Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Decorating With Antique Bedroom Furniture High On Collectors’ Lists




Some of the more popular furnishings sought by collectors is decorating with antique bedroom furniture, and finding a four-poster bed from the Elizabethan period or earlier is a collector’s dream. Typically crafted of oak as the primary wood with intricate scrollwork with linen fold decorations, a curved panel that appears linen-like with tight folds, it can set the era in which it was crafted.

Under British monarch rule in the late 1500’s, the armoire and settle pieces began appearing. Made of oak, the armoire was used for storing clothing and the settle was a long bench with a high back. These pieces of decorating with antique bedroom furniture were fastened with mortise and tenon joint, held together by pegs or dowel. They may have also been decorated with a carving of a human form.

Due to the typically small sized bedrooms during these early periods, decorating with antique bedroom furniture was used mostly for practical storage. Closets were not yet being built into the rooms and finding space for clothing was up to the homeowner. Wealthier owners, and those with a high social status, were able to hire designers and crafters to build furniture for this purpose. Indigo Jones was the leading designer and furniture maker in most of England in the late 16th century.

Cherry And Walnut Join Popular Woods

At the turn of the 17th century, cherry and walnut began being used in decorating with antique bedroom furniture, with cherry mostly used in the United States and Britain due to its availability and durability closely matching that of oak. Arches on furniture backs and panels became popular and began appearing on bed frames and tables in colonial bedrooms. Farthingale chairs also made their appearance at about this time for the women who wore farthingale, or hooped, skirts.

The tallboy made its appearance at the beginning of the 18th century as piece of decorating with antique bedroom furniture, giving a chest of drawers in which clothing and other belongings were stored. Numerous hardwoods were by now is use for making furniture including ash, the English yew, which was also used or bows in archery, as well as beech, cherry and chestnut. Leading designers of the time included Andre Boulle, Daniel Marot and William Kent, among others.

In the 1800’s the chiffarobe made its appearance and decorating with antique bedroom furniture added the large storage unit to its list of popular and practical items. Used to store clothing on hangers but also typically contained drawers as well for folded clothing.

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