How To Decorate Your Home with the Right Style of Furniture

Not sure what style of furniture is best for your home?  Visually, we all know what we like (and what we don’t like), but does coordinating furniture styles really make a difference in the overall design of your home’s interior?  If you are not sure where to start or what the best furniture styles would be for decorating your home, look no further!  We’ve put together a list of the top furniture styles so you can decide what you love the best for your home!

Let’s start at the beginning. 

Back in the 1600’s there were two main styles of furniture, Jacobean and Early American.  Jacobean is an English style that is medieval in appearance with straight lines, sturdy construction and ornate carvings.  Pieces are typically in a dark finish.  Early American furniture was very basic and made from materials found locally in the woods.  It was modeled after European furniture styles. 

Furniture styles from the late 1600’s through the 1700’s are still popular today.

This was a very busy period for furniture styles and some of which you will know when you see them are William and Mary, which is characterized by trumpet or turned legs and a ball or Spanish foot with padded or caned chair seats.  Queen Anne style, which is more refined than the William and Mary style is notable for it’s cabriole legs with a pad or drake foot.  Chair backs were typically bat-wing shaped or fiddle backed.

Colonial, Georgian and Pennsylvania Dutch are also of this period, as well as Chippendale, Robert Adam and Hepplewhite.  Colonial combined the styles of the above, but with a more conservative and less ornate style.  Georgian style furniture is the opposite:  a more ornate version of Queen Anne with ornate carvings, pierced back splats and gilding.  Pennsylvania Dutch is a simple, county style of furniture with influences of German design.  Many pieces are characterized by colorful folk painting. 

Chippendale, Robert Adam and Hepplewhite are all named for people.  Chippendale was a British designer and architect whose influences are French, Chinese and Gothic.  His style is more elaborate than Queen Anne featuring ball and claw foot and broken pediment scrolls on top of tall case pieces.  Robert Adam was an architect who studied in Italy and designed furniture with classical details that would fit the character of the homes he designed.  Hepplewhite was an English designer and cabinetmaker whose style was neoclassic with a delicate appearance, tapered legs and the use of contrasting veneers and inlay.

Rounding out the 1700’s and bringing us into the 1800’s are Federal, Sheraton, and Duncan Phyfe styles.  A combined neoclassic furniture style featuring the details of both Heppelwhite and Sheraton, Federal style furniture features graceful, straight lines, light construction and tapered legs.  The use of inlay and contrasting veneers is prevalent.

Sheraton is named for an English designer whose neoclassical style similar in character to the Federal style and was the most reproduced style in the United States during the Federal period.

American cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe is considered by some art historians is an adaptation of  Adam, Sheraton, Hepplewhite and Empire styles with carved or redded legs and neoclassic motifs.

The 1800’s Styles are More Recognizable and Still Popular Today

Included in the 1800’s styles are American Empire, Shaker, Victoria, Arts and Crafts, and Art Nouveau.  Influences for American Empire come from the French Empire with classical influences like coarse carving and dark finishes.  Shaker style is produced by the religious group, The United Society of Believers, and is characterized by straight tapered legs, woven chair seats and mushroom style wooden knobs.  Named for Queen Victoria of England, the Victorian style is heavy in gothic forms and proportions, dark finishes, elaborate carving and ornamentation.

Arts and Crafts is also referred to as Mission style and is a simple, utilitarian design and construction.  Art Nouveau is a naturalistic style with intricately detailed patterns and curving lines.

As you can see the amount of styles and design influences from early times has created cross-over and blending of styles to create new styles of furniture.  Architectural and utilitarian influences are prevalent throughout furniture design during the 1600’s through 1800’s.  if you are not sure what style is best for your home’s décor, please contact Interiors by JohnHenry for more information and ideas.