Antique

In order for a piece of furniture to be considered "antique," it must be at least 100 years old. Antique furniture is typically made from wood and has unique, ornate details that allow dealers to easily date them.

 

Traditional

Traditional furniture typically feature graceful ornamentation, straightened lines, and tapered legs. 

 

Vintage

Vintage furniture are typically older pieces that exhibit the best quality of a particular detail associated with a certain era. These pieces are younger than antiques and are typically used. 

 

Rustic

The rustic style is typically made with timber or other natural materials, including hide, cotton, or linen. 

 

Art Deco

Characterized by its geometric and angular shapes, art deco is a style that unites funky patterns with materials such as chrome, glass, and mirrors. 

 

Retro

Today, people may think retro and vintage are similar, thanks to the mass pop up of thrift shops and misnomers. However, retro furniture is typically defined by more modern designs that imitate past fashion trends. 

 

Modern

Modern is best known for its use of monochromatic color palettes and using materials such as steel, vinyl, leather, and plastic. This furniture style resulted from the early 1900s modernist movement.

 

Contemporary

The confusing aspect of contemporary style is that it refers to furniture that is popular today. Many companies pair "modern" and "contemporary" together, but the problem with that is that modern only refers to modern style, while contemporary is used to reference the furniture designs of today.

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There are plenty of different styles of furniture on the market, but with so many terms getting thrown around it’s hard to know what is what! Here we have broken down the most commonly used terms to give you a hand with choosing your ideal furniture style.

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Antique vs. Vintage

Antique furniture includes pieces from an earlier period. It is often crafted out of wood and its age, condition, unique features and rarity determine how collectible the piece is and therefore, how high its value. Genuine antiques are, by definition, at least 100 years old and often have to be purchased from experienced dealers to guarantee authenticity.

 

Vintage furniture on the other hand is between twenty and one hundred years old and is easily recognisable as belonging to a particular period within that time. Once you know what you’re looking for, spotting it is easier than it sounds!

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Traditional vs. Rustic

Traditional furniture is formal furniture from the Victorian period. It combines features from the Queen Anne period – graceful and elaborately decorated, Chippendale style – artistic embellishment and straightened out lines and Sheraton style – delicate pieces with tapered legs and contrasting inlays. Together this creates a comfortable and warm environment with hand crafted, dark timber pieces, over stuffed, plush sofas and elegant fabrics.

 

Rustic style furniture is influenced by many different styles coming together to create warm, natural and honest interiors. If furniture is rustic it will often be made of a warm timber or a natural material like animal hide, cotton or linen. It has a worn and homely appearance and is often more relaxed then formal. Scandinavian and industrial furniture design are usually synonymous with being rustic.

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Art Deco vs. Retro

Art Deco is an eclectic style that combines Machine Age imagery and materials with traditional crafts. The style is characterized by geometric and angular shapes, materials like chrome, glass, shiny fabrics, mirrors and mirror tiles as well as stylized images of aeroplanes, cars and skyscrapers. With the success of The Great Gatsby movie and TV series like Boardwalk Empire, Art Deco is back in full force.

 

Retro furniture can be harder to define. When we think of Retro design we usually conjure up ideas of mod, geometric shapes in teal, yellow and brown or flashbacks to the kitchen from the Brady Bunch with its tulip table and orange splash back. Technically, retro furniture design is defined as aspects of modern culture which imitate trends, modes and fashions of the recent past which had come to be unfashionable.

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French Provincial vs. Shabby Chic

French provincial furniture is exactly what its title depicts. Characterised by the styles popular in the French provinces in the 17th and 18th century, this furniture style has a classic yet country feel to it. Ladder back dining chairs with woven seats, simple scalloped carving, large armoires or French sideboards with decorative moldings are all key features of this style.

 

Shabby Chic furniture, while similar, is more casual and often has a distressed appearance. The Furniture is typically white with a feminine and romantic feel. Like French provincial, this style originated from country houses but incorporates more up-cycling and salvaging of furniture.

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Sources:

Connected Lines: http://www.connectedlines.com/styleguide/
House of Home: https://www.houseofhome.com.au/article/what-are-the-different-types-of-furniture-styles
About: http://antiques.about.com/od/resourcesforbeginners/qt/aa040608a.htm