Like the Amish woodworkers of today Arts and Crafts inspired designers created furnishings for all rooms of the home and office. Of all design styles the Mission or Arts and Crafts style may be the most efficient yet comforting. When designing with Mission pieces and Arts and Crafts objects keep in mind that in order to use them we should also honor the designers belief that every item in the home should be useful; right down to a simple occasional table. This was not just a style but a philosophy for living. Appropriate decorating in the style means little to no clutter and a seamless flow throughout the room. Keeping with the geometric lines of the Mission furniture first created by designers like Stickley or Wright will help you enjoy your home even more.

By understanding some basic design principles of this iconic style and by following a few details you can have an Arts and Crafts inspired showcase at home.

FURNITURE: Of all the pieces to start your collection adding an oak reclining seat like the Morris Chair is an expected must in creating a room honoring the works of the Mission designers.

If you choose upholstery it should be in bold geometric fabrics or rustic and supple leather.

LIGHTING: Big open windows with simple or no curtains allow the natural lighting in that the designers were trying to capture with the organic elements of Arts and Crafts.

Lamps should be in metalwork, most especially in copper with the golden glow of glass amber shades.

Wooden or metalwork candlesticks instead of crystal or elaborately ornate bring the sense of warmth and authenticity you desire.

DECORATING: Bringing in nature also honors the Arts and Crafts organic philosophy. This can be done with stenciled or mural floral motifs that help bring in the outdoors.

White walls help create a backdrop, especially with a green painted railing across the top of the room or as a chair rail called a dado. You can suspend paintings or family photos from the railing that is a foot or so from ceiling.

In a room that is largely solid wood a warm rug in reds will help bring the welcoming feeling you desire.

DINING ROOM: Because of the focus on family and friends gathering together the dining room was important to Arts and Crafts designers. In the dining room a fine, large hardwood Mission table from Amish woodworkers should be the focal point.

OFFICE: Amish crafted desks in the Mission style can create the kind of office even enjoyed by Morris, Stickley or Greene & Greene. Add a solid wood bookcase to organize the clutter or display books and awards. The addition of a solid wood armchair for guest or reading brings a new dimension to your office environment. Reading and writing were of high importance to the Arts and Crafts followers.

BEDROOM: Within the Arts and Crafts Movement was a belief that the bedroom was a sanctuary of simplicity. Use simple and light accessories on the furniture. Allow for plenty of light. A great compliment to the design is William Morris designed wallpaper and textiles that have never went out of production or popularity.

If you were to ask different people about how to best take care of hardwood furniture you’d get more than a few different answers. Even industry experts have varying opinions but they do agree on a few wood care basics. With a little knowledge and a little tender loving care your beautiful Amish hardwood furniture will last more than a lifetime.  

•  As much as you may not want to do it, frequently dusting solid wood furniture helps protect the wood and finish. Dust your high end furniture pieces with a soft, clean, washable cloth made of lint-free cotton. Old cotton T- shirts work as well as diapers, cheesecloth or pieces of flannel. When recycling and reusing clothing items be sure there is no snaps, zippers, buttons or thick seams that can scratch furniture surfaces.
• Check the surface and edges of your furniture for wood slivers, veneer lifts, loose molding, etc. that a cloth could catch on and cause further damage.  Water and wood are not good friends but using a few drops of water on the cotton cloth, preferably distilled to eliminate any chances of mineral deposits, will help the dust to cling better to the fabric. It is alright and sometimes even recommended to use water sparingly on your Amish table tops and furniture but wood should never get wet or soaked. While Amish furniture crafters are wise enough to use RESISTOVARä to protect your museum quality pieces always use caution and common sense.  
• NEVER use a feather duster. Feather dusters will not pick up dirt and dust but simply move it around and also has quills that can scratch the wood surface of your valuable Amish tables. Dust itself can be abrasive so by allowing it to accumulate you can virtually be creating your own sandpaper. This will make it harder to clean the surfaces and cause a worn, dull surface to develop over the years.  
• Consider carefully whether you want to apply silicone oil to your finishes by using commercial polishes and sprays. Silicone is used to add gloss and water repellency supposedly to protect the finish but the nature of the silicone can prevent future refinishing or repairing of the surface.  

HOW TO DUST:

Amish Hickory furniture in the Log cabin themed home is as much about a lifestyle as a design style. The creation of this interior design may be the simplest and most economical interior design for you to capture because of its use of found natural items as decoration and the use of quality investment pieces from the Amish. Using organic furniture and natural elements as accessory tools you will achieve the native and outdoor feeling of the Log Cabin lifestyle; a lifestyle that showcases the beauty and functionality of native hardwoods.

The Amish create furniture for your rustic Log Cabin style dwelling from red or white oak, walnut & cherry accentuated by the deciduous hickory tree. Like the Amish community, the Cabin home hosts an atmosphere of simplicity, hospitality and gracious living. The Log Cabin interior is a home that demands when you walk inside the door you slow down and relax. It is a home that friends and family love to gather in, spinning memories as they gather round an Amish crafted red oak and hickory pub table and bar stools.

Mixing antiques throughout your cabin home helps bring personality while the Amish rustic furniture brings character. Use heirlooms from the past alongside your new Amish heirloom furniture. Worn, painted pieces blended with the high quality Amish Log Cabin hickory bring a storyline to your room. Birch bark picture frames highlighting your family gatherings sitting atop a chest made of walnut with hickory twig accents say more than you can about the life you lead.

The bounty of nature is captured by Amish woodworkers in the hand made solid wood creations for the Log Cabin lifestyle. The use of comfortable accessories such as quilts, denim pillows, flannel throw blankets and leather upholstery make the room wrap around and hug you in its atmosphere. From fireplace to candle light, the Log Cabin longs for the warming glow of either. Adding elements like fishing poles, hiking boots and fishing creels take the guest on a journey far from the every day. River rocks, wildlife depictions, wrought iron chandeliers, and found items that depict the wilderness you love are essential for the creation of your own personal camp.

The Amish crafted arm chair is a robust design of beauty and comfort. If any furniture has seen change and varying styles of design it would be the age old chair. Ancient wall art and pottery confirm that chairs have existed since at least 3000 B.C. Today there are hundreds of designs both in and out of fashion but the Amish arm chair constructed in the tradition of great Mission furniture designers still reigns superior with its solid wood frame and eye appealing lines.

Since their conception chairs have always been used as a symbol of status. The lack of a seat shows the lack of importance such as in standing room only. If no seat shows lack of respect then the placement of a chair as well as its design can show your power or importance. Take the throne as an example or the coveted “head of the table” arm chair.

It was not until the 18^th century that chairs instead of stools or back stools were actually considered for the masses; becoming a common piece of furniture with varying designs ensuing. It was then that not only were chairs more widely available but that they actually began dividing into usage categories. Chairs were designed to suit different professions, sporting and even gaming events as well as different interior designs. There were chairs for barbers, hunting, drinking, kneeling, sewing, rocking, writing, and so on.

Chair making became such a specialized craft that in 1633 courts were engaged to determine what branch of woodworking would be allowed to actually continue. Court order or not the craftsmen the court had ruled against ignored the court’s decision and continued making chairs. As he dealt with fabricators of his designs the great Thomas Sheraton, one of the “big three” English furniture makers of the 18th century, realized that chair making was different than other talents and must be concentrated on to become proficient. This is still true today among the Amish wood crafters. Today’s Amish arm chairs are handmade in sturdy styles like the slatted Morris as well as other panel sided, cushioned designs. All are available in many types of upholstery and cushion choices from foam to spring and in woods like oak, cherry, maple. Available to the masses but still made by individual joiners your own Amish chair can make history and make you the king or queen of your own castle.

Where and How to Hang Your Wall Art - Part 2

Just like Amish furniture your Amish quilt is meant to be an heirloom that lasts generations if properly cared for. In order to ensure the value of your tapestry quilt will be maintained there are a few simple tips. Select a focal point in your home, perhaps above an Amish crafted couch or buffet. An Amish quilt hung on a wall makes an excellent and colorful headboard choice. Remember, select a spot that will not receive too much sunlight, in order to prevent fading.

No Amish textile should ever be hung with rings because of the weight being unevenly distributed. Much like an old shower curtain, rings can cause sags, creases and tears. Carpet tack strips should never be used because the very sharp edges cut the fibers and eventually rust. Adhesives should never be used when mounting textiles because of future conservation issues with the glue. Metal rods or any metal coming in contact with your Amish quilt should be sealed to prevent rusting. Wood bases or strips should also be painted if they are to touch the textile because of acid deterioration when touching the fabric. Everything touching the textile should be made of acid-free materials.

A very cost effective and simple display option, if you are handy with a needle and thread, is to stitch on casings. These casings made of heavy cotton, linen, or even cotton twill rug binding can be hand sewn across the top of the back and a metal rod slightly shorter than the width of the Amish quilt can then be inserted in the casing. You can hang from two slightly angled nails or two screws in the wall or alternately, the quilt can be suspended from the ceiling via its rod hanging from above with monofilaments. Favored by many museum conservators, a strip of Velcro is hand-sewn to the top back of the textile and the fabric is simply pressed into place. Stitching will not damage and in fact, by distributing the weight evenly across the width of the piece, the casing-and-rod or Velcro methods are the gentlest ways of hanging a quilt. Rigid mountings can be accomplished by mounting on stretchers and even framed. For smaller pieces fabric-covered archival quality foam core board makes an excellent base for your Amish lap quilt or baby quilt.

Now that you have it prepared for hanging it is important to know how to hang. Finding the studs is important for support, especially with heavy quilts. If you are suspending from monofilament, find the ceiling supports. Your tapestry should be a small distance from the wall to help prevent mildew from building up on your wall hanging. Summers humidity, even in air conditioning, can cause mold and weaken fibers, so use preventative measures with quilts just as you would to protect your Amish hardwood furniture.

Where and How to Hang Your Wall Art - Part 1

A large colorful quilt hung as a tapestry above an Amish crafted couch or a smaller quilt above an Amish Mission style buffet can not only lend color but tie a home’s theme together. Amish furniture and quilts have long been sought after by collectors, decorators and home owners for their high quality and design. Amish quilts and their unique patterns and solid colors in tapestry became a part of Amish communities in the late 1800’s and a recognized American art form in the 20^th century. Tapestry, a word rooted in Latin (tapetium) is taken from the Greek and is an art form at least as old as the Egyptian pyramids. Modern Amish crafters produce intricately stitched and consciously assembled fabrics into both contemporary and country designs, using the same techniques as those used in centuries past.

Amish quilts while functional are also a beautiful and timeless art form that can be made into an important decorative home accessory, just like paintings or sculptures. Quilted wall tapestries bring warmth and color and add a soft relaxed, elegant and rich texture not found in any other art form. Amish quilts can be a cost effective option to add color to any room but especially a rental home or apartment, where painting may not be an option. Since Amish handiwork is of heirloom quality knowing how to display your precious textiles is important in preserving your investment as well as your home’s aesthetics.

Most antique or modern Amish quilts must be converted into a tapestry wall hanging. Age can cause a fabric to become fragile and the risk of damage from hanging increases. Hardware like rods, hooks, finials & brackets can keep them safe when properly used. Your decision on which style to use will depend on your decorating theme and the fabric itself. The costs of different hanging methods can vary considerably. The options may range from quite expensive to absolutely free except for some of your time and imagination.

Visually your tapestry will have great impact so placement is crucial. Depending on the size this may be dictated by the available space. Large tapestries are a very easy answer for homes with higher walls since they can add interest and warmth to a large blank slate. By making a mock up of the fabric’s size with newspaper or butcher paper you can try it in several spots and levels before attempting to permanently install hardware. Remember placement of your Amish quilt tapestry near or over your Amish solid wood crafted furniture will help tie together your home decorating theme.

 The modern day Amish craftsmen have kept the tradition of Mission furniture, crafted in hard solid American woods, alive into the 21st Century. Mission design was originally inspired by Southwestern North America’s buildings, actually real Missions built for and by missionaries. The Southwest United States had architecture that was influenced by the natural environment that the Native Americans and Mexicans lived in. In the late 1800’s a furniture designer spotted the substantial styles that used native materials and created a new market for Mission furniture, accessories and even homes.

At the advent of Mission was another movement crossing the pond from England, the Arts and Crafts philosophy. The Arts and Crafts movement was a blatant revolt against the industrial age where everything was mass produced by machines. They, as artists and art supporters, believed that there was an overwhelming need to go back to handmade items that were high quality and showed integrity, such as in the Middle Ages. The Amish community that crafts the Mission furniture today has always held the same beliefs.

With this form follows function, back to the basics ideals, Arts and Crafts followers and artisans appropriated the heavy and homemade air of Mission with its use of square design, hardwood oaks, mortise-and-tenon jointing and use of dark stain. The upholstery was not flowery, like the opulent Victorian styles, but usually made of rugged leathers. Hardware was heavy hammered copper and oversized exposed nail heads. Always the furniture was usable as well as beautiful and made from native hardwoods.

The Amish still recreate the sturdy and straight line hardwood furniture in dining room tables, living room furniture and bedroom creations. Still made of the same native oaks, quarter sawn oaks, maples and cherry these pieces are the same museum quality that the artisans in Arts and Crafts heyday practiced. Though Mission is not a subtle design it is full of warmth and charm. Today there are many series, all continuing in the standards of the founders of Mission. Classic, Bridger, Brooklyn, McCoy, Ridgecrest, Royal, Shaker, Springhill, West Lake, West Village, Landmark and Flush are all custom made in the today in Amish country by contemporary believers of the Arts and Craft Society of yesteryear.

The well appointed home without a bookcase, especially a solid wood bookcase handmade by Amish craftsmen, is not truly a welcoming home. While it may seem a bit Shabby Chic to incorporate stacks of books around your home, in reality they are more accessible and better cared for in a strong and handsome hardwood bookcase. While the Internet is an amazing resource, a virtual bookcase so to speak, there is no replacing the smell, feel and imagination triggers of a good book found on a shelf waiting for you on a rainy day. The love of books is infectious and children exposed to them in their daily lives are proven to be more apt to read and do better in school. A home tied together with the love of books and collecting them has a common intellectual thread not easily broken.

While you can buy inexpensive bookcases from mega-stores, these particleboard storage units are doomed to crumble. They develop sway in the shelves and collapse is eminent after a short life. Moisture of any kind cannot be tolerated and the chemicals involved in creating particleboard, a product made of wood shavings held together with a formaldehyde-based resin that outgasses, is not a desirable home furnishing choice. Your indoor air quality is actually affected by placing these items in your home. Not so with a solid wood Amish book case available in hardwoods like red oak, quarter sawn white oak, hickory, maple and cherry.

If you have an empty room, even a dining room that is only used twice a year, convert it into your own personal world of books. The Amish dining room table, long, spacious and sturdy, protected by custom dining table pads, is the most elegant and functional library table in the world. The luxury of a dining room table as a library table is the vast amount of space to spread out papers and books. The spacious Amish table makes it possible to work efficiently alone or in a group. As your family grows more comfortable in your dining room you will be more apt to begin to enjoy it, spending more time and sharing even more meals in your cozy library/ dining room.

Open fronted for easy access or doored with panels of glass for collecting protection, in varying shades of stains and woods, there is always the perfect bookcase for your home. Amish bookcases can actually be designed to match your table or other room’s décor. Is your home a turn of the century Arts and Crafts bungalow? A McCoy series bookcase will bring the Mission style home. The Caledonia series has a sleek modern design with traditional quality that can be handed down to the next generation. Angle in between two Amish bookcases a solidly crafted Amish designer desk and you have a home office for you or your children to work and play.

                                          
You’ve spent months selecting the perfect solid hardwood baby crib by Amish craftsmen. You’re comforted in knowing you’ve bought the best for your newborn. This heirloom quality investment will last your child through many years, as it converts to their first big kid’s day bed, then later a single bed with designer head and footboards.

Whether the crib was an Amish traditional or contemporary design the crib mattress deserves to be given careful consideration, especially as the child grows and your Amish baby bed converts. Youngsters in their early development spend the majority of their days and nights lying in or playing in their baby crib. Since most crib mattresses are used for at least 2-4 years, growing bones need the best support you can afford.

The most common types of crib mattresses sold today are foam and innerspring. While a good quality foam mattress will last as long and give as much support as an innerspring crib mattress, the tie breaker is quality. Buy the best your budget can afford whether foam or innerspring.Today’s technology has developed a high grade of foam for mattresses. Foam’s resiliency is important and your mattress regaining its original shape quickly after weight is removed is essential. The next quality standard in selecting your child’s foundation is firmness and weight. With foam baby beds weight means density and the denser the better.

When considering any mattress the layers, and quality of layers, matter. The innerspring layer and the insulator pad layer and not the number of springs or coils is what makes the difference. The mattress border rods, or frame, are very important since they provide the edge support, where most children tend to stand and even bounce. A good mattress for your Amish crib should have a lower gauge of steel because it adds thickness. A good guide to buying an innerspring is:

150 coils. 

13.5 gauge carbon tempered steel coils.

 9.0 gauge steel border rods. 

A baby mattress should be covered in an easy to clean vinyl cover that is hospital grade and double or triple lamination. Remember to read the mattress label for specifications of the components. Better quality bedding will also include a warranty even if limited. Since you are buying a hand crafted heirloom from Amish craftsmen, buy a mattress that matches your valuable investment.

You’ve wisely invested in your home and lifestyle by acquiring high end Amish furniture that will last a lifetime but did you realize you can include an heirloom Amish timepiece, an alternative to traditional Grandfather Clocks, to match your décor? While still as collectible as antique clocks Amish clocks require less maintenance and have just as much visual impact on a design.

Long before computers and cell phones the most technical thing a person owned was perhaps the clock. For approximately 350 years homes have held the traditional long case clock, often called the Grandfather Clock. Although centuries have past since first designed, the Amish Grandfather tall-case clock can be a timeless focal point of your modern home’s décor that will reward you hourly.

Selecting only one is not easy since they have many designs to choose from, including clocks suited for homes styled in Mission, Craftsman, Arts and Crafts, Adirondack, Lodge, Cabin, Cottage and even West Lake. All available in American hardwoods like red oak, quarter-sawn white oak, hickory, cherry and maple; matching your décor is easy. By selecting the design, the wood and then the stain you can have a custom clock made for your home’s personal style. Do you have the rustic look of the Lodge or Cabin designs? Choose Old Country style with its hickory twig embellishments. Do you have more modern sensibilities? Design a grandfather clock in a dark cherry finish and the straight lines of the Shakers. Especially in modern, sometimes stark designs, a clock can add that touch of hominess you desire.

Amish artistry is highly recognized and sought after and as a designer cabinet clock your money is well invested. While integrity is always a hallmark of Amish craftsmanship, you should select quality timepieces as well as practical. The Amish craftsmen have designed and built solid wood Grandfather Clocks in many styles to last. People can go a lifetime with no real thought over the timepieces in their homes; not realizing a high quality clock is one of their best investments for functional, aesthetic and inheritable qualities. Sculpturally the Amish floor clock is an undisputed piece of art. Created by skilled wood artists these are not just clocks but investments, meant for a lifetime of use, to be handed down as an inherited piece like all Amish furniture.