Bedroom Furniture - Shaker and Minimalist Similarities

If you want your bedroom sleek and simple, Shaker furniture is the way to go. This type of furniture leaves no room for ornate details and fancy carvings so all you really get is your piece bare and highly functional. Yet with its simplicity, the style can be charming on its own. This is the reason why it continues to grow in popularity among most homemakers these days.

Shaker furniture in fact began centuries back when it was created by a group of modest Christians called the Shakers who espoused that simplicity and efficiency are two most basic guiding principles in making furniture. They believed that with their simple designs, they were able to articulate the values and beliefs they practiced in daily life.

Their standard was based on quality being more indispensable than anything that was seen through the eye. Thus, they built their furniture with the highest level of craftsmanship with beauty playing a minor role. These days, Shaker furniture remains as a trademark of the religious group who continues to sway the modern furniture industry with its emphasis on quality over visuals.

Decorating your home Shaker style will need you to know essential architectural elements such as straight, uniform lines. If you're looking for anything curved or twisted, you won't find it with this type of furniture where modesty is the best and all. Another Shaker trademark is its joinery which employs the classic tenon and mortise and dovetailing. No screws, no nails, and no braces will be necessary for joining the pieces together. This furniture is also characterized by chairs with intricately woven seats. This is something distinguishing about Shaker chairs that wouldn't be found in other furniture building styles.

Currently, there's perhaps none left of the communities that accustomed to produce Shaker style furniture. However, their legacy of superb craftsmanship and straight designs continue to manifest in most modern furniture. Anyone can take a look at furniture shops and find pieces with the same straightforward characteristics such as bare straight lines and plain colors as accents.

In the modern times, Shaker furniture may be likened to the trend towards minimalism which highlights lines and shapes instead of the elaborate elements of traditional furniture. This design is also viewed as a refreshing respite from the heaviness of more classic styles. The principle of minimalism is also centered on modesty being beauty in itself. If only for these similarities, one may conclude that the Shakers have laid the foundation for minimalism as a modern trend in furniture.