were competitors at first, the Heywood brothers and Wakefield joined forces and created the Heywood-Wakefield company to make wicker furniture.
Other outdoor furniture is made from modern synthetics and is easier to care for than wicker. These synthetics began to be more popular in the 1970’s and continues to be popular today. There are other materials, such as plastic and other materials.
Stone is another material that a lot of outdoor furniture is made from. There are benches and stools, as well as dining tables and chairs. Stone is an amazing material for outdoor furniture because it is easy to clean and take care of.
Furniture has been around for centuries, making people more comfortable and making their homes more stylish. There are many types of furniture for different types of homes and different types of people. There is a style out there for everyone, and you can find furniture just about anywhere nowadays.