Mission and craftsman style are staples of the modern decor world, and have been for quite some time. The style’s sturdy furniture, straight lines and quality materials have made it a favorite of many for years, and it has stood the test of time again and again as trends have passed.

What’s the history of Mission and Craftsman Styles?

Mission and craftsman style came out of the mid 19th century as a reaction to mass produced items during the Industrial Revolution. It was a design and social movement to emphasize the artists and craftspeople who created everyday home objects. Mission and craftsman styles are the American versions of this movement, sometimes more broadly referred to as the Arts and Crafts movement (Gustav Stickley, an innovator in the movement, preferred the term craftsman, while it was more common on the East Coast to use mission).

What are the common design elements in Mission and Craftsman Styles?

At its core, mission style furniture is focused on quality, handcrafted pieces. The style works to highlight a material’s natural beauty, as well as the beauty in a well-crafted piece of furniture. These pieces are often clean and practical with strong and focused lines. Designs focus on function rather than form, and advocate for the function of the piece to be seen as beautiful. You won’t find any frills or ornamentation here!

Materials used in craftsman style furniture include warm, refined woods like oak, cherry and walnut. These strong and beautiful woods are often finished lightly, stained rather than painted, in order to show off the natural grain of the piece. Metal latches and exposed joinery are displayed and used as decor, rather than hidden away, to recognize the beauty in the creation of the furniture. Other materials popular with the style include stained glass and ceramics, as well as other natural artisanal work.

Where are Mission and Craftsman pieces used in a home?

Mission and craftsman style is often popular in bedrooms and bedroom sets for their long-lasting and simplified beauty. Mission style bedroom furniture, and all mission style furniture, tends to utilize vertical slats and simple lines. The ever-popular mission style bed is recognized by frequent use of elegant vertical wood detailing on headboards and footboards, which makes it a bold yet easy to style piece in any room.

Craftsman or mission style dining tables are also a popular go-to. Large, beautifully crafted dining room sets make a great centerpiece of a space to gather around, and really speaks to the original intention of craftsman furniture; to create simple, well-designed spaces that are ideal for living. Mission style tables will often feature beautifully hand-crafted chairs and benches that are in and of themselves small works of art.

This versatility within craftsman and mission style makes it a timeless addition to nearly every room in a house. Rocking chairs are a go-to for many when it comes to mission style design, as they’re a traditionally artisan piece that makes for great heirloom furniture that can be passed down from generation to generation. With its straightforward and neat structural design, craftsman style furniture adds a great balance to a room that may have a lot going on. It also works well next to other pieces, especially of the same wood type, as the strong lines of the style ground a room well.

As many design trends come and go, mission and craftsman style design remains an ever-present influence. Many nowadays can relate to why those in the Industrial Revolution were drawn to handmade, classic and well-built pieces that can stand the test of time in terms of durability and fashion.