Discover the expert in you.
Discover the expert in you.
Woodcarving changed very little for several thousand years, until the advent of powered tools. The discipline is characterized by a gradual procession from the raw medium to a detailed piece of artwork. This was accomplished by using gradually finer tools in stages to carve the material from a larger block of wood, and transform it into a figure or design.
For some, old office chairs might seem like junk. For others, they are treasures. You may value old office chairs for their quaint design or their durability. Old office chairs that were produced prior to 1830 have added financial and historical value due to their antique status. You can collect a variety of these chairs by visiting shops, residences and businesses that don't value old furniture the way you do. A little searching and some restoration will soon lead to a complete collection of decorative and usable old chairs.
A number of unusual products are created from everyday recycled materials. Some of these products are created through a need to help the environment and bring awareness to sustainable living, while others are designed to help athletes perform better, or to produce comfortable furniture from materials that would otherwise be discarded.
Particleboard is formed by mixing sawdust, wood particles and a resin into slurry, which is then pressed into sheets, forming a new wood product. Originally designed as a replacement for plywood, particleboard has become a popular building product used for a wide variety of tasks, including construction and furniture making. Particleboard is available in a number of different styles, and it is important to look at the characteristics of a board before selecting it for your project.
Building wooden furniture is much more than simply cutting out wood pieces and nailing it together. While it may seem simple to build furniture for someone who has little experience with woodworking, building furniture is a skill that takes time and patience. There are a few steps that beginners should follow to learn the basics of woodworking, even though the steps and process varies greatly depending on the type of furniture being constructed.
When designing any room, it's important to first consider its main function. A living room is a place for people to gather, watch television, or just relax. When you have a rectangular living room, shaped similarly to a short hallway, you have to arrange your furniture so that you can move around your living room efficiently while enjoying the space.
European furniture tradition began with the Roman and Gothic eras. Then, each region began to realize its own influences on furniture design as well as influence others'. The classical Renaissance, for example, had common characteristics in every region, but each country then focused on different facets of Renaissance furniture design. English furniture design differed in particular, because of its isolation from the rest of Europe.
Gothic styles originated around the middle of the 12th century in France when the familiar pointed arch was used in architecture. The Gothic Era spanned approximately four hundred years of European history from 1150 to 1550. During the 19th century the Gothic style enjoyed a second wave of popularity known as the Gothic Revival. Gothic furniture is the offspring of Gothic architecture, which was notorious for its flying buttresses, pointed arches and elaborate stained glass patterns.
Modern office furniture design must achieve a balance between form and function. Since this design emphasizes minimalism and clean lines, a furniture piece must achieve this aesthetic while incorporating electronic devices with cords and accessories that may detract from it. The task of the modern furniture designer is thus to make today's work space feel organic and uncluttered.
You may want to know the date of an old, antique or vintage chair because you want to sell it. Alternatively you may just be curious about that old chair of Grandma's. Finding the date, or approximate date, of an old chair blends knowledge and guesswork. You may be lucky enough to find information or clues that date the chair precisely. More likely you will gather details about your chair, compare it to other chairs and make an educated guess.
The Shakers were a religious sect who believed in simplicity, pacifism, economy and prudence. These attributes carried over to their furniture making, and as a design aesthetic, the Shaker style is guided by the pursuit of perfection and the desire for functionality, practicality and efficiency. This has resulted in a timeless design that not only endures but fits into any household and design scheme.
Colonial-style furniture originated in the period before and directly after the American Revolution, and usually is marked by simple woods, clean lines and comfortable, practical pieces. It has characteristics in common with the Federal style of home design. It is popular today among Americans who wish to give a sense of period restoration to a home, yet want practicality and beauty in their furniture.
Simplicity, quality and usefulness were hallmarks of Shaker furniture from the religious sect's beginnings more than 200 years ago. Although the Shaker sect has died out, the distinctive furniture style they created still inspires designers and homeowners today.
The Queen Anne design of furniture goes back to the early 1700s, and it involves straight lines and graceful cabriole legs. Find out why Queen Anne styles have stayed popular over the years with help from an antique furniture dealer in this free video on Queen Anne furniture.
Long ago, when power tools weren't yet invented, people used their hands, sweat and blood to create not only their homes but their furniture as well. Furniture was used for storage and comfort and was even traded for other items. Today, many people still stick to the basics and create their own furniture or redesign old furniture to fit to their tastes.
Oriental designs have a boldness and beautiful simplicity to their nature that many people enjoy. However, many Oriental furniture pieces bought from the store can carry massive price tags. One way to get all of the beauty of having Oriental design without the cost is to create your own piece of Oriental furniture by painting an Oriental design over an existing piece of furniture that you already own or bought second hand.
Antique furniture can help people create a distinctive style while collecting valuable pieces. Collected by many people who enjoy the Queen Anne style of furniture or appreciate furniture not made with any manufactured parts or pieces, 18th-century furniture is a well-known furniture period. Learn the various styles and features so you can identify 18th-century furniture.
Moving away from heavy, ornate furniture designs with dark wood and carving or molding that was characteristic of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the Heywood brothers of Massachusetts began making chairs with a sleek, streamlined style. Two competing companies, Heywood Brothers and Wakefield Company, merged in the mid-1800s. The newly formed company, Heywood-Wakefield, manufactured wooden furniture and bus seats. They also became the world leader in rattan and split-reed furniture. Heywood-Wakefield is credited with the creation of modern-style furniture as well as the development of machinery to mechanize the furniture-making industry. Spotting this antique furniture is easy if you…
The Fibonacci sequence is a sequence of numbers in which each term is the result of adding the previous two terms. When applied to furniture design, Leonardo Fibonacci's sequence, beginning with 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and going on into infinity, creates eye-catching and well-proportioned results. Read on to learn how to use the Fibonacci sequence to help you design furniture containing drawers.
All great furniture starts with a great design, but deciding on the size of a piece can be time consuming. There are shortcuts to finding the most aesthetically pleasing sizes though. If the piece you're designing has drawers, use arithmetic progression to determine the right size for each drawer and speed up the design process without sacrificing quality. Using this method creates an eye-catching and well-proportioned piece of furniture.
