The History of Modern Furniture and Terminology for Furniture Pieces

Have you ever wondered about the furniture that you sit on in your home? How did it gets it name or who invented it? Our home furniture is around us every single day, yet we know very little about it. Unless you?re an interior designer or a carpenter, you probably know next to nothing about the furniture you use in your living room, your kitchen, your bedroom, or your home office. The more we understand the items we use, the more we can appreciate them and their development over the years.

Interested in learning more about modern home furniture and its development over time? Keep reading to find out interesting facts about inexpensive modern furniture and the terms we use to describe it.

When Modern Furniture Was Invented

If you like modern style furniture, you may already know a little bit about the modernistic style. When discussing modernistic styles, this generally refers to anything from the late 19th century to today. For furniture, this means it was produced during that time period and influenced by modernistic styles no matter the time it was produced.

So, what exactly qualifies as modernistic style? Usually, anything that fits in this category falls into the design aesthetic of the unexpected. Modernism also avoids traditional values and realism. You can expect to see art and designs that celebrate things like disruption and discontinuity.

When it comes to modern and contemporary furniture specifically, there are some clear features to look out for to know that it?s possibly inexpensive modern furniture. You can look for clean lines that are straight and simple. There won?t be anything too ornate or decorative. Nothing will stand out too much or look too unique with inexpensive modern furniture.

Types of Modern Furniture and Their Invention

Whether you work in an office or you have a home office, it?s likely you use an office chair at some point during your week. You probably don?t know much about that office chair that you sit on, though. Believe it or not, the office chair is said to have been invented by Charles Darwin. He took a normal chair and simply added wheels to it. He did this so that he could move around in his office with more ease when looking around at different items.

Before Charles Darwin?s time, chairs weren?t always a common item for people to have to sit on. In fact, they were usually used by those in higher positions. For instance, in Medieval times, lower classes were instructed to sit on the floor. Sometimes they were given stools or benches instead. The noblemen were allowed to sit on chairs because they were part of the upper classes in society.

This is also where the notion of the word ?chairman? comes from. The chairman is usually a higher position of power in a company. That?s why they are called the chairman because they likely would have received a chair to sit in during past centuries unlike lower individuals of society who would sit on benches or stools.

The word sofa is derived from another word, too. In Arabic, sofa means ?bench?. This explains why a sofa is called a sofa due to its shape and structure. It resembles a bench, but it is designed to much more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing generally. The word couch is also derived from another word. In Old French, it means ?to recline?. When couches were first invented, they were more like daybeds that reclined. Nowadays, they have developed into modern day couches which generally don?t recline but rather stay upright. This is a perfect example of how modern furniture once existed for a specific purpose. Over time, it adapted to exist for a different reason. As more and more types of furniture are created, all furniture adapts and changes to find its purpose.

What other interesting facts do you know about inexpensive modern furniture? Do you plan to buy modern furniture to decorate your home? Let us know about your thoughts on modernistic styles in the comments.