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.

One of the sections or areas in the house that requires details and careful selection of furniture pieces is the bedroom. Everything that is found in the bedroom reflects the nature of the occupant, as it is a private domain, choices of bedroom furniture together with its positioning relies heavily on the owner. Bedroom furniture sometimes called a bedroom suite or a bedroom set is basically a group of furniture in a sleeping quarters. Beds, dressers, wardrobes, nightstands, chests, vanities, trunks, mirrors and armoires are referred to as the bedroom furniture. During the 19th century Baroque styles in Japan used heavier themes and darker colors, the bedroom furniture pieces then influenced by that era are heavier in weight, made of solid hundred percent wood and are mostly of gothic design. Certainly the creation of these bedroom furniture pieces are based on the era and the culture it belonged too, these days though a lot of modern and highly industrialized pieces have come up but there are antique shops all over the world selling old and highly expensive bedroom furniture pieces from the 18th and 19th century. Armoires, vanities and trunks of 18th century maidens long forgotten are up for grabs to anyone who is into antiques and whose homes are designed to be a replica of that old era.

Nowadays bedroom furniture for young couples usually represents a sense of practicality alongside a sense of casualness. For couples marrying for the first time without living together prior to that would be thinking of furniture pieces for their home to get them started. Primary concern would be the bedroom furniture, in searches online most of what young people are looking for is a platform bed. This type of bed is famous not for only for its ergonomic design but also for its practicality as it does not occupy much space. It represents minimalism in terms of design and architecture, reflecting a practical and casual sense of lifestyle among its owners. It has been a recommended gift idea for young couples during their wedding to get them started. Though apart from the platform types there are several options to choose from; traditional beds, contemporary bedroom furniture sets, poster beds, storage beds, leather beds, metal beds, canopy beds, and sleigh beds.

Selecting the perfect bedroom furniture set could be time consuming considering the various choices available but one major determining factor would be the budget of the couple. The cheapest bed type would most probably be the sofa beds seeing that they’re sort of mock ups of the real thing. But if you scout the net religiously there are quite a lot of furniture companies offering good deals for a cheap rate. Bedroom furniture sets would come handy if you are starting from scratch, at least all of the pieces would match well with the others. But it is just a single bed you want minus the drawers, mirror and vanity trunks then individual platform and metal beds are available for the taking.

Modern Furniture- A Symbol of Elegance:

The furniture techniques that have developed based on the concepts of modernism are called modern furniture. The period of modern furniture if from the late 19th century to the present day period. The distinct feature of the modern furniture is the simplicity that it exhibits. The most important thing that led to the development of modern furniture is the change in attitude of people in viewing the furniture. In the past the furniture were considered to be an ornament but in the modern times the function of the furniture is given more importance. The old furniture mostly incorporated some part of the history in them but the modern furniture displays future and present in them. The modern furniture has evolved from various schools of thought and design such as Bauhaus etc.

Materials Used:

Wood was the material that was mainly used in the old school of furniture. In the modern times a variety of materials is used to make furniture. Materials such as steel, plywood and plastics are being used to make furniture. Steel were first to be used among modern furniture materials and then came plywood and at last plastics.

Steel furniture were strong but were heavy while plywood and plastic furniture were of light weight and practical.

Mingling of Cultures:

The old furniture was based on the European culture. But the modern furniture is based on the African, Asian and Japanese culture. Among these cultures the effect of Japanese culture was more pronounced. The main reason for Japanese culture to gain importance is the practicality that the Japanese culture offers.

Some Examples of Modern Furniture:

Barcelona chair:

This chair was designed by Mies Van Der Rohe and Lilly Reich. It was designed around 1929.this chair was based upon two cultures the roman and the Egyptian culture. This chair was presented by them to the royal family of Spain. This chair is considered to be one of the master pieces of modern furniture history.

Noguchi coffee table:

This table truly combined the cultures of both US and Japan. It was designed by Isamu Noguchi a famous furniture designer. He was a half American and half Japanese. The most striking feature of this table is the simplicity that it exhibits. This table is considered to be one of the most important master pieces of modern furniture history.

Eileen Gray Side Table:

This table was created in 1927 and is considered to be a masterpiece of modern furniture architecture. It was designed by Eileen Gray for her sister. The thing about this table was that it was a height adjustable table. It was basically a bed table and she designed it as her sister liked to have her break fast in the bed. The thing with this table is that it can be used almost any where be it on the terrace, reception, living rooms or in the bedroom. This table is widely remembered for its rational design and practicability.

Transition:

The furniture which was basically made of wood and of a definite shape and style has evolved over the years into a more practical product. But even now people are trying to create furniture of old culture using modern materials. The thing that has made the modern furniture stand out is their strength, practicality and long lasting nature.