Posts Tagged ‘Living Room’
Friday, March 12th, 2010
The Victorian furniture era was named after Queen Victoria of England and was depicted by heavy dark toned furnishings. Back in the Victorian era, it was not uncommon to find homes filled with ornately carved furniture and heavily layered window treatments.
Her son, King Edward VII, succeeded to the throne in 1901, and then began the Edwardian furniture era. His design style was quite different than his mother’s. The Edwardian period was considered a more elegant and cheerful designing time. It was a time of change and distraction from the dark and heavy design style. During the Edwardian era, furniture was designed with delicate lines and upholstered in floral designs or flowing graphics. Many furniture pieces from the Edwardian furniture era had a mixed bag of design styles. You could often find previous designing techniques mixed together to make one interesting piece of furniture. For example, a desk could have slender legs with squared feet, and the drawers would have inlaid veneers and intricate hardware. Instead of a heavy desk, the desk would be delicate and light. Many furniture designers in the Edwardian era used curved lines for their furniture pieces. During this eclectic furniture making time period, mixing classic styles with curved designed was popular among designers. Basically, during the Edwardian design era, most anything that was cheerful and fun was acceptable!
At Grand Furniture Gallery you will find furniture reproductions from most every time period. Stop by our store to check out our lovely selection of Edwardian, Queen Anne, Georgian, and Sheraton design elements that are incorporated into many of the great furniture pieces that we have in stock. See how great designers from years long past still offer inspiration for today’s furniture. At Grand Furniture Gallery you will always find quality North Carolina furniture at prices that cannot be beat!
Tags: Accent Furniture, Arm Chairs, Bed, Bedroom, Buffet, Chair, Chest, China Cabinet, Dining Room, Dresser, Grand Furniture Gallery, Living Room, Mirror, Night Stand, Occasional Furniture, Side Chair, Wardrobe
Posted in Accent Furniture, Bedroom, Bedroom Furniture, Dining Room, Living Room, Master Bedroom, Occasional Furniture | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Continuing from Monday…
Stickley’s furniture featured rectangular lines and was usually made of oak that was lightly stained to showcase the wood’s grain. Leather and canvas was used instead of heavy tapestry on seat cushions. Stickley took pride in the fact that he never used nails or glue as fasteners in his furniture pieces. Instead he had visible tenon-and-key joints, exposed tenons, and visible dowels as fasteners. Using these intricate techniques dated back to medieval times and made the Stickley Mission furniture extremely unique and in high demand.
Gustav Stickley considered himself a “craftsman” and published his own magazine called “The Craftsman” from 1901 to 1916. In it he promoted his principles of furniture design, mostly that pieces should be comfortable and well made, and practical too. Always supporting the Arts and Crafts movement, he often stressed the importance of choosing furniture that was more cost effective rather than luxurious.
Despite his many successes in furniture design, Stickley’s creations were subjected to unauthorized knock-off’s which eventually helped put him out of business. In 1915, Gustav Stickley filed for bankruptcy and closed his factory for good. The great news is, that despite his demise, the Mission style furniture still lives on today!
At Grand Furniture Gallery you will find a wide selection of Mission style furniture for every room of your home. Stop by today to see the beautiful bedroom sets, dining sets, office furniture, entertainment centers, armoire/TV Console, occasional tables and pub table and chairs that are available. We offer a variety of sizes and colors to choose from so it is easy to create the perfect Mission style room. Stop by our showroom to see what will inspire you with our quality furniture that is made in North Carolina!
Tags: Arm Chairs, Bed, Bedroom, Chair, Chest, Coffee Table, Computer Desk, Den Furniture, Dining Room, Dresser, Family Room, Grand Furniture Gallery, Living Room, Night Stand, Occasional Furniture, Pub Table, Side Chair
Posted in Bedroom, Bedroom Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Home Entertainment, Home Office, Home Theatre, Living Room, Master Bedroom, Occasional Furniture | No Comments »
Monday, March 1st, 2010
The Arts and Crafts movement first came to life in Great Britain in the middle of the 19th century. It was during a time when factories began mass production of furniture and goods that true artisans attacked the new ideals of mass production. To those who followed the Arts and Crafts movement, workers who were tied to machines were being robbed of the simple pleasures of their own creativity. It was widely be believed that workers should return to the superior practices of making items by hand, as the beauty of those items was in the irregularity that was created by the individual artisan.
Gustav Stickley is often credited with leading the charge in the Arts and Crafts movement, but it was actually already in full swing by the time he became involved. Stickley was a popular American furniture maker in the early part of the 20th century. His design style was called Mission or Mission Oak and was inspired by the Spanish Missions in California. The furniture name also suited one of Stickley’s core values; that it fulfilled a mission or purpose.
The Stickley furniture was unique in that it celebrated the handmade nature of furniture making, but was still able to be produced via machine. His techniques allowed his furniture designs to be efficiently crafted for less money than his competitors. While other Arts and Craft artisans catered to the wealthy, Stickley tried, and was quite successful, at making his design creations more obtainable to the general public. The Stickley Mission furniture was considered simple, functional, and sturdy, with little attention paid to decorative details.
Please check back on Wednesday for the conclusion.
Tags: Bed, Bedroom, Chair, Computer Desk, Dining Room, Dresser, Grand Furniture Gallery, Living Room, Night Stand, Occasional Furniture, Pub Table, Side Chair
Posted in Bedroom, Bedroom Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Home Entertainment, Home Office, Home Theatre, Master Bedroom, Occasional Furniture | No Comments »
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Continuing from Wednesday…
As with wooden types of furniture pieces, the American public was beginning to turn away from the traditional Victorian styles during the early part of the 20th century. American’s preferred more simple designs with straighter lines instead of the heavy fabrics and ornate features of the Victorian Era. Around 1910, the Heywood Brother and Wakefield Company began designing Mission style furniture instead. It did not take long for the public to embrace the simplicity and clean lines offered by this style of furniture and the Mission style was quickly a huge hit. In fact, the Mission style is still a style that is preferred by many American’s today.
In 1917, another competitor entered the woven furniture scene. Marshall B. Lloyd invented a machine that wove a man-made fiber out of chemically twisted paper. It did not take long for Heywood Brother and Wakefield Company to realize that they needed this invention in their company so they bought the Lloyd Manufacturing Company in 1921 and changed their name to Heywood-Wakefield Company. By the 1930’s, American interest in wicker and rattan furniture had waned and the company was forced to change manufacturing directions completely. They began making metal and wood chairs until 1979, when the company finally stopped making furniture altogether.
Wicker furniture became a popular American design choice once again in the 1960’s and has remained as a leader to this day. Throughout the years, wicker and rattan furniture has been used in most every room in the home. You can easily find wicker sofas, chairs, tables, dining sets, chaise lounges, bedroom sets, dressers, mirrors, bars, and entertainment centers. Wicker furniture is strong and versatile and stands up to the riggers of daily life. Because of its strength and durability, wicker and rattan furniture works perfectly in a backyard setting as well.
At Grand Furniture Gallery you will always find a wide selection of wicker and rattan furniture to choose from. We have beautiful wicker and rattan furniture for both the inside and outside of your home that is sure to bring both beauty and comfort to your living environment. Stop by today to see what treasures you can find for your home.
Tags: Accent Furniture, Chair, Den Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Grand Furniture Gallery, Kitchen, Living Room, Loveseat, Ottoman, Rattan, Side Chair, Sofa, wicker
Posted in Accent Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Kitchen, Living Room, Patio & Garden Furniture, Wicker & Rattan | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Like many other styles of furniture, the wicker and rattan furniture style has a varied past. It has been reported that wicker furniture first arrived in America along with the pilgrims aboard the Mayflower. The American wicker furniture industry can be traced back to one American in particular. Back in the 1850’s, a grocer named Cyrus Wakefield found large amounts of rattan while visiting the shipping docks at Boston harbor. The strips of rattan were used as straps to hold cargo in place in ships traveling out of Asia. Although he had never seen this material before, he was fascinated by it. He soon decided to sell his grocery store and instead form the Wakefield Rattan Company, which made hand-made baskets and furniture out of this new type of material that he had discovered. It did not take long for Wakefield to have entire cargo ships of rattan being shipped from Asia for his new business adventure. By the 1860’s, with virtually no competition, the Wakefield Rattan Company grew tremendously and was the leading manufacturer of rattan furniture in America.
After the Civil War, the largest wood chair manufacturer in the United States wanted to try their hand at creating rattan furniture. The Heywood Brothers hired an inventor who created a machine that was able to weave the rattan into beautiful furniture pieces. This new invention allowed the Heywood Brothers to offer their furniture at low prices to consumers. After years of competition, the two furniture giants merged in 1897 and were then called the Heywood Brother and Wakefield Company. This powerhouse company remained the leading manufacturer of quality wicker furniture until the late 1920’s.
Please check back Friday for the conclusion.
Tags: Accent Furniture, Chair, Coffee Table, Dining Room, Family Room, Grand Furniture Gallery, Kitchen, Living Room, Loveseat, Ottoman, Pub Table, Rattan, Side Chair, wicker
Posted in Accent Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Kitchen, Living Room, Patio & Garden Furniture, Wicker & Rattan | No Comments »
Monday, February 8th, 2010
The history of the clock is very long and spans over many centuries. Originally, there was not a huge need to tell the time of day, but over time people found it a useful tool. It is widely believed by historians that the word “clock” was first used in the 14th century. The oldest type of clock is the sundial and was first used around 3,500 B.C. The sundial was only able to tell the time of day during daytime hours. The second type of clock was invented around 1,400 B.C. This water clock was very popular because people were able to tell time during the day as well as at night.
The first practical clock was developed by Christian Huygens around 1656. Just like pendulum clocks of today, this pendulum clock swings left and right. With each swing of the pendulum, there is a wheel that turns the hour and the minute on the clock. Original pendulum clocks had to be continuously restarted once they stopped, but by 1840 external batteries were developed so that the clocks could run freely. By the early 1900’s, batteries were placed inside of the clock which eliminated the need to constantly restart the clock. Here’s a little interesting clock trivia…The first ringing bell alarm clock was invented in 1781. The interesting thing about this clock was that it was only able to ring at 4:00 a.m.!
In today’s world, clocks are a crucial part of our every day lifestyle. At Grand Furniture Gallery, you will find charming clocks that will add a special design touch to your homes décor. Grand Furniture Gallery has a variety of clocks to choose from. Stop by our store to see our Wall Clocks and Floor Clocks that we have in stock. All of the clocks that we sell are made of superior components and can easily be passed down from generation to generation. Our clock designs are perfect for your living room, family room, bedroom and kitchen areas.
Stop by Grand Furniture Gallery today to see our beautiful quality North Carolina clocks and furniture that we have in stock. We know you won’t be disappointed!
Tags: Bedroom, Dining Room, Family Room, Floor Clock, Grand Furniture Gallery, Kitchen, Living Room, Wall Clock
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Friday, February 5th, 2010
The word “curio” is derived from the word “curiosity”. We humans have a natural curiosity to view the treasures that are amassed by our family and friends whenever we get a chance.
Originally curio cabinets were small decorative cabinets which were created as far back as the Renaissance period (16th century). Many of the original curio cabinets contained small compartments, hidden drawers and doors. During the 17th century, curio cabinets were particularly popular among the Dutch and it was considered quite fashionable to own one. It was not until the 18th century that they became a popular mainstream furniture piece in homes. Just like today, curio cabinets were used to display works of art and special items that were important to the homeowner.
It’s no doubt that old world curio cabinets were such a luxury that they were reserved for only the rich. The great news is that curio cabinets are so affordable; everyone can own one. In today’s world you can find curio cabinets that vary in styles, prices and wood choices. Each curio cabinet is designed to provide an exquisite visual impact so that people will want to look at your treasures behind the glass. Being that curio cabinets vary in size, it is easy to find the perfect one that fits your home styling needs. In smaller or larger homes, a curio cabinet allows you to put your favorite items or treasured collection out on display while still giving it the protection that it deserves.
At Grand Furniture Gallery you will find an exquisite curio cabinet that is sure to enhance your homes décor. Stop by our store to see the Oxford Black Mantle Curio. This exquisite curio cabinet is made from hardwood solids and veneers. It has adjustable glass shelves, adjustable glides for leveling, V-grooved front glass, halogen light with touch dimmer switch, and a contrasting white beaded wooden back panel that will make your collection shine brightly. At Grand Furniture Gallery you will find many other curio cabinets in a variety of styles and wood choices. Stop by today to see which one will work for you.
Tags: Curio Cabinet, Den Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Grand Furniture Gallery, Living Room
Posted in Dining Room, Family Room, Living Room | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Contemporary style designing is also known as modern style design. Choosing this style of design is popular and easily recognizable because of its sleek and clean lines. Contemporary designing is quite different than traditional designs which uses detail carvings, ball and club feet, heavy fabrics, and curved wood. The colors used in contemporary designs typically revolve around blacks, browns, beige, and white, but it is not uncommon to see primary colors used such as a fantastically bright red when designing in the contemporary style.
Contemporary style furniture is not limited to only wood sources. You will often find beautiful furniture pieces made from metal, aluminium, and fiberglass too. Always striking and sophisticated, it is not uncommon to see a contemporary room exhibiting that special flair with furniture pieces that are adorned with mirrors as well.
The Tribecca Queen Cherry Slat Group A, which is available at Grand Furniture Gallery, is a perfect example of a contemporary bedroom set. This sleek and modern set features straight lines and geometric shapes and is sure to enhance the elegance of any room’s décor. Made from hardwood and cherry veneers and accented with a nickel finish, you won’t be disappointed! At Grand Furniture Gallery you will be able to decorate the entire bedroom with the additional furniture pieces that are available. Stop by our store to see the matching nightstands, platform boxes, armoire, accent mirror, corner chest, and bed sizes that we have in stock.
At Grand Furniture Gallery you will find many contemporary style furniture pieces that will look amazing in your home. Stop by today to see our selection of modern furniture that is available for the bedroom, dining room, and home office, and entertainment centers and occasional furniture as well.
Tags: Accent Furniture, Bed, Bedroom, Chest, Computer Desk, Credenza, Den Furniture, Dining Room, Dresser, Family Room, Grand Furniture Gallery, Living Room, Mirror, Night Stand, Occasional Furniture, Wardrobe
Posted in Accent Furniture, Bedroom Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Home Entertainment, Home Office, Living Room, Master Bedroom, Occasional Furniture | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
It’s no doubt that the traditional old world style of furniture was designed to impress. Traditional furniture was originally designed for European royalty from the 17th to the 19th century. Luxurious furniture was created by using intricate and formal finishes that were rich and dark. Cherry, walnut, dark oaks, and mahogany were the desired woods that were used. The woods were often stained with medium to dark finishes and you could often find certain pieces adorned with marble. In traditional furniture you can expect to find curved or fluted legs and ball and claw feet as well.
The Campaign and Plantation style of traditional furniture evolved from colonial expeditions and wartime. It differed from the old world styles as furniture pieces often had legs that were able to be removed or folded down entirely. As opposed to the intricate details of the old world style, the Campaign and Plantation style furniture had simple details and cleaner lines. You could often find these pieces with hidden compartments and rich textures or even animal prints too.
The Early American style of traditional furniture held its roots from the traditional old world style, but were scaled down for the more simplified American desires. Early American furniture featured medium to dark finishes on cherry, walnut, oak, mahogany and pine woods. Many furniture pieces were also painted and contained spindles and finials.
All varieties of traditional furniture remain a popular design choice in today’s world. At Grand Furniture Gallery you will find many exquisite furniture pieces, designed in the traditional style that is sure to make your home look absolutely divine. Stop by our store to see our beautiful selection of traditional furniture for the bedroom, dining room, office, entertainment centers and occasional furniture. Grand Furniture Gallery takes pride in the quality name brand furniture that we offer. All of our products come straight from North Carolina and are offered at tremendous discounts everyday.
Tags: Arm Chairs, Bed, Bedroom, Chair, Computer Desk, Crib, Den Furniture, Dining Room, Dresser, Family Room, Grand Furniture Gallery, Kitchen, Living Room, Mirror, Night Stand, Occasional Furniture, Poster Bed, Side Chair, Sleigh Bed, Wardrobe
Posted in Bedroom Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Home Entertainment, Home Office, Kids Rooms, Living Room, Master Bedroom, Occasional Furniture | No Comments »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
There are many types of wine cabinet furniture units available on the market for the wine enthusiasts of the world. Finding the right type of wine cabinet furniture is easy when you shop at Grand Furniture Gallery.
Wine connoisseurs will love the selection of fine wine cabinets that are available at Grand Furniture Gallery. The Beacon Ridge Wine Server/Wine Server Hutch/Door Base Unit would make an amazing addition to any fine home. This stylish set shows with two of each piece to provide a virtual wall of storage and serving space. The server base has a handy drawer with a divided tray that is lined in felt and a pull out tray that has a laminate surface. The beautiful lighted hutch has two adjustable shelves and one fixed shelf so you can easily showcase stemware or decorative pieces. You can easily store your favorite bottles of wine in the perfectly designed wine storage rack too. This particular style of furniture and rustic pecan finish mix well with many different types of home décor. The hardest decision you will find is where to place this exquisite piece of furniture!
Stop by Grand Furniture Gallery to see the different types of wine cabinet furniture we have in stock. Each of these wine cabinets look lovely as a stand alone piece of furniture and compliment a dining room, kitchen, living room or family room well. You will also find quality North Carolina furniture available for every room in your home when you shop at Grand Furniture Gallery. Don’t forget to check out our “Furniture Clearance” section while visiting us. There you will find discontinued and overstocked furniture pieces that are available at rock bottom prices for only a short time.
Tags: Accent Furniture, Den Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Grand Furniture Gallery, Kitchen, Living Room, Wine Cabinet Furniture
Posted in Accent Furniture, Dining Room, Family Room, Wine Cabinet Furniture | No Comments »
