Historical Facts About Furniture

Furniture is defined as all movable articles or equipment in a household, which is suitable for work or living.

Furniture can also be used for decorative purposes. Furniture can be crafted from any number of materials such as metal, plastic, wood, or glass. Moreover, furniture is not limited to such items as beds, chairs, and tables, but also includes such items as rugs, lamps, mirrors, etc.

Which culture created the first piece of furniture is unknown, but we can assume that the creation of furniture arose strictly out of human need. Perhaps, the bed was the first piece of furniture designed by man so that he could sleep up off of the cold hard ground, or perhaps it was the table and chair to keep food out of reach of animals.

Through history, the style of furniture has changed as civilizations have progressed, and cultures have encountered other cultures. Explorers brought back from their journeys, various techniques of inlaying, woodcarving, painting, veneering, gilding, and marquetry, which were been copied by local craftsmen and incorporated by them into their style of furniture to make it look even more attractive. We see this in furniture from western culture, which have been embellished with Egyptians, Chinese, and Greeks styles.

Furniture that originated for the orient usually had designs engraved into the rich ebony and teakwood, while furniture, which traveled from ancient Egypt, was very distinctive because of the intricate animal carvings and the gold and ivory inlay they used. However, distinguished the Greek style furniture was their low couches and tripods. During the imperial period, furniture was even more ornately decorated.

Today’s contemporary style of furniture is more focused on multipurpose, than on ornate decorations. An example of this would be the ever-popular office-cum-bed set, which is a bed with bookshelves, all built in one that can also be easily converted into a piece of office furniture with a desk. Such beds are popular in Europe and with individuals living in loft apartments, and condos. Aside from beds, other pieces of furniture also exist which can be converted into other pieces of furniture if needed.

No matter what the style, good quality furniture should always be functional and beautiful at the same time. Furniture should also always be environment friendly, and if it can be adapted to several uses, it will be even more affordable.