If you’re looking for a sleek, exotic look perfectly suited for smaller apartments and living spaces, Oriental-styled furniture is a definite option to consider. Chinese and Japanese offerings have had a great influence on Western furniture and modern design. Bedroom furniture pieces such as the platform bed and futon, as well as stacked chests and trunks are examples of Asian-inspired furniture that is practical and compact, and at the same time stylish and sophisticated.

Lacquered surfaces are a key attribute of the Chinese furniture style, creating luxuriantly deep finishes that are paradoxically subtle and striking in their elegance. Comprised of ebony, teak and rosewood, Chinese furniture often bears an inlay of semi-precious materials like lapis lazuli, jade and mother-of-pearl. Symmetrical construction, miter joints and copper, brass or pewter brackets are often employed to create a clean profile that enhances a modern, cosmopolitan living space.

Space-saving savvy puts Japanese-inspired furniture high on the list of city dwellers and dorm room denizens alike. If you love your sleek, streamlined platform bed and couldn’t live without your stowaway futon, you owe your admiration to the ingenuity of a culture that traditionally shuns large, overwrought furniture. Other recognizable items that hail from Japan include the stacked Tansu chests and Nagamochi trunks. Like Chinese furnishings, furniture influenced by Japanese design is defined by its joinery, with master artisans taking years to learn the construction of these complex, durable joints. Great pride is taken in the general lack of nails or glue that holds the structure together, and in the joint’s shock absorbing properties.
Much contemporary furniture owes its inspiration to ancient Oriental designs. The beauty of a piece was found in its usefulness and construction. Simplicity of design was valued more than ostentatious and gaudy overindulgence. The same can be said for today’s modern furniture, especially bedroom furniture, where sleek and simple equals stylish and sophisticated.

I was watching a TV show the other day called the Antiques Road Show I was somewhat startled to see how much some of the old hand made home furnishings like chairs, dressers, coat racks and the like were worth. What did all of these items have in common? Well to start with they were all hand crafted with solid wood! I say this because today I do not believe much of anything is hand crafted this by itself though is not really a problem if it was not for mass production most of us would not be able to afford furniture. The true measure of fine furniture is the materials that it is constructed out of whether you are purchasing a complete bedroom set or a coat rack if is made from sub par materials such as particle board or MDF (medium density fiberboard) it will not last as long as solid wood construction.

Now if you are buying furniture at your local X-Mart type store you are only going to get cheaply made imported furniture these type of stores have their place you certainly do not want to spend thousands of dollars on a top of line baby crib that will only be used for a short time but if you are looking for a family heirloom to pass don or just enjoy the feel and look that only comes from finely crafted furniture you will have to shop someplace else.

Actually one of the best places to look for high quality home furnishings is on the Internet there are many craftsman around the world who specialize in one off high quality design and creating of great pieces. You still need to be careful before spending thousands of dollars with one of these craftsman look at their return policy, ask for a list of prior customers so you can check with them, you may even want to visit their shop and check it out for yourself.

I recently went to a local furniture store to look at dining room tables I was going to buy the chairs and build my own table but after looking at the new tables I was actually impressed with the quality of the construction it was as advertised solid Oak. I was surprised to discover that it would cost me more for the raw materials than the complete table cost. I did however opt for the unfinished table and finished it myself to save a little pride. When you have the choice opts for solid wood construction it will last many times longer then the cheap imitation wood substitutes that have flooded the market. Whether it is a coat rack or a complete dining room set look for quality construction to last many lifetimes.