Innovative Furniture

New technologies always lead to new innovations, regardless of what field it is or what the end result may be. In the 19th century, new technology was leading to new innovations in the world of furniture. This innovation occurred in many areas.

Some of this was in actual new styles of furniture while some was in new construction methods and mechanical devices used in production. More innovation came from incorporating new mechanical devices or gadgets into furniture and others came from simple human combinations of older ideas, processes or materials.

One of the innovative styles of furniture came from a trend of incorporating more natural elements into a furniture piece. Surely, most furniture, and all furniture at the time was already natural, based out of wood or stone.

But by the mid to late 1800s, natural products were used in furniture without being distorted. This meant that wicker seat backs and seat bottoms, animal horns or, full bamboo shoots, thick tree logs without being shaved down and other natural items were used increasingly in furniture.

On the opposite side of the spectrum was the use of metal and metal components to make furniture. Rocking chairs and other varieties of chairs were made using hollow metal tubes for construction. A take off of the same technique involved flat, whole metal pieces.

Meanwhile, one-piece cast iron furniture was also being made, most notably like a park bench you can still see today. Wire was also used to add designs, effect and structure to certain pieces of furniture.

Metal was also used to create coil springs, which led to many various innovations in furniture styles. Coil springs can help furniture pieces to recline, to collapse, to fold together and have other assorted functions. Coil springs and wiring also led to Turkish frame construction, in which upholstery is wrapped around a piece of furniture consisting entirely of wire spring.

A different type of innovation was seen through the use of lamination techniques, or distorting and shaping through the power and heat of steam. By the middle of the 19th century, Michael Thonet was creating furniture with birch wood curved in every possible style and shape.

The added bonus was that this furniture could be made with small component parts and then be put together a later time. This allowed for easy shipment and spread the popularity of this furniture, still made today, to the United States and across the globe.

While the advent of machinery that could build furniture and assembly style lines of workers that could build furniture quicker were big innovations, they didn’t necessarily lead to new styles of furniture. Often machinery that could build furniture without needing much help from workmen would produce cheap, knockoff style furniture that could be sold to consumers in search of a refined look without having to pay a large price.

This led to the replication of many older furniture styles that could now be made for a fraction of the cost becoming more popular as they became available to a larger section of the market.