“Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day’s work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain,” wrote the legendary American furniture designer and architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was born June 8, 1867, just in time for the Arts and […]

Gustav Stickley (3/9/1858 - 4/21/1942) was the preeminent American Arts and Crafts Mission furniture designer and builder. Stickley’s designs are still collected and copied today and stand as a perfect example of America’s influence on England’s Arts and Crafts movement. Stickley led an interesting life of great influence in his field but Stickley did not […]

 
The Shaker community was not just famed for furniture but for their thriftiness and respect for resources. The Shakers were going green and recycling long before it was recognized as environmentally sound. The Shakers believed that if they respected what God gave them He would provide them with enough to share their abundance with the needy. […]

ARESISTOVAR™ is the finish of choice with Amish furniture experts today. The Amish require high standards in their finishing process and ARESISTOVAR is an excellent two coat system that provides good build-up with extraordinary clarity. The gloss retention is only overshadowed by its durability. The Amish have insured heirlooms by protecting them with ARESISTOVAR in […]

 
White oak and red oak are both used in the museum quality furniture created by the Amish. A very versatile hardwood, oak comes from the genus Quercus. The red oak is found in more abundance than its cousin white, and both have a natural beauty coupled with strength and durability. From medicines to leather tanning […]

 Walnut is one of the beautiful hardwoods that are used by Amish craftsmen in well-designed and elegant home furniture. This wood has been a favorite with carpenters for hundreds of years because of its strength and its deep brunette character. This chocolate brown wood stands out against other lighter woods, making a stunning contrast. This […]

  In the genus known as Acer there is a group of trees that produce a distinctive wood used in high quality Amish furniture, more commonly known as the hard maple, sugar maple or just maple. Grown in many places in the Western Hemisphere, the maple tree loves cold weather. In the North the sugar maple […]

Cherry has long been a coveted wood and when used in the creation of Amish furniture designs it is a stunning choice. The Amish always choose native hardwoods for their furniture and cherry is one of, if not the, finest hardwood in North America. The elegance of hardwood cherry furniture is showcased in tables, cabinets, […]

 
The Amish use nothing but native hardwoods like hickory in their furniture creations to ensure quality and length of life. Hickory is known for its amazing strength and character and has survived in North America since the glaciers and is recognized as America’s oldest hardwood species. The word hickory is actually an English conversion of […]

The cedar chest, hope chest or trunk may well be as many furniture historians believe, the first true piece of furniture. From it, most certainly, evolved the chest of drawers. The box called a trunk or chest was a common sense and practical structure. This wooden framed box was built to store and move personal […]