Design

• Amish furniture design ranges from the fairly simple, with clean lines and few embellishments, to more traditional designs that incorporate light carving and ornamentation. Mission style and Shaker style furniture, which both stress the beauty of the wood, are quite common in Amish furniture design. Although less common, Amish furniture designs also include early European reproductions that use various molding, such as crown molding or dentil molding, to add decorative details. Additionally, some Amish furniture makers include a few modern designs in their design portfolios, although not all Amish craftsmen have embraced this aesthetic.
  
  

Solid Wood

• The use of solid wood is an important distinction of Amish country furniture. Even doors, drawers and drawer fronts are most often crafted from solid wood, making the precise craftsmanship even more impressive. The wood is air-dried and kiln-dried to control moisture content and minimize splitting, cracking or warping.
  
  

Types of Wood

• Amish furniture is known for using solid hardwoods, such as oak, cherry, walnut and maple, with red oak being the most common hardwood for furniture. A small percentage of pieces are occasionally crafted from pine. The distinctive wood grain that is often associated with Amish furniture can be attributed to the plain sawn and quarter sawn oak that Amish furniture makers frequently use.
  
  

Joinery

• Amish country furniture makers employ traditional joinery methods, which include dovetail joints, mortise and tenon joints, lap joints and dado joints. These joinery methods use the same techniques that have been used in handcrafting furniture for hundreds of years. The solid wood construction and wood glue combine to create a structurally solid joint that fares better than today's machine-made furniture.
  
  

Areas

• While Amish communities extend throughout at least half of the states, Amish country is based primarily in the Midwest. In fact, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana have the highest Amish populations, although Amish populations everywhere are increasing steadily. Ironically, although the Amish settlements throughout these areas are well known for creating beautifully crafted wood furniture, the Amish people do not seek out tourists or consumers for their handcrafted products.