When many people think of Amish furniture, they think of traditional design—simple rectangular shapes without much flair or ornamentation, typically created in oak and stained in cherry and golden-brown hues. But today’s Amish crafters aren’t living in the past when it comes to design. They are building contemporary furniture with modern shapes and bold embellishments. They are utilizing metal and leather alongside a wide variety of beautiful American hardwoods, available in stains ranging from vibrant teals and blues and muted tans and grays and everything in between.
Many people associate Amish furniture with a style known as ‘mission,’ which is characterized by straight horizontal and vertical lines. While the Amish do still craft beautiful mission style furniture, they have expanded well behind that. Today’s Amish crafters expertly create remarkable curved and rounded designs, which defy the expectations of what can be built out of solid wood. Crafters create spectacular twisted, lathe-turned, round, and even ‘U’ shaped, and pedestal bases for dining tables, that showcase their exceptional woodworking skill. Crafters are incorporating dramatic geometric designs to create unique modern dining tables that guests will be sure to notice.
Today’s Amish crafted bed is anything but basic. Crafters are designing beaituful bold bedroom sets, with distinctive features like cutouts, tufted headboards, and three-dimensional patterns. The Amish have embraced mid-century modern furniture design, creating modern beds with rounded corners and angled legs, that are still crafted using the traditional techniques the Amish are known for.
Wood will always remain the star of all Amish furniture, but today’s crafters are pairing it with other materials to create contemporary furniture that will stand the test of time. Whether it’s an industrial dining table with a modern metal base or a beautiful bed set with decorative hardware and metal-capped feet, today’s Amish furniture is anything but boring.
While Amish crafters have updated their designs, the exceptional way they build furniture has not changed. Each piece, whether traditional or modern style, is still built with the same quality materials, keen attention to detail, and expert craftsmanship that have made the Amish the leaders in solid wood furniture design for decades.
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