Amish Originals Furniture Co.: The Nuts and Bolts of Industrial Style

Architectural salvage... industrial aesthetic... the scrap of luxury... loft... urban... rustic... or, as home decor blogger Layla Palmer puts it - tossed and found. 

Industrial style is a clever, resourceful furniture style that took root in the late 1960s inspired by the Centre Pompidou - an inviting, interactive arts center, complete with a public library, designed and built by a team from Italy, France, England, and Ireland, and informed by the urban environment of its Paris neighborhood.

America recognized and enthusiastically embraced the "new"  High Tech style in the 1970s.  What's in a name? Over the past few decades, High Tech style has weathered with patina to become Industrial style.

For thousands of years, furniture design and production was a very personal, artisan process, involving hands-on, piece-by-piece construction. And, in the 20th century, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, while furniture artisans continued their work, furniture building became a commercial, mass-production-focused industry from materials to design.

While there was certainly innovation in modern commercial design, there was also a cookie-cutter economy approach to home and work interiors that over time seemed impersonal and cold; more fitting people to the environment instead of an environment responding to the needs of people.

But, in the 1990s (around the time Amish Originals Furniture Co. opened its doors at the old State theater for the first time) and into this century, likely in response to technology-driven lifestyles and environmental concerns, consumers developed a desire to rediscover nature and look to the past (but not too far into the past), turning back to hand-made and hand-forged furniture, accents, and furnishings with context and personal appeal.

The concept of home design and purpose started to shift to comfort and connection with a more eclectic mix of old and new furniture, architecture, and personal expression.

The hallmarks of industrial-style are simple and functional furnishings (new, repurposed, or vintage) with strong lines, mixed elements (like wood and iron), texture, and loads of time-worn character and patina.

There is a warm, tactile personal appeal and strength to industrial style that spans all ages.

Industrial style furnishings seem to have a story to tell.  They complement and blend with other furniture styles, adding warmth, and interest to any room; perfect for an active household.

Aged or new, here are some industrial style features:

▪ Raw and rough surfaces

▪ Steel supports

▪ Exposed bolts
▪ Trollied furniture pieces
▪ Rustic feel yet a touch of elegance

▪ Purpose and function

▪ Unfinished look
▪ Minimalist
▪ Earthiness
▪ Foundary feel
▪ Hand-forged

▪ Character

▪ Aged and time-worn with patina, distressed surfaces, and rust

▪ Strong lines

▪ Mixed elements and materials like steel, iron, wood, and ceramics

▪ Repurposed or reclaimed

▪ Pieces and parts like gears and hardware

▪ Driftwood appearance and tones

▪ From textiles to metals, materials in a natural state

▪ Architectural lines and features (corbels, finials, signs, letters, doors)

Amish Originals Furniture Co. introduces a new collection of industrial-style inspired furnishings and accessories.  This collection is made of Canadian-grown hardwood by Canadian horse and buggy Mennonite artisans and finished, here in Ohio, by Amish carpenters:

▪ Wormy Maple Ironworks Occasional Tables: Coffee Table, Sofa Table, End Table

▪ Rustic Wormy Maple 6-drawer Sideboard

▪ Weathered Ash Timber Island

Furniture is something best experienced in person. So stop by often, touch, look, and interact - pull out drawers, open doors, sit in chairs, visualize.
Let us know what you think of our new furniture, accents, and accessories.

Learn more. Gain inspiration...

Industrial Chic

The Scrap of Luxury

Industrial Style Interior Design on a Budget

Creating an Industrial Design Space

Tossed and Found

When Shabby Chic Meets Industrial Chic