1. There is something universally awesome about shelves. No matter what you place on them, from precious porcelain figurines to old books, with simple organization and a few proper display tricks, you can make them look like museum pieces. A shelf or shelving unit, when properly arranged, makes everything look well placed and intentional. While shelves can be constructed from glass, plastic, particle board or metal the most durable is solid wood shelves. The Amish design and build the most desirable and strongest shelving options available on the market. Made from Native hardwoods like cherry, maple, oak and hickory and stained to match any décor they are available in a wide range of custom sizes.

2. They resolve organizational and display issues in every room in the house. In the library they catalogue books. In the bathroom they house towels within reach. In the dining room shelves display fine china and serving pieces. In the bedroom they add storage. By the front door they hold keys, mail and shoes. In the kitchen they create a pantry. In the laundry room they hold supplies. In the office they can showcase awards or hold your files.

3. Shelves do not need to be deep in order to be useful. A good standard for shelves is 15 inches in depth. They can fit into the most wasted of spaces and create a useful space. Under windows, under stairs, under eaves or in awkward corners a shelf can be stood or hung. By learning to group by sizes, colors and even textures you can make visually appealing collections from items that would have normally been struggling to find a storage place.

4. They add architectural detail to a room without the added cost of construction. Even a plain shelf can have a piece of trim tacked on by anyone with a few small nails and a hammer to create a decorative piece of furniture. Best of all if you rent or if you redecorate they are not permanent and can be moved to the next space.

5. Shelves can serve dual purposes. Low shelves placed under a window, topped with a thin pad, can serve as seating. A small shelf placed by a bed can hold favorite books, magazines, night creams and more while serving as a nightstand. Small dining rooms can utilize shelves in place of sideboards, making china displays fashionable as well as functional. Remember that a shelf is only as strong as what it is constructed from. That is another reason to consider the construction quality of Amish built shelves an shelf units.

Frank Lloyd Wright believed in organic lifestyles and environments. His thought was that “The good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but one which makes the landscape more beautiful than it was before the building was built.” In the early part of the twentieth century Wright and other organic minded Arts and Crafts and Mission designers, not only created in less invasive design shapes but with organic materials drawn entirely from nature. By using siding that was unglazed brick, roofs made of clay tile or un-planed woodwork and ignoring the use of paints it appeared to create simple, healthful, and close to nature environments from the outside inward.

Today we hear the term organic used to describe everything from vegetables to meat to milk to clothing and designs. While in today’s society of commercial competition advertisers may have watered down the true definition of organics in order to sell more product, and not necessarily to save the environment or to create a happier living space, once upon a time great architects like Wright’s mentor Luis Sullivan believed that “form follows function.” Wright himself took it a step further in his argument that “form and function are one.” Either way, their mission was to achieve a form that while appealing to human’s esthetically was useful and not so abrasive on the natural landscape. It also meant bringing the outside indoors in the theory that it made for healthy indoor environments.

If your home is not organic but you long to have a place that brings you home to nature it is achievable. Like all great journeys your home can begin its conversion to organic designs one step at a time. Creating an open space that flows together is essential when organizing your organic environment. Window views are essential. Use natural colors, shapes and textures in textiles and potteries. Using recessed lighting also helps to create a more natural lighting effect, like sunlight through treetops.

Replace your mass produced furniture a piece at a time to eliminate toxic and unnatural elements, such as pressed or particle board that give off dangerous fumes called outgases. If you cannot afford to actually build unassuming built-in shelves and cabinets to conserve space, organize and minimize clutter then consider buying pre-made but high quality cabinets. The Amish woodworkers of Northern Indiana create organic designs in home furnishings from Native North American hardwoods. Never using veneers or press woods these products honor the vision of organic purists. Like Wright you can begin one detail at a time to make your home seem “handcrafted like a fine piece of furniture”.

Bedrooms are wondrous rooms that hold many functions and events - many more functions than just sleep. Statistically we spend the majority of our days – perhaps actually nights – inside the bed chamber. We  not only hope that it will provide us a safe and comfortable place to sleep and rejuvenate for the next day but the bedroom holds our clothing, shoes, jewelry and other accessories. In the humble bedroom we begin our day - whether at a walk-in closet door or a sit-down vanity table. The room most likely holds dirty laundry and dry cleaning, at least for a time.

Many of us grace our rooms with a quiet reading spot or even a television for late night movies or early bits of news shows. Perhaps our rooms are even mini-libraries, for reading books, magazines and newspapers. Some of us have even placed a writing desk for home organization or correspondence on our laptops. Pet owners allow visits from pets and parents have visits from offspring.  The bedroom may even hold storage for linens for the bed. Lastly, the bedroom may be you last refuge for privacy. Indeed, if you were to stop and evaluate your bedroom it is evident that it is in fact the command center of your life.

THE BED:

Perhaps only the sofa or couch competes for the amount of time we spend on a bed. This amount of time justifies the purchase of a great mattress and bed. With a solid wood frame, hand-built by Amish designers and craftsmen guarantee a life time of solidly built attractiveness. Elegant but practical, these beds are built to cradle you in comfort and then pass down as an heirloom investment. From Mission style to Modern these bedroom suite designs are endless in style and design.

It is recommended to buy the biggest and the best bed and mattress you can afford and house.

CLOTHNG STORAGE:

While it would be great to live in world where minimal possessions, especially clothing, were practical, even the Amish realize in the contemporary world it is not. While it is recommended to streamline your clothing in order to function more efficiently each morning the total elimination of excess can be impossible, so we must have furniture to help organize.

Wardrobes, closets, armoires, chests of drawers, lingerie chests, dressers all are built to match your high end solid wood bed. All are available in oaks, maple, cherry, hickory and a variety of stain options. After you ruthlessly scale down your wardrobe from a messy assemblage of chaos know that there is upscale storage available that incorporates different sized drawers, various folding shelves and hanging options.

MIRRORS:

Cheval mirrors are the best friend you always wanted. A solid wood framed swinging, full-length looking glass that makes a great accountability partner - one who will always let you know the truth about your appearance, good or bad.

DRESSING OR VANITY TABLES:

Having a central spot to focus on you as you begin your day can make or break your look. Dressing for success is more than buying the right outfit. It is stopping to survey the details and to polish the surface. Solid wood, easy care, ARESISTOVAR protected surfaces make the Amish vanity ideal.

NIGHTSTANDS:

The most personal piece of bedroom furniture may not be the bed. The most individualized storage facility is the bedside stand or night table. Inside the nightstands is things that only you know why you need, from books and spare change to mints and reading glasses, the nightstand is a private world of odds and ends just for you. The finish on the native hardwoods by Northern Indiana artisans will even forgive a late night cup of tea spill.  

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Like the Amish community members the Shakers were known for their integrity and honesty; not just in their personal lives but in their furniture designs. Even when the Shakers became aware of their profitable designs they did not let money take precedence over their morals and beliefs. The Shakers carried on business as if they were creating pieces to be used in Heavenly homes instead of mere earthly ones. These high standards insured that their craftsmanship never faltered in order to achieve a higher bottom line. Interestingly, their honesty did not just run true in the way they did business or the way they built furnishings but in the way they decorated and finished their famous furniture pieces.

Veneers were not favored by the Shakers and the Amish still hold to this belief. There was a common belief that the covering up of less expensive woods by more expensive false veneers was a form of dishonesty. Whether in dealing with God, their community or their patrons, the Shakers wanted nothing to do with the appearance of dishonesty, even if it was well known, practiced and accepted in the secular world. Even the art of wood graining, where the artist used fine detailed brushes and scrapers to emulate the look of wood grain using stains, was discouraged. Marbling and wood graining had become a fashionable decoration in Victorian furnishings but the Shakers frowned upon even the best of faux graining.

It is almost as hard to find painted Shaker pieces as veneered. Paint and even stains and varnishes were held in suspicion as to being deceptive. If an item needed paint to be attractive and accepted then what was the workman covering up? If there was a need to color a piece then the Shakers chose transparent tints. So serious was the principles that the Shaker craftsmen and women upheld there were actual laws drawn up and adapted throughout each community. Whether it was the accepted stains within their own Dwellinghouses or the minimal stain allowed on something as simple as their famous Shaker boxes, the law was obeyed.

The Amish craftsmen of Northern Indiana present their rendition of Shaker designs in solid hard woods, true to their natural beauty. Whether in pine, quarter sawn oak, red oak, maple, hickory, cherry or walnut the honest lines, high quality details and simple beauty remain intact, honoring the beliefs so important to the Shakers. Dovetailed drawers, no veneers, solid wood backs and drawer bottoms, exposed mortise and tenon joints are added in to bedroom suites, armoires, living room pieces and dining room sets. Like their fellow believers the Shakers, the Amish too are held accountable in their communities to keep up the high standards set out for building heirloom pieces to last a lifetime

From baby cribs to bedroom suites, the gifted Amish woodworkers and Amish artisan designers build custom pieces for the entire family. Although every woman will appreciate their beauty, many of these items make particularly nice and very unique gifts for the men in your life. Whether you are buying a gift for a jet setter, a sports enthusiast or an avid home media collector there is no longer a need to buy inferior gifts that lose their value and meaning before the next holiday even comes back around.

By investing in good high end home or office designs you are creating a tradition of sharing heirloom family keepsakes to be enjoyed and passed down for generations, unlike those sweaters and ties he sold at the last garage sale.While there are hundreds of customizable and hand built items that anyone would be delighted to receive this holiday season here are a few of the many personal gift ideas:

WINE RACKS- Solid wood wine racks help store the wine in the proper position in order to keep the cork wet. These distinguished designer pieces fit in nicely with any décor and in fact are a real focal piece to display a nice wine collection and the bar accessories, such as cork screws and wine glasses. Available in several sizes and styles, some even create a mini bar for serving guests.

RECLINERS-The Amish woodworkers have hand created Morris Chairs just like the original. First produced in mass production by William Morris and Gustav Stickley during the Arts and Crafts Mission heyday, this reclining chair has never been out of production or style since the late 1800‘s. Available in upholstered fabrics or leathers these timeless recumbent seats will win the heart of any recipient. Footstools, in matching woods and fabrics are also available.

GUN CABINETS-The choice to own a gun should also include the choice to own a gun cabinet, gun locker, gun storage cabinet or gun armoire. A gun cabinet not only makes for a handsome display of your firearm collection but is imperative for safety, especially in a house with children. By maintaining a well built cabinet, constructed from solid native North American hardwoods, you can lock your guns away from inexperienced hands and store the ammunition in a separate location. Recreational guns that are used not so much for protection but for hunting or target shooting practice can be displayed unloaded behind locked doors or even dismantled and locked away in the cabinet for safe storage.Amish handcrafted gun cabinets are available in finished skip peel pine, red cedar, oak, cherry, hickory and walnut and in single door size that holds five guns, one bow or double doors for up to a dozen guns, one bow.

FIREPLACES-Who would not love their own architecturally beautiful fireplace to sit by on Christmas Eve and sip holiday eggnog? The Amish build a beautiful alternative to the wood burning fireplace with no construction or remodeling needed. Available to be delivered in many designs with optional feature from a marble backsplash, to side glass curio shelves, curio lights, mirrored backs, glass doors and remote controls. You can even add the Dimplex Flame with a more realistic flame effect and 4,600BTUs.

ENTERTAINMENT CENTERS-From 42” console size cabinets to plasma television cabinets with storage below to room sized four piece Entertainment Units; these are a beautiful addition to anyone’s living or family room. All of these entertainment centers and consoles are fully customizable and handcrafted by Amish woodworkers in Northern Indiana to fit TV area sizes of 42”, 48″, 54″ or 66″w. There is ample display space for your television and storage space for your CDs and DVDs.

Inside everyone lurks a closet artist but thanks to the storage opportunities created with Amish furniture that closet can be a custom built armoire wardrobe. The hobby of producing art and creating crafts is a valuable stress relieving activity. Whether as homemakers, students, professionals or laborers, we are usually called upon to produce but not called upon to use our imaginations and creative parts of our brains.

Using both our minds and our hands to create simple artistic projects at home we can enjoy healthy therapeutic results. Even the most primitive artistic endeavors hold the ability to help you relax, use your creativity and focus on something besides the daily grind. Arts and crafts can also become a way for some to make extra cash and to create memorable and thoughtful gifts. 

Many times we do not start projects because we dread the mess and clean up to follow. By organizing your materials in well labeled, stackable, easily spotted, easily removed boxes and containers it makes clean up and re-organization a very simple and time efficient job:

- If you do projects that are a bit messy such as painting, remember to protect the bottoms of the drawers of your Amish armoire wardrobe. By placing sheets of easily wiped sheet liners or even shallow trays or baking sheets inside the drawers you can protect your treasured furniture piece from damage.

-  Not only using a lift out tray for messy paint supplies but for a special project like a beaded jewelry kit, you are also organizing your unfinished projects into an easy to lift out container.

- Notebook binders with poly sheet protectors make ideal storage for project ideas, small half-done projects, brush organization, etc. Use index tabs to identify.

The best way to protect the durable ARESISTOVAR finish on your dining room table is to invest in elite custom dining room pads. An inexpensive and impromptu way to protect your Amish dining room table’s work surface is plain white butcher’s paper. The large rolls of paper are inexpensive, fit right inside the closet and you can cut off exactly the length you need for protecting your work surface. Best of all kids love to do projects, from finger paints to tracing their entire bodies, on this large blank canvas.

The Amish built doors are strong and can be utilized to add to your storage space. Wall organizers can be mounted inside to hold paper and fabrics. A small café curtain rod can also be mounted after sliding on your spools of ribbon for easy cutting. Hang a measuring stick next to it for measuring length and a pair of scissors on twine so you are never without your cutting tool. Tea cup hooks or C-hooks can be placed inside to hold other items. By hanging a picture wire across one door interior you can even hang large and cumbersome sketch pads over it.

Remember to use common sense before mounting or attaching anything to your heirloom furniture. Also remember that although your doors are ruggedly built all hinges have a weight limit.

Most people don’t attempt to craft at home simply because they feel they don’t have the space to store and work on hobby or crafting materials. In reality, you really don’t need an entire room dedicated to your favorite art projects; just a simple, dual-purpose, working surface like your large solid wood Amish dining room table (with custom pads to protect the surface) and a well built Amish storage wardrobe. These handsome and concealing armoires are superb for organizing and storing the materials you need to truly bring out your “closet artist”. Your well contained “art room” can be arranged inside this armoire, wardrobe or closet to house and hide the craft tools and supplies for your favorite hobbies.

Well hidden inside the beauty of an Amish built wardrobe can lay an afternoon of enjoyment. By using a solid wood Amish armoire with fully adjustable shelves, fully extended or underside drawer slides and well built drawers you can have everything within reach at a moment’s notice. Organization is the single key to the success of your art closet:

- A simple kitchen cabinet Lazy Susan makes a quick spin to find your favorite color of acrylics or just the jar of buttons you need. These rotating cabinet organizers can be found in single or double tiered styles.

- Inexpensive but well labeled storage boxes, plastic shoe boxes or wooden drawers can be utilized to organize paints, brushes, raffia, scissors, ribbon, twine, markers, glues and similar supplies.

- Magazine holders can hold scrapbooking papers, craft books, patterns and projects you are working on in neat, easily viewed rows. 

- Try organizing like things together for optimal access.

This armoire craft room is also the perfect spot for storing gift-wrapping supplies for gifting your creations:

- The drawers are wide enough to hold rolls of paper and simple containers can be filled with all the necessary tools like tape, scissors, and ribbon.

- Magazine holders can organized new and recycled gift bags while a clear plastic box leaves gift tags in clear view.   

Armoire – An early french term for a cabinet, wardrobe or closet that is usually tall. The armoire originally was used for storing weaponry in medieval times rather than clothing. Usually double doors cover the interior which contains shelves, open space or hanging apparatuses.  

Wardrobe - A wardrobe is a cabinet intended primarily for the storage of clothing. British vocabulary sometimes gave it the name “oakley” because the closets were constructed predominently from oak. A hanging cupboard, the wardrobe evolved from a room-sized walk in with shelves and lockers to what we know today. A wardrobe can be a huge, cumbersome and highly ornate cabinet or a smaller more diminuitive storage unit. First constructed from oak, later walnut became the wood of choice for many wardrobes.

 In Europe many homes were never designed with a built-in closet. The first wardrobes were patterned after the armor bearing closets known as armoires. The wardrobe usually has double doors, carried to the floor and usually covering the drawers at the base. Inside there may be hanging rods as well as sliding shelves and may have mirrors.

Cheffonier or Chiffonier -  Some definitions describe a chiffonier as a tall set of drawers while others say it is a piece of furniture that is smaller than a sideboard with the whole of the front enclosed by doors and typically sits wide and low; a sort of buffet. There was often a shelf, raised and hosting a pierced brass gallery at its back. The doors were usually panelled and even edged with brass-beading. A chiffoniers feet were either pads or claws, or gilded sphinxes.

The French translation means “rag-gatherer” or “rag-picker”, suggesting that it was originally built to receive odds and ends that had no other storage place in the home. Cheffoniers date from the Empire style of furniture in England and were built of the favorite wood of that era, the rosewood.

Chifferobe or Chifforobe – A hybrid piece of furniture built to function as a closet in the twentieth century. Popular more in the southern United States than anywhere else, chifferobes were first seen advertised in the 1908 Sears and Roebucks Catalogue. The product description described the chifferobe as a modern invention. Many passages of popular southern literature (To Kill a Mockingbird, Wise Blood and The Ballad of Sad Café, to mention a few) use the furniture known as a chifferobe in their settings. The name chifforobe came from blending the words chiffonier and wardrobe.

Traditionally the chifferobe combines both a long space for hanging clothes like a wardrobe along with a set of drawers like a chest of drawers. Most designs host a side by side function, with closet down one and the drawers on the other.

The Amish carpenters of Northern Indiana build custom made closets for your home without ever tracking in a single footprint or leaving a shred of saw dust. With solid hardwoods and dovetailed drawers these wardrobes and armoires are available for living rooms, offices and bedrooms in oak, cherry, maple and hickory, along with a wide variety of stains. The interiors can even be personalized. For the nursery or child’s bedroom the Amish have designed an armoire changing table just their size.

So, whether you call it a closet, a cupboard, a cabinet, an armoire, wardrobe or chifferobe you will want to call them yours.

Everyone longs for a moment, or longer, to relax but the fact is that most of us don’t really know how to reach full relaxation. Also, the irony in relaxing at spas, retreats, etc., is that the cost alone can create more stress. By setting up a home environment that is conducive to relaxing we can save money and learn to function better, be more productive and profitable and build better relationships. Room by room, using the Amish furniture available through the Northern Indiana Amish carpenters, you can create a welcoming and cost effective environment for tranquility.

RECLINERS: For centuries men have found that reclining was their favorite way to relax. From ancient biblical times, when diners actually lay down to eat around a table, to the 1800’s when mechanical furniture began to show up in homes and businesses, we have loved recliners. William Morris began producing the recliner chair that came to be known as the Morris chair during the Arts and Crafts Movement. One philosophy of this movement was to surround your self in organic, useful and beautiful simplicity. The end result was meant to be a higher quality of life in form, function and visual aesthetics.  

Today Amish craftsmen from Northern Indiana custom build the world’s sturdiest and most comfortable reclining ch