Form Follows Function

Have you ever looked at the design of piece of furniture and wondered how in the world did they think of that? You may be surprised to know that most of the coziest pieces started out with one simple purpose, function.

Take the winged back chair for example; the wings of the chairs were initially designed to capture as much heat as possible when seated around the fireplace of the cold drafty English homes, not until the 1700's were these wooden bench-types fitted with upholstered cushions.



Back in the Victorian era, women needed to sit low to the ground to put on their shoes and stockings. What better than developing a simple, low, no armed chair to fill the need, the slipper chair is born. This chair allowed them to sit in their over-sized gowns and not feel anymore constrained as they already were.



What about the stool? Ever wondered where the stool originated? In the mid-1700s Maria Schitonstool (short on firewood) decided rather than burn a whole chair and not have anything to sit on she would saw off the backs of chairs, inadvertently inventing the stool!



Most pieces developed out of fulfilling a need, a need that may no longer serve any more than an aesthetic; even though their history may have faded and taken for "just because", there's likely a hidden cornucopia of long forgotten reasons to our everyday comforts. Come check out the variety of pieces Mecox Gardens offers or visit us on the web. We look forward to working with you!