Furniture refers to objects created to make people live comfortably.
The most basic ones are tables, chairs, beds, cupboards, desks, and all other objects that are intended to support human activities.
Furniture is considered to be a form of art that is highly functional and decorative at the same time and they can be made from several kinds of materials like metal, plastic or wood.
There is evidence that furniture existed as early as the Neolithic Period.
In archeological sites, an assortment of stone cupboards, beds, seats and even dressers were excavated in Scotland and are believed to belong to this era.
In Egypt, Turkey and the Asian territory of Siberia, pieces were discovered and have been established by scholars as dating from the 8th century BC.
Furniture that survived this century has also been found in Rome and Greece.
Styles and inspirations over the centuries are also quite interesting to study.
Those that belonged to the middle Ages were usually heavy and ornamented with carved designs.
It was in the Age of Renaissance when furniture trends took a new turn with the Baroque designs matching the Baroque buildings.
The 19th century marked the beginning of revival styles including Gothic, Neoclassicism, and Rococo, to name a few.
This period introduced the Aesthetic movement, a European community that valued the doctrine of aestheticism in relation to literature, fine and decorative arts and interior design.
This movement upheld the doctrine of taste and beauty above everything.
In America, designs were often created with the use of wood materials mostly coming from edible or fruit bearing trees like the walnut or cherry tree to create anything from patio to bedroom furniture.
By the twentieth century's first three quarters, the age of Modernism, Art Deco and the Pop Art came to fore.
This movement was a cross between traditional and modern tastes.
Then, ecodesigns, whose materials were environment-friendly, started to become known and demand for them grew year after year.
Today, designs are going back to natural shapes and textures.
The Natural Edge or Live Edge, a modernistic mix of rustic and Western inspiration, makes use of materials from wood stumps or salvaged wood no longer considered useful in conventional woodworking.
Asian furniture has a distinct history when it comes to woodworking and ironwork.
Bare wood and bamboo with lacquers as finishing touches is well known to be a Chinese style.
Minimalist designs are very common with Japanese furniture and are usually created with superior quality.
It is worthy to note that furniture has its own diverse history which varies from one century and culture to another.
But perhaps the best and priceless types are still the antiques unearthed from eras which are now only read about in books.