Mission style furniture is a style of furniture that resurfaced in popularity in the 80’s and has remained popular since. There are many characteristics that are specific to mission style furniture, but understanding what mission style furniture is can go a long way toward helping you make the best decisions for the furniture in your home. Here at Sugarhouse Furniture, we carry a broad selection of mission style furniture to provide this simple, elegant look to your home. Not only can it be useful to understand what mission style furniture is, but it can be additionally helpful to know the best ways to decorate in a mission style.
Characteristics of Mission Style Furniture
There are many characteristic that are consistent with the mission style. The style is focused around the simplicity of both materials and design. Though it was traditionally made with oak wood, the use of cherry, maple, walnut, and ash wood has become increasingly popular. Our furniture is created primarily from oak or cherry wood. Mission style furniture focuses on high-quality handcraftsmanship and is characterized by rectangular shapes. It uses straight lines, both horizontal and vertical. Mission style furniture is incredibly durable and functional, featuring 90° angles and simple designs. This type of furniture often uses a medium or dark stain that is designed to accentuate the grain of the wood. It is generally heavy, substantial furniture that creates a lovely, traditional appearance for a building. Mission style furnishings don’t typically have ornamentation and any ornamentation is slight and simple.
The History of Mission Style
Mission style furniture has a commonly debated history and is often attributed to the furniture style of the Amish. It was likely first created in the 1890’s in New York City. This style of furniture remained popular until around 1930, but it resurfaced in popularity in the 1980’s. It has retained moderate popularity ever since. The name “mission” is often attributed as a tribute to the Spanish missionaries, though it is does not really have elements of the Spanish mission. However, its design was significantly influenced by Spanish mission furniture that was particularly popular in California. Mission style furniture was especially popular in the Midwest area of the United States. This type of furniture was likely designed to serve as a counter-movement to both the mass production and excessive ornamentation of Victorian furnishings. A similar movement away from this Victorian style occurred in both England and the United States. The handcrafted nature of mission style furniture ensures that each piece is high-quality and durable, which likely contributed to its popularity.
Mission Style vs Shaker Style
Mission style is commonly confused with shaker style furniture, though there are several notable differences between the styles. Shaker style furniture was designed in the early 1800’s, while mission style was prevalent over 100 years later. The two different styles of furniture were popular during different time periods. While mission style features incredibly sturdy, durable furniture, shaker style furniture was designed to have a delicate and elegant appearance.
Some people may consider mission style furnishings to have a slightly more masculine appearance in contrast to a slightly more feminine appearance of shaker style furniture. Both styles feature a simple design, but shaker style furniture also has tapered legs, along with mushroom shaped wooden knobs. Mission style furniture was designed to maintain practical functionality and features straight lines, rectangular shapes, and high-quality craftsmanship. Each style of furniture features its own benefits and drawbacks, so understanding the differences can help to ensure that you can make the best decision for the decoration and furniture style of your home.
Mission Style Decorating Tips
Mission style furniture provides a particularly unique appearance, which is why the decorating techniques must be similarly unique. The right design can help to optimize the mission style appearance. Here are a few tips to help you to decorate a room using mission style furniture. When decorating in the mission style, you should take care to emphasize the natural elements of the room. This can be accomplished by adding wood or stone flooring or installing other wooden fixtures, like fireplaces or mantles. Using a wood floor that is of a lighter shade than the furniture can help to add dimension to the room.
Though mission style may have a distinctly traditional feel, it can be mixed with more modern elements to create a particularly unique feeling within the room. The mix of modern and traditional can create a particularly appealing environment. There are different colors that can be implemented to complement mission style furnishings, though this will depend primarily on the atmosphere you want to obtain for the room.
In general, earth tones can go a long way toward complementing the mission style appearance, due to their simplicity of design. This is a particularly aesthetically-pleasing appearance when combined with dark oak mission furniture. However, brighter colors can also be implemented to create a sharp contrast between the more reserved hues of the furniture. This should be done sparingly, but can create a vivid effect with bright greens, reds, yellows, and blues. This effect can also be accomplished through the use of bright colored throws or pillows. This will add a splash of color, without overwhelming the design. Overuse of these colors can crowd out and ultimately detract from the mission style, but using them in moderation can ensure a stunning appearance.
Mission style furniture is particularly unique and is capable of creating an aesthetically-pleasing environment. However, it may be difficult to find the right furniture to add to your home to obtain this traditional appearance. Here at Sugar House Furniture, we are able to provide this specialized furniture to meet all of your needs. All of our furniture is finely crafted and is designed to be rather durable. This furniture can be utilized to provide the look that you desire for your home. To learn more about mission style furniture and how to use it in your home, contact us at Sugar House Furniture today!
