Do you ever look around your house and feel frustrated by the shabby, makeshift furniture you always seem to be replacing?
Your desk looked nice when you bought it but now the laminate edge strip is peeling off, your end table cracked when your husband decided to use it as a step-stool, and your once trendy bedroom suite is looking outdated.
Once again, you need new furniture. But this time, you’re taking a different approach. This time you’ll search high and low until you find high-quality pieces you genuinely love, which will stand the test of time both aesthetically and structurally.
Have you ever considered Amish-made furniture?
At The Amish Craftsman in Houston, TX, we sell high-quality Amish-made furniture. Amish furniture is beautiful, sturdy, and customizable. It is timeless and well-constructed, ensuring that your grandchildren will be enjoying it long after you’re gone!
If you’re unfamiliar with Amish furniture, you’ve come to the right place! This article covers who the Amish are, what makes their furniture special, and where you can get your hands on heirloom quality furniture that is perfect for your home.
Who Are The Amish?
The Amish are a group of Christians who formed in Europe during the Protestant Reformation in the early 1500s. At the time, the Amish were distinct because unlike other Christian groups around them, they refused to baptize infants. Instead, they only baptized adult believers who chose to join the church.
The Amish were heavily persecuted for their beliefs, and in the early 18th century they began immigrating to the USA, settling primarily in Pennsylvania.
Although the Amish still hold to the doctrines of their ancestors, today they’re better known for their unique lifestyle choices.
The Amish Lifestyle
If you drive along the back roads of Pennsylvania or Ohio today, you might think you’ve gone back in time a century or two.
In a small field, you see a man plowing with a team of horses. Then you pass a large, white farmhouse, where old-fashioned clothing hangs from a clothesline in the yard and flaps in the breeze. Women in long dresses, aprons, and bonnets tend the garden.
You hear a clip-clop of hoofbeats, and looking ahead, you realize you’re overtaking a horse-drawn buggy. As you pass it, the driver smiles at you from under the wide brim of his straw hat.
These are Amish people, and while you find them fascinating, you may wonder, why do they live this way?
Once, I posed this question to an Amish man named Daniel Wengerd. Wengerd told me about the Amish decision, near the turn of the century, to continue to use horses for transportation instead of switching to cars. He said, “We didn’t want to accept something that we didn’t know we were accepting.”
The Amish culture is devoted to community, hard work, and excellent craftsmanship. According to Wengerd, his forefathers feared that accepting certain new things might inadvertently encroach on the Amish values and way of life.
And in Wengerd’s opinion, they were right. By using horses instead of cars, Amish people are forced to live physically close to each other, keeping their work, church, and friends all in the same area. This preserves community ties and allows the Amish to avoid the individualism and increased isolation of the greater American culture.
Because the Amish have worked to retain the values of their forefathers, people today often look to them when trying to find the excellent, quality craftsmanship values that defined a previous generation but seem to be lost today.
And the Amish deliver. That’s why Amish furniture is so valued—it’s such high quality, made with such attention to detail, that it’s difficult to find anything else that compares.
Amish vs. Dutch
You may sometimes hear Amish furniture referred to as “Dutch Furniture.” Are the Amish Dutch?
The Amish immigrated to America from southern Germany and some German-speaking areas of Switzerland, so it may seem strange to call them “Dutch.”
However, the term “Dutch” has changed over the years. While today it’s used almost exclusively for people from the Netherlands, in the 18th and 19th centuries, when Amish people were immigrating to the USA from Europe, “Dutch” referred to a much larger group of germanic areas, including Switzerland and Germany.
When groups of people from these areas settled in Pennsylvania, they were called “Pennsylvania Dutch.”
Also, Pennsylvania Dutch people spoke a German dialect, and the German word for “German” is “Deutsch,” which was corrupted to “Dutch.” That’s part of the reason they referred to themselves and their language as “Dutch.”
Although there were other Pennsylvania Dutch people besides the Amish, the Amish retained their language, called “Pennsylvania Dutch” or just “Dutch,” even though they live in an English-speaking country. While the majority of them speak English too, their first language is Pennsylvania Dutch.
Because of this, when you hear the term “Pennsylvania Dutch” today, people are usually referring to the Amish.
And when you hear of American-made Dutch furniture, it’s usually just another name for Amish furniture.
What Makes Amish Furniture Unique?
Today, furniture is usually mass-produced, trendy, and low-quality. But Amish furniture is different. It’s designed to last for generations.
But what exactly does that entail?
Let’s discuss the unique qualities of Amish-made furniture.
Made from solid wood
First, the Amish construct their furniture from solid wood.
Why does that matter?
Cheaper furniture is constructed from wood substitutes, which are often made from wood particles that have been glued or cemented together. Furniture made with wood substitutes looks nice at first because it’s often covered with a wood veneer. However, over time the veneer can peel off.
Any furniture may get dinged and scratched with normal wear. But while solid wood furniture can be easily refinished, furniture made from wood substitutes cannot.
Finally, solid wood furniture is much more sturdy than furniture made from wood substitutes. It also lasts much longer, as the glue in wood substitutes can be damaged by water and breaks down over time.
Solid wood furniture, on the other hand, lasts for generations. The oldest surviving wooden furniture in the world is approximately 2,700 years old!
Simple, traditional styles
The Amish value consistency and timelessness, so their furniture doesn’t conform to fads and is simple in design (although they do sometimes construct modern styles if that’s what people are looking for).
When you buy a piece of Amish furniture, you can rest assured it will never go out of style. The simple, traditional nature of the pieces will always look lovely.
But, while timeless design is certainly the bread and butter for Amish woodworkers, they are able to make many different styles and have something for everyone!
For example, Amish woodworkers also commonly make furniture in the Shaker, Mission and Rustic styles, and can even make modern or contemporary furniture if that is your preference.
Attention to detail
Amish furniture is never mass-produced. Instead, your furniture is lovingly crafted, with great attention to detail.
First, an Amish craftsman selects the proper cut of wood, hand-picking a piece that complements the style of furniture he’s creating.
Then, he’ll craft the furniture using hand tools and pneumatically powered tools, since the Amish do not use electricity.
Finally, he’ll fasten the pieces together using traditional wood joining methods like dovetail joints, rabbet joints, and mortise-and-tenon joinery. This joinery is used instead of nails and screws, making the furniture look nicer and last longer.
From choosing high-quality wood to crafting precise joints to using precision hand tools, the Amish pay attention to every detail of the furniture they make.
Customization
With mass-produced furniture, your only options are what you can find in the store.
But what if you want a specific wood color to match your other furniture? What if you want something sized precisely to fit a particular section of your home? What if you like some design elements of one table and some design elements of another?
Since Amish furniture is hand-crafted with great attention to detail, the good news is that you can get your hands on the perfect piece for your home—even if it needs to be crafted specifically for you.
Quality
Finally, the main thing you need to know about Amish furniture is that it is high quality.
That’s what happens when a skilled craftsman constructs a unique piece of furniture out of solid wood.
From the wood to the joinery to the styles they create, Amish craftsmen know how to make good, sturdy furniture unparalleled by anything else on the market.
What Styles Of Furniture Do The Amish Make?
Mission Style
Mission style furniture is one of the most common styles of Amish furniture. It’s known for its simple horizontal and vertical lines, flat panes, and wood grain accents.
Mission style furniture is elegant yet simple and has been popular since the early 20th century.
Is mission style furniture right for your home? Check out our selection of fully-customizable mission style furniture for the dining room, living room, bedroom, or office.
Shaker Style
Another common Amish furniture style is Shaker style.
Shaker style is simple and functional. It contains a lot of tapering and subtle curves since the Shakers who created the style liked to shave excess weight off their furniture for easy maneuvering and storage.
You can identify Shaker style by its round wooden knobs, lack of ornamentation, tapered legs and posts, and general look of gentle simplicity and functionality.
Traditional Style
Traditional style Amish furniture uses classic designs, stately textures, and rich colors.
Traditional style is popular with many American families because it’s timeless, warm, and inviting.
Traditional style furniture gives a home a tidy, comforting feel.
Are you looking for traditional furniture for your home? Check out our selection, and remember, we can customize anything you like to fit your unique needs.
Modern Styles
Although the Amish are well-known for making mission and shaker style furniture, they’ve begun branching out into more modern styles.
This may seem strange, since the Amish value tradition. Why would they make anything modern when they seem stuck in another century?
But the truth is, the Amish are extremely innovative. They’ve found ways to thrive in modern times despite their traditions, and in many ways, their chosen lifestyle actually fosters creativity instead of holding them back.
Some modern furniture styles such as rustic style, modern farmhouse style, and modern contemporary style pair well with the Amish values of timeless simplicity. The Amish have begun making these styles of furniture, using their expert traditional craftsmanship to serve the furniture needs of the present generation.
If you’re interested in more modern furniture styles, check out our selection of Amish-crafted rustic style furniture, modern farmhouse furniture, and modern contemporary furniture.
Where Can I Buy Amish Furniture?
By now, you may be wondering where you can buy Amish furniture.
Like most things, you can shop for Amish furniture either in a brick and mortar store or online.
But where can you find an Amish furniture store when you don’t live near an Amish community? And how will you know if a website selling Amish furniture is legitimate?
Let’s get into it.
Buying Amish Furniture in Specialty Stores
When you’re buying Amish furniture, you’re investing in a high-quality piece that comes with an appropriately high price tag compared to cheap, mass-produced furniture. Because of this, we advise you to look at Amish furniture in person whenever possible before purchasing.
This also allows you to examine the craftsmanship up close to make sure your purchase is worth it and chat with an Amish furniture expert in-person about who their suppliers are and how the furniture is made.
When you shop in person, it’s also easier to discuss customization options.
If you’re taking a trip to Holmes County, Ohio, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, or other areas where many Amish people live, you’ll see plenty of specialty stores selling Amish-made furniture.
But what if there aren’t any Amish communities near where you live?
You may be in luck! Amish furniture is so popular that multiple stores have popped up in non-Amish areas. Our store, for instance, is located in Houston, Texas.
These shops are run by non-Amish dealers, who facilitate transfer between Amish country and their showroom. They allow you to examine the craftsmanship, find the piece that’s right for you, and order custom pieces designed to fit your home.
Buying Amish Furniture Through an Online Dealer
If you don’t live near a good Amish furniture store, you may be tempted to go online to find what you’re looking for.
But is it possible to get genuine, high-quality Amish furniture over the Internet?
You don’t want to get scammed. So how can you tell if your furniture is authentic or not?
Here are some ways to determine if an online dealer is selling you the real thing:
- Follow up on the sources Authentic Amish furniture dealers will disclose where their furniture comes from. Before making the purchase, make sure to follow up on the source to make sure it’s real.
- How well is it crafted? As we discussed before, Amish furniture is made in simple styles from solid wood. Instead of nails or screws, it’s fastened together with traditional wood joining methods.
- You may not be able to tell, from just a picture, how well-crafted a piece is. We would recommend calling the company and asking questions about their manufacturing process, such as
- Is the furniture mass-produced?
- Is the furniture made from solid wood?
- How is the furniture constructed?
- What tools were used in construction?
An authentic seller will be trained to answer your questions.
- Does it seem suspiciously cheap?
Authentic Amish furniture is costly because it is an investment that lasts for generations.
If the furniture you’re buying seems suspiciously cheap, it was probably mass-produced. - Can you get a virtual tour of their showroom?
The truth is, it’s difficult to tell from a picture on the Internet whether or not your furniture is the high-quality, genuine Amish-made piece you’re looking for.
Although it’s always best to visit an actual showroom and examine the quality for yourself, some companies allow you to do a virtual consultation and tour.
This way, you get a better picture of the furniture you’re interested in and discuss customization options. The company will then ship the furniture to you when it’s completed. For more information on our virtual consultations work, read our handy blog post on the subject.
Conclusion
At The Amish Craftsman, we’re committed to delivering high-quality, customizable, authentic Amish-made furniture straight to your door.
Visit our showroom in Houston, Texas, today!
We provide a wide array of Amish-made furniture, including:
- Dining Room Furniture
- Living Room Furniture
- Bedroom Furniture
- Office Furniture
We can’t wait to help you find the right piece for your home!
