Mission Furniture 101: Everything You Need to Know
Mission style furniture is characterized by rectangular shapes, 90 degree angles, and straight vertical and horizontal lines. First conceived in the Arts & Crafts period at the turn of the 20th century, mission and craftsman style furniture has maintained popularity in traditional and arts & crafts design circles ever since.
What is Mission Style Furniture?
Mission style furniture is often described as sturdy, heavy, and even chunky. Its characterized by straight vertical and horizontal lines, square or rectangular legs and spindles, and durable construction.
Mission style furniture represents the ideals of simplicity of design, integrity of construction, and truth to the materials. Joints are often exposed and the natural characteristics of the wood are emphasized with flat panelling and finishes that accentuate the grain. The exposed joints and highlighted grain patterns are often complimented with metal loop drawer pulls and hinges.
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Mission style furniture was born out of a countermovement against Victorian style furniture like that seen here.
Photo by Francisco De Legarreta C. on Unsplash
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The History of Mission Style Furniture
The term mission style furniture was first coined by New England furniture craftsman Joseph McHugh. McHugh built a collection of stylistically similar furniture based on inspiration from a chair he discovered in a church in San Francisco, CA in the 1890s.
The word mission is an ode to the spanish missionaries who settled in Northern California during those times, although the design inspiration for mission furniture has little to do with the religious Spanish missionaries and their culture.
Moreso, mission style furniture was a counter-movement to the perceived excessive ornamentation of Victorian style furnishings that became popular in the mid- to late- 1800s.
Around the same time, there was a sentiment that the industrial revolution of the early 1800s had caused us to devalue high-quality, handmade goods in favor of those that could be cheaply mass-produced. Mission furniture took hold between the years of 1900 and 1915 as a response to both of those movements.
What is Mission Style
The term mission style furniture was first coined by New England furniture craftsman Joseph McHugh. McHugh built a collection of stylistically similar furniture based on inspiration from a chair he discovered in a church in San Francisco, CA in the 1890s.
The word mission is an ode to the spanish missionaries who settled in Northern California during those times, although the design inspiration for mission furniture has little to do with the religious Spanish missionaries and their culture.
Moreso, mission style furniture was a counter-movement to the perceived excessive ornamentation of Victorian style furnishings that became popular in the mid- to late- 1800s.
Mission vs. Craftsmen vs. Arts & Crafts
Mission furniture rose to prominence during the Arts & Crafts movement of the early 1900s, also known as the American Craftsmen era. The movement brought with it an appreciation for high-quality, handmade goods and the people who made them. Because of this, the terms mission furniture, arts & crafts furniture, and craftsman furniture are forever linked and mostly interchangeable.
Mission vs. Shaker Style Furniture
Mission and shaker style furniture are often associated because both styles have been adopted by traditional furniture craftsmen. The Amish are often cited as the source of both design philosophies, although that’s not true in either case.
Shaker style furniture originated from the Shaking Quakers in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. It wasn’t for another few decades that mission style furniture began to emerge. Both styles originated in New England.
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Shaker Style Furniture
- Clean, simple designs
- Tapered legs
- Mushroom shaped wood knobs
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Mission Style Furniture
- 90 degree angles
- Vertical and horizontal lines
- Rectangular spindles
- Eased edges
- Traditionally made with oak wood (cherry and maple also common)
When built by master craftsmen like the ones we work with at Vermont Woods Studios, both shaker and mission style furniture are built to last for generations.
Handcrafted and Guaranteed For Life
Vermont furniture makers have become today’s authority on Shaker furniture. Customers seeking solid wood furniture with a simple, elegant design have grown to love their work. All of the wood furniture at Vermont Woods Studios is handcrafted in Vermont and guaranteed for life.
Our craftspeople have several variations on original Shaker style as shown in these beautiful, handmade furniture collections.
Fill up the whole house with shaker furniture designs for every room.
Shop Mission Furniture
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