The Low-Down on Arts-and-Crafts Style

Find out the design details of arts-and-crafts style.

Filed under: Arts and Craft Style, Design Style

The arts-and-crafts movement was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution’s reliance on mass production and the Victorian era's focus on heavy ornamentation. Popular during the early 1900s, this style glorified craftsmanship in simple shapes with exposed joinery, spare ornamentation and strong lines. Materials used to embellish the look include metals, stained glass and painted tiles and fabrics featuring stylized floral motifs. Notable artisans of this period are William Morris, Gustav Stickley and Charles and Henry Greene.

Colors - Burnished brown represents the rich woods used for the furniture and trim and the burnished gold represents the mica glass used for lampshades. Accent colors include deep forest green, sapphire blue and dusty rose, which garner attention against the dense neutrals.

Lighting - Mica shades set in hammered copper or burnished brass set the tone for an arts-and-crafts design. The broad horizontal lines echo those found in the linear architectural features.

Furniture - Pieces are well-proportioned with strong lines, rich finishes and spare ornamentation, except for the occasional hammered metal accent. The back-to-basics philosophy of the movement required furniture to be purposeful, functional and long-lasting.

Woodwork - As a reaction to the Victorian era's expansive use of heavy, dark, carved woodwork, the arts-and-crafts style relied on a lighter palette with neutral colored walls as the background to richly-stained woodwork.