Amish Made Furniture

It is perhaps a paradox that Amish made furniture is as commercially successful and popular among people as it is. For it is the very society that the Amish seek to separate themselves from that greatly values the solid, durable and beautiful craftsmanship that has become synonymous with Amish made furniture, and more particularly Amish handcrafted furniture. Amish furniture includes dining room furniture, living room, bedroom, and every kind of furniture that you may require. The Amish craftsmen, because of their beliefs, are prohibited from running websites, however people now enjoy the convenience of ordering Amish made furniture online. The websites are usually run by dealers or retailers rather than the Amish craftsmen themselves.

Amish dining tables are especially valued for their longevity and classic and timeless styles. Many Amish craftsmen offer dining room furniture in different styles such as traditional, contemporary and mission styles as per one’s preferences and tastes.

Unlike other varieties of furniture, Amish handcrafted furniture uses no particle board or laminate; natural and unprocessed wood is usually used to hand craft furniture using a minimum of technological aids. The wood is generally selected specifically keeping in mind the piece of furniture to be made. Also the kind of wood used is very important; generally hardwoods are used for the purpose of making Amish dining room furniture, because these varieties of wood grow more slowly and have been found to be more durable and thus furniture made from this kind of wood (such as oak, cherry and maple) is more long lasting.

The history of Amish made furniture goes back nearly a hundred years when dealers as well as historians noted that this kind of furniture was of very high quality and was also aesthetically very pleasing. There is the Jonestown School of furniture which is characterized by floral designs on the panels. Then there is the Soap Hollow School of furniture, so named because it originated in Soap Hollow, Pennsylvania.

Henry Lapp was one of the first to design Amish furniture in the manner that we find so distinctive and easily recognizable today. It was he that started to make furniture that was undecorated and plain in the manner that so characterizes Amish furniture.

There are some articles of Amish made dining room furniture that have a historical connotation, such as the jelly cabinet or the jam cupboard, which are generally used for storage in the dining room or the kitchen. There is a historical significance to these articles of furniture first used in the early 19th century, which reflect the rural tradition of preserving fruit from the summer harvest into and for the long winter months ahead. These cupboards, earlier made to fulfill the requirement to store, jams and other fruit preserves would now evoke a sense of nostalgia and are very much in demand.

Part of the reason that Amish furniture is so distinctive is because it is largely handcrafted. So while some automated aids may be used to make a dining table, the detailing and the finishing of the table will usually be done by hand, which is why there is an assurance of the highest quality.

The author uses Amish furniture in her home and office. She uses a custom tablecloth to protect her dining room table.