Amish Originals Furniture Co.: The Nature of a Home

No matter where we live, we carry with us the desire to create a safe, welcoming home environment that is simple, beautiful, useful, and a true expression of who we are. Flooring, walls, colors, furniture, and to accommodate the finishing touches: accents and accessories.

Accents and accessories finish a room, adding continuity, function, and balance. From fine art to refrigerator art, what we choose to display in our homes, is a form of expression that adds depth, interest, and meaning. And, updating accents and accessories are affordable ways to transform a room when it’s time for a change.

When creating a peaceful, relaxing haven, we draw inspiration just looking out the window, touching our primal connection to the natural world. The ancient art of placement, feng shui, takes inspiration from nature as a system that constantly ebbs and flows to find the balance to maintain life.

Environmental psychologists find that our direct interaction with nature, even for a few minutes a day, improves our ability to relax, think analytically, heal, and replenish.

At Amish Originals Furniture Co., we are inspired by natural accents and accessories that represent or suggest the 5 natural elements of feng shui: earth, wood, water, fire, and metal.


Earth: Represents permanence, stability, and home with a color palette of muted hues, earthtones, yellow, olive green, earthy brown, granite, and sand. Earth shapes are square or low, flat landscape surfaces. Earth accents, accessories, and mementos can include ceramics, terra cotta, crystals, sculpture, porcelain, stone, globes, and earth images.

Wood: Our favorite element represents creative energy, growth, virtue, development, and endurance with a color palette of dark, woody browns and forest greens. Wood shapes have height and reflect upward movement. Wood accents, accessories, and mementos can include ladderback chairs, vertical storage, plants, wicker, rattan, sculpture, fresh or silk flowers, and cotton and natural fibers.

Water: Represents wealth, opportunity, confidence, and renewal with a color palette of dark blue, dark grey, and black. Water shapes are essentially without defined form, free flowing, or organic. Water accents, accessories, and mementos can include actual water features like fountains or aquariums and symbolic features like mirrors, glass, seascapes, shells, river rocks, and gazing balls.

Fire: Represents energy, passion, transformation, humor, and gentleness with a color palette of bright or radiant hues, reds, oranges, and yellows. Our pets symbolize the fire element. Fire shapes are starbursts, diamonds, triangles, and pyramids. Fire accents, accessories, and mementos can include lamps, incense, candles, fireplaces, wool and leather, feathers, and electronics.
 
Metal: Represents business, harvest, energy, success, happiness, and wholeness with a color palette of white, gray, and silver. Metal shapes are circles and arcs. Metal accents, accessories, and mementos can include stainless steel, bells, iron, copper, silver, gold, bronze, sculpture, bowls, rocks, and round tables.

No matter your inspiration, we believe the selection of home decor, accents, and accessories at Amish Originals Furniture Co. is uncommon, inspired, and a true complement to the nature of a beautiful home.

By the way, our accents and accessories make perfect gifts - offbeat, thoughtful, a pleasant suprise.

From the Amish Originals eNews archives, March 2010.