Authentic Amish Furniture - There's A Place For It In Every Home

Authentic Amish furniture can be a unique and beautiful addition to any home. It can be perfect for a rustic cabin in the woods or a high-rise penthouse; where the furniture will fit all depends on the style of the workmanship and the type of wood used in the crafting process. Darker woods can easily compliment those with a more modern taste, whereas lighter woods may appeal to the country boy or girl that is alive in so many people.

Amish craftsman tend to use the best woods in their furniture making. The highest quality local woods are used. This often includes oak, cherry, maple, walnut, and hickory. These beautiful woods are the basis for the amazing pieces that are sculpted by the few Amish furniture artists in the world.

Not many Amish men are furniture makers. Most are farmers or they have another job in the community. That is why Amish furniture makers are difficult to come by - especially talented craftsman that make furniture that is of simple design, construction, and finish without the use of many modern technologies.

However, some craftsman will make their furniture with the use of electricity. This is usually as a result of the craftsman living in a community that utilizes wind or solar power. But the use of electricity is not common in the construction of this specialized furniture.

Regardless of the tools used in the construction, the end result is always the same: a beautiful selection of unique and hand made furniture pieces.

This furniture can be made to fit into any room of the home. Craftsman often construct bed frames, night tables, and dressers for the bedroom. Or they might make a dining set or a selection of office furniture. All of which is carefully made to the highest of quality standards.

Some artisans will create pieces for people outside of the community. These are usually custom made orders. In fact, the craftsman will frequently be aware of the customer's name and specifications for the order. The order will then be completed by the craftsman and shipped to the customer with the assistance of a third party.

When searching for authentic Amish furniture people should use caution and learn how to spot the imposter furniture pieces and furniture makers. However, imposter furniture may be easier to spot than a dishonest company.

Furniture that is not authentic will usually be made of different materials. It will often not be solid wood like true Amish-made furniture should be. This is because imposter craftsman are always looking to save money and time. Unlike a true craftsman who strives for beauty, quality, and durability. All three of those qualities make an unbelievable piece of furniture for anyone who has a home in any part of the world.

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for Web sites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background also includes teaching, gardening, and fashion. For more of her useful articles on home decor and furniture, please visit Amish Furniture, supplier of Amish furniture, oak furniture, and more.

The Versatile Corner Desk

One nice thing about a corner desk is that it can be as small or big as you like. It is truly a versatile piece of furniture. Lets take a look at the basic corner desk and see how it can be adapted to many uses.

First, when you are starting off in life, you simply may not have very much room. So starting out with a very basic corner desk is a great option. This design is small and compact. It sits in the corner with no side extensions. Many do extend up, kind of like a hutch, to provide more storage space on shelves or sometimes small cabinets. Many of this style have slide out keyboard shelves, as well as a lower shelf for a CPU. This style is sometimes referred to as a tower, and it is amazing some of the ingenuity put into their design to get the most amount of use out of a very compact desk. Most of this style that I have seen are made of metal or metal and wood combinations, so they often have a more modern, stylish look.

Perhaps you have a bit of room along either one or both walls, but not enough for a full side extension. A great option then is one or two side pedestals or cabinets. These usually only make the desk about 2 feet bigger in either direction but provide a lot more work space. The top surface is perfect for a printer, keeping frequently accessed files, office supplies or books, or just as extra workspace. The bottom part of the pedestal can come with shelves, a filing drawer or a small cabinet or combination of these options. So, if you have just a little bit of extra space, you can really get a lot more usability and storage in your corner desk than just a tower.

Of course, you may be more established in life and have more space with which to work. If this is the case, then a side extension on one or both sides of a corner desk really allows you to be organized with plenty of room for both computer and long hand work. Now, the corner desks first mentioned above often sit in the corner and have a triangular shape. Some of these larger corner desks can have the same triangular shape and have extension coming off of that work area, or it can be more "L" shaped and fit into the corner. One nice thing about the "L" shaped desk is that it is easy to swivel from one work area to the other, so you can easily do computer work and then turn to do book work. Almost all of this style that I have seen also have drawers, shelves or cabinets near both ends of the "L".

For many, the "L" shaped corner desk may provide everything they need, but if you do need more space, you can add an optional hutch to many desk designs. This allows you to take advantage of vertical space, which can be very handy if you have a lot of books or other items to access while working. I have seen single hutches that just extend along one wall, or you can sometimes find desks that have corner hutches that extend along both walls.

If you really need a lot of work space, you can get one more extension on some models, essentially giving you a "U" shaped desk. This style is used by many businesses in their cubbies.

So, as you can see, a corner desk can suit most anybody in any phase of life, regardless of whether you have very limited or a lot of space to work.