Furniture refers generally to movable objects designed to support different human activities like eating, sitting, and sleeping. Furniture is used extensively in homes, offices, and schools to hold many objects at a comfortable height for easy access, or simply to store items. Furniture is an artistic creation of art and is often regarded as a form of decorative sculpture. There are various types of furniture available in the market. The following discussion highlights some of the major types of furniture used in modern homes.
Table and chair. These are the most common furniture types found in homes. A table is specifically used to seat people at one table and may contain additional storage compartments for keeping small accessories like China or decorative pieces. Chairs are usually made of metal, wicker, wood, or a combination of materials. Most chairs have back rests, arm rests, or head rests.
Console and seating. This category includes seats and stools for the front porch, entrance, and decks. Console furniture generally has no storage compartments and is placed against the wall or on a raised surface for added convenience. These furniture items often come with cushions and backrests.
Chair and sofa. These are the most common furniture items found in modern homes. A chair is a two-legged stool with either a back or arm rest. Sofas are usually designed of solid wood, wicker, metal, or a combination of materials. Both of these types of chair and sofa are commonly seen in living rooms, bedrooms, hallways, porches, and outdoor areas.
Walnut and mahogany. These are two of the most popular woods to use for furniture. They are both durable and look very elegant. Mahogany is often seen in the bedroom. While walnut can be found in dining room chairs, dressers, end tables, chest of drawers, rocking chairs, and a variety of other pieces of furniture.
Glass and marble. These are often seen as accent pieces. Glass furniture is often clear and can have decorative embellishments such as carvings or cutouts. Marble is very heavy and is often used for flooring and tabletops.
Chest and drawers. These are very common furniture pieces. Chest furniture can be found in the form of a single, double, or triple chest. They can also be found in the form of a large, wide chest that can hold a variety of different items.
Chests. The shape of chests has changed over time. In the early to mid-fifteenth century, chests were small and quite utilitarian. They often had only one or two drawers, with a few drawers covered by a lid on top. This type of chest is quite functional, rather than decorative in nature.
Chairs. Chairs have to be comfortable, and this is easy to accomplish. The materials that were most commonly used to make chairs in the mid to late seventeenth century were wood and felt. During the early to mid-eighteenth century, new materials were developed to create more comfortable furniture. These include the first back support, which was made of wood. This made the chairs much more comfortable and allowed them to be placed anywhere.
Sofas. In the early to mid-seventeenth century, there were no true satin Sofas. Instead, there were small, easy to carry metal armrests. As the centuries passed, heavier pieces of wood were developed, such as walnut or oak. As more people became aware of the beauty of antique Italian Sofas, they began to use them for decorative purposes as well, replacing the traditional ivory or Byzantine furniture.
Tables. Wooden tables with marble tops have been a part of Italian Renaissance and baroque furniture design. They were most often used in small family homes, where dining rooms were large. Throughout the late eighteen hundreds, the popularity of Greek furniture, including tables, reached the middle class.
Desks. The concept of the desk has changed over time, from merely being a place to put down writing paper to an actual piece of furniture that required some thought and planning. Office furniture desks would include drawers, a shelf for storage, and a drawer below. Because the design of the modern office furniture desk incorporated many of the same characteristics of the secretary desk, we have retained many of the test methods that the original desk used.