Sparse, clean, oversimplified, organic and often based on geometric shapes many people, especially those who really do not understand or prefer Modern designs, would find it surprising how much of their lives are touched by contemporary Modern design or how much thinkers like William Morris, Louis Sullivan and others of their era, actually inspired the movement.

Morris engaged in the practice of warm and fuzzy, if not always practical, ideals and dreams for society. He felt it not just a wish but an essential of civilized society to insure that it provide its citizens, one and all, with aesthetically pleasing and functional things to look at and use. He however was convinced that the quality he sought could not be accomplished by machines but only by craftsmen and women by hand. He set his goal beyond reason, since the amount of artisans it would take to create the massive amounts needed to furnish the world’s homes was not possible – without machines, that is. Morris also developed this school of thought just as we were entering into the great Industrial Revolution and once entered in to there was no going back completely.

Early modern designers grasped the philosophy that the great orator Morris taught but felt that machines could be manipulated to be as artistic as any man and that mass production would accomplish Morris’ goals. Henri van de Velde was one of his peers who believed that the machines could be guided to create beauty.  They all agreed in the principles but not how to get there. They also agreed in the simplicity of design seen in the Arts and Crafts and Mission designs. The American architect Louis Sullivan, who once influenced the father of organic design, young Frank Lloyd Wright, believed that form indeed followed function and went so far as to suggest that we should purge ourselves of ornamentation for a few years so we could enjoy the structure in its original concept.

While it seems a stretch from the heavy oak Mission type Morris reclining chair to the Barcelona chair of the 1920’s once you trace the roots of both philosophy in design concepts, they are indeed closely related. Today the Amish present Modern contemporary furniture that represents these designers’ ideals as well as the elegantly designed home, in custom stained and conceived design collections like the Brookline, Caledonia, Escalade and Kenwood and more.

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”.

“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 Crafts Movement to begin in the 1880’s. The Arts and Crafts Philosophy was centered around going back to basics, creating with organic natural designs and crafting with handmade artisanship. Deemed the father of organic designs, Wright drew from nature and its splendors in all his designs and used elements like concrete and glass to blend his designs into the surrounding environment.

Born into the fussy Victorian era Wright rejected their heavy ornamentation and ostentatious gilding for a more rigid and symmetrical style. He believed so much in blurring the boundaries between interiors and exteriors that Wright once allowed a willow to grow in the center of his own home. So inspired was Wright with nature and organic unity that he became involved with every detail of the project from the architectural design to the furniture to even the most minute interior detail. Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes down to their stained glass windows and dishes.

Glass was favored by Wright as a very important design element. He felt that the quality of glass allowed interaction in his designs with nature because glass permitted viewing of the outdoors while providing protection from the elements. Wright even wrote a comparison essay on glass that compared it to nature’s mirrors like lakes, rivers and ponds. By stringing panes of glass to create light screens that joined together with solid walls the architect utilized large amounts of glass and glass bricks. Wright’s Prairie style is well known for this. The Johnson Wax Headquarters is famous for his use of Pyrex tubes on the ceiling to let in soft lighting.

From geometrically patterned plates to entire hotels, Wrights designs are still collected and studied today from the originals down to reproductions. Wright, who authored twenty books and wrote many articles, was a popular lecturer all around the world in his time. Although the designer passed away in 1959 he was honored in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects. The Institute proclaimed Frank Lloyd Wright “the greatest American architect of all time”. Quite an achievement in the 20^th Century where some of the most famous buildings in history were built like the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and even the World Trade Towers.