Oak Furniture

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Oak furniture and a homely feeling… but why does it?

Why do you like oak furniture? Maybe we subconsciously associate it with the countryside? Maybe it reminds us of going home to our parent’s house? I don’t know.  I am no interior designer but when I think about it. A home usually reflects the area it is in and what it is made from. Modern apartments in the big smoke usually are made from glass and metal. So it makes sense that contemporary living is reflected inside the home itself. Slim minimalist furniture made from glass and composite materials. All leaves a feel that the architecture didn’t end at the front door. The furniture in modern living becomes an architectural extension of the building… the inner reflects the outer.

Maybe it always has, or maybe it’s the other way around. It’s something I have only just thought of. I think it’s referred to as ‘in keeping’? When I think about oak furniture it reminds me of home and relaxing and unwinding. Oak furniture then is a reflection of the homeliness of the countryside and of nature itself. Solid oak furniture used in a kitchen for example really adds warmth to the heart of the home. It reminds us of the strength and longevity of family life, of roots and possibly of good old fashioned home cooking.

No wonder then that oak furniture is a main stay in the furniture market some designers are getting more contemporary with how they fashion oak for modern urban living but for me it just leaves me with a sense of twisting nature, I am never really at easy with pieces that are too radically opposed to its composition, for example there is something a little unnerving about an apple carved from oak. To me it just doesn’t make sense.  It is only slightly better than using plastic fruit and flowers in furniture designs. Why? Who wants to buy plastic flowers? It’s like making bricks made out of glass. To me it’s incongruent and I don’t get it.

Oak furniture for me should be chunky sturdy and not too clever. When oak furniture is like this it reminds me of the countryside and nature.