If you casually stroll through most modern furniture stores these days, you’ll notice a variety of fabrics and styles that are currently in vogue. Manufacturers and retailers are quick to seize upon major design trends in the hope of increasing sales.
Unfortunately, many of these styles quickly end up looking dated. The colors of the fabric may go out of style, overly styled furnishings may not age gracefully and cushions and springs begin to sag from continual wear and tear.
Before you know it, the furniture ends up in a thrift store or second hand shop, waiting for some passerby to take pity on it.
If you’ve ever walked through the aisles of these used furniture shops, you’ll quickly notice that modern furniture can rarely be found. If you happen upon a piece, rest assured you have a rare treasure.
The reason modern furniture is tough to find on the second hand market is because it is both classic and timeless. It never goes out of style. Combined with its superior construction, intelligent design and use of top quality materials, modern furniture transcends fads in fashion.
When selecting modern furniture for your home, you want to adhere to the creed of Modernism: “Form follows function.” In other words, comfort is key in any design. Any piece of modern furniture must be first comfortable, then fashionable.
Comfort is rarely the main focus of other styles of furniture that you’ll find in some furniture stores. If you’ve ever sat in an overstuffed couch, for example, you’ll soon find that you can rarely sit back fully and still have your feet touch the floor. That’s because the look of the sofa is more important than its comfort.
That’s not to say that modern furniture isn’t attractive. Hardly! Some of the most enduring and classic designs in the furniture world were created by the legends of furniture design: Eileen Gray, Charles and Ray Eames, Ludwig Mies Van De Rohe, and Le Corbusier. Many of their visionary works are just as popular today as they were when they were first introduced. A design that came on the scene 70 or even 100 years ago still looks fresh today.
Like great art, modern furniture only increases in value, at least from an aesthetic standpoint. Over the years, it becomes an integral part of the home, a focal point of beauty, harmony and tranquility. But it never becomes boring. Like a classic work of art by Picasso or Monet, you always see something new in your modern furniture. It intrigues the eye and challenges the mind.
Perhaps that’s why modern furniture continues to be so popular. It is a trendsetter without being trendy. It is classic, yet fresh and contemporary. And most of all, it is true to its roots – that form (design) follows function (comfort). It’s a pity that many manufacturers can’t seem to remember this basic tenet of furniture design.
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