Scandinavian Theme Furniture

Nordic Europe has always produced very distinct themes. When it comes to Scandinavian theme furniture, there is much more to the look than Ikea.

Scandinavian Theme Furniture

Scandinavian theme furniture is also known as Danish Theme or Scandinavian Modern. The theme was experimented with in the years before World War II to some degree, but it was the War itself that really gave it birth. The war crippled the manufacturing facilities in the Scandinavian countries, and created massive material shortages. Furniture makers were forced to look to the craftsman of the past, and to the local materials like oak, clay, and linen that were available. They also had been heavily influenced by the war in other ways. They were tired of fear and despair, and wanted to find a way to express their optimism for the future in a way that anticipated it while keeping just a hint of respect for the past.

The result was a new theme of furniture that featured clean lines. It was sharp and without a lot of frills. The pieces were often designed to save space. They were smaller, and often folded up with a touch of the finger or were easily stacked. They had a distinctly futuristic look. Table tops seemed to be floating above their frames as if unattached. This was, of course, Scandinavian theme furniture.

Edgar Kauffman Jr. was on the staff of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He was the son of the owner of an estate in Pennsylvania called Fallingwater. It had been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and was built around a waterfall. Kauffman had a lot of influence in the design community in New York, and he fell in love with the new Scandinavian look. He decorated Fallingwater with select pieces of the theme, and this action brought instant fame and attention in the United States furniture community to Scandinavian theme furniture.

In the 1950's, the theme spread across the United States. It was popular with the young and mobile new generation of Americans who were also tired of the war years, and looking toward the future. Their homes were smaller, and they tended to move more frequently. The attention to smaller size made the pieces perfect fits. They were also easy to clean and maintain. Their light weight made them painless to move. As American firms began to experiment with them, they were influenced a bit by the Jetsons Cartoons, and Scandinavian pieces were made even more futuristic. In doing so, the natural materials of the originals were replaced by materials the Scandinavians would never have dreamed of using for furniture. It was the time of the plastic square table, and the austere shelving units often associated with the theme.

Trends change, and the prosperity of the 1980's and 1990's led to a revival of interest in the more stylistic and refined lines and shapes of the past. Often Scandinavian theme furniture seemed more like Mom's furniture as a new generation sought their own expression. The theme declined even in the Scandinavian countries where people began to have a nostalgic feeling for the pre-war themes.

Today, some large retailers sell lines of Scandinavian theme furniture, at least the Americanized version. Older originals are still found in yard sales and flea markets. Strangely, much of it does not make us look hopefully into the future as much as it reminds us of how Mom's place used to look when we were kids. Ah, the passing of generations.
About the Author

Stephan Teak is with FurnitureStoresforYou.com - information on furniture styles.