Furniture Style: Mission

Furniture designers often look to the past for inspiration and they're bringing back a style that's been around for nearly one hundred years — Mission.

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Whether an original piece or a reproduction, mission style adds a timeless and classic look to a home.

The simple and clean lines that define this style were considered revolutionary for their time. The arts and crafts period was a rebuttal to the industrial revolution and manufactured pieces like Victorian furniture. The Mission philosophy was that beauty does not imply elaborate or ornate design.
One signature of Mission style is the use of quarter-sawn oak (striped wood grain) and the hardware was originally all hand-made.
The most popular piece of Mission furniture in its day was the Morris chair. It was the first reclining/easy chair and is available in an updated version today.

Today's mission style still depends on clean lines and dark stained oak. It mimics the past almost perfectly and because the style is so distinctive, you immediately know what you are looking at.

For a touch of Mission simplicity in any space, add accessories typical of the style such as lamps with auburn glass/metal shades, small tables or a magazine rack.

magazine rack and side table, desk and chair, low coffee table with three pull -out drawers, beds, chest at foot of bed (Restoration Hardware)

recliner with patchwork suede cushion, entire living room with recliner, coffee table and sofa (Oskar Huber Furniture)

two chairs with side table, rocking chair with green cushion, benches, entire room with Mission furniture, bookcases, dresser, sideboard table, Morris chair (recliner with dark colored wood and leather cushion) (Fox Mission Gallery)

dining room table with copper vases (Baker Knapp & Tubbs)

Resources

Guests
- Amanda Wetzel
  Restoration Hardware
  15 Koch Road, Suite J
  Corte Madera, CA 94925
  URL: www.restorationhardware.com
- Seth Carter
  Owner, Fox Mission Gallery
  162 North 3rd Street
  Philadelphia, PA 19106
  Phone: 610-688-3678
  Email: ei216@aol.com
  URL: www.foxmission.com
- Samatha Nestor
  New York Design Center
  200 Lexington Avenue
  New York, NY 10016
  Phone: 212-679-9500
  Fax: 212-447-1669
  URL: www.nydc.com