Our lives happen around our furniture. Every day, our bed frames, dining tables, dressers, and coffee tables support us, often without thanks and appreciation. Here we’re taking a look back at some of the best acknowledgements of the importance our furniture plays in our lives. We’ve assembled what we think are the best furniture quotes of all time.
Let us know in the comments what your favorites are!
From Our Founder
Furniture Quotes From Vermont Craftsmen
At Vermont Woods Studios, we have the opportunity to work with some super talented furniture craftsmen. Here are a few quotes from some of our craftsmen:
- “I think everybody in Vermont takes a lot of pride in what they do. Pride in working with their hands. Pride in the [furniture] they’re putting out and how the world perceives that.” - Rob Bachand (Master Craftsman at Vermont Furniture Designs)
- “Vermont does have this reputation of both producing quality [furniture], but also an incredible design sense and work ethic sense. And that Vermont workmanship– that Vermont attitude of wanting to make the best of anything that they build– I think runs through the state.” - Robin Chase (Master craftsman at Maple Corner Woodworks)
- “Each piece [of wood] is unique, so we have to pay attention to it, and I certainly try to read each piece. Like people, it’s flaws are what make it interesting.” - Greg Goodman (Vermont custom furniture craftsman)
- “Everything I build is going to last a lifetime– generations. And it’s always going to hold its’ value, too.” - Chad Woodruff (Vermont furniture craftsman)
- “What makes us different is that my wife and I are obsessive about human beings making things by hand. Of course we prize good design, and skilled craftsmanship, and beautiful materials, but we have an added thing here which is the human sense, the feeling you get when you walk up to piece of furniture that somebody made. You can see that it’s handmade, and you can feel the difference.” - Charles Shackleton (Master Craftsman at Shackleton-Thomas)
- "I think about every tree that is cut down, and the power and privilege we have to extend its life and to display its beauty in the furniture we make." - Dave Allard (Founder & Master Craftsman at Lyndon Furniture)
- "When a finished piece expresses our creativity, either through the natural beauty of the wood, the design or the marks of shaping left by the human hand, it sends a message. In these times when so much is mass produced in factories by automated machines on the other side of the world, many are treasuring that message and the natural resources that surround it.” - Charles Shackleton (Master Craftsman at Shackleton-Thomas)
Quotes About Furniture & Design
- “Everything is designed. Few things are designed well.” - Brian Reed (Designer)
- “Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future“ - Robert Peters (Designer)
- “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works” - Steve Jobs
- “Simplicity carried to an extreme becomes elegance.” - Unknown
- “Every great design begins with an even better story.” - Lorinda Mamo (Designer)
- “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French Writer)
- “Your home should be a story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love.” - Nate Berkus (Interior Designer)
- “The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life.” - Marie Kondo (Interior Designer)
- "Furniture must have personality, as well as be beautiful." -Rose Tarlow (Interior Designer)
- "Craftsmanship requires a fusion of skills, knowledge, understanding, and imagination, perfected by experience." - Glenn Bowman (Owner @ Vermont Soapstone)
Quotes About The Importance Of Your Bedroom Furniture
- “As time goes by the memories of sitting on the edge of a bed and reading aloud with your kid are going to be very meaningful in your own mental scrapbook.” - Gary Ross (American actor)
- “The bed comprehends our whole life, for we were born in it, we live in it, and we shall die in it.” - Guy de Maupassant (French author)
- “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” - William H. McRaven (American soldier)
- “We start reading a book in the same way we slip into a cold bed. We only start enjoying it after we've created the right atmosphere.” Pierre Reverdy (French poet)
- “Give me a bed and a book and I am happy.” Logan Pearsall Smith (English author)
- “The most luxurious item is a beautiful bed and beautiful, simple sheets.” Andre Leon Talley (American editor)
- “You are either in your bed or in your shoes, so it pays to invest in both”- John Wildsmith
Quotes About The Importance of Your Dining Furniture
- “All great change in America begins at the dinner table.” - Ronald Reagan (Former US President)
- “Some of the most important conversations I've ever had occurred at my family's dinner table.” - Bob Ehrlich (American politician)
- “Our family dinner table was my first platform - every dinner was all about sharing stories and jokes and points of view.” Phoebe Waller-Bridge (English actress)
- “Every lesson I learned as a kid was at the dinner table. Being Greek, Sicilian and Ruthenian - we are an emotional bunch. It is where we laughed, cried, and yelled - but most importantly, where we bonded and connected.” - Michael Symon (American chef)
- “It's around the table and in the preparation of food that we learn about ourselves and about the world.” - Alice Waters (American chef)
- “The oldest form of theater is the dinner table. It's got five or six people, new show every night, same players. Good ensemble; the people have worked together a lot.” - Michael J. Fox (Canadian actor)
- "All of my youth growing up in my Italian family was focused around the table. That's where I learned about love." - Leo Buscaglia (American author)
- "A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?" - Albert Einstein (German physicist)
- "In 100 years time all the corners are rounded off, there are dents, dings. It is a souvenir of life and history.” - Charles Shackleton (Master Craftsman)
Quotes From David & Thomas Moser
Thomas Moser is one of the most renowned American furniture craftsman of all time. His designs and craftsmanship have inspired the next generation of woodworkers, including his own son David.
- “The function of art is to satisfy the artist, with little or no regard to the viewer. The function of craft is to give meaning to the viewer, and enhance the richness of their life.” - David Moser (Furniture designer and son of Thomas Moser)
- “People say, ‘I’ve been to your factory.’ Well, OK, I accept that. More commonly I refer to a shop, our shop. It’s a workshop, an atelier, a place where hand craftsmanship is performed.” - Thomas Moser (Master Craftsman)
- “You might be interested to know that I do not design furniture on a piece of paper. I design it three-dimensionally, on a workbench. I design it, and it works or it doesn’t work, and I change it. And in the process, the word “serendipity” here is appropriate, because chance often plays a role in the design.” - Thomas Moser (Master Craftsman)
- “I’ve never – a) taken a business course in my life or b) taken a design course. Although I did study the history of art, as a graduate student in architecture. But, yeah, both [my son and I] are self-taught.” -Thomas Moser
- “Every piece of furniture that we make is signed by the person who made it, and the amount of pride that goes into that signature is unbelievable. You know, there are so few people in America today whose work is going to be understood and appreciated by their great-great grandchildren who have not yet been born. And so we have that advantage.” - Thomas Moser
Quotes By Gustav Stickley
Gustav Stickley was known for his contributions to the mission style of furniture making. Stickley, like Moser, is an icon among furniture craftsmen.
- “When a man's home is born out of his heart and developed through his labor and perfected through his sense of beauty, it is the very cornerstone of life.” - Gustav Stickley
- “It comes to me every day of my life that a home spirit is being awakened amongst us, that as a nation we are beginning to realize how important it is to have homes of our own, homes that we like, that we have been instrumental in building, that we will want to have belong to our children.” - Gustav Stickley
Quotes By Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was a renowned architect known for his aptitude towards mid-century modern design.
- “The good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but one which makes the landscape more beautiful than it was before the building was built.” -Frank Lloyd Wright
- “The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.” - Frank Lloyd Wright
- “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” - Frank Lloyd Wright
- “Whether people are fully conscious of this or not, they actually derive countenance and sustenance from the ‘atmosphere’ of the things they live in or with. They are rooted in them just as a plant is in the soil in which is planted.” - Frank Lloyd Wright
Furniture Quotes by Celebrities
- “If I had to choose between clothes and furniture, I'd choose furniture.” - Julianne Moore, Actress
- “Designing is my hobby. If I didn't do what I do for a living - at some point when I don't do this for a living - I'll probably just do design work. I love finding really special pieces of furniture.” - Ellen DeGeneres
Funny Quotes About Furniture
- “I would describe my relationship with my couch as symbiotic - others would describe it as dangerous.” - Lucas Till (American actor)
- "Women have a favorite room, men a favorite chair." - Bernard Williams (English philosopher)
Did we miss any? Let us know what your favorites are in the comments!
