Shaker Style

Shaker design emerged from the United Shaker communities that flourished in America from the late 18th through the 19th century. The Shakers believed that creating something useful was an act of worship, and their furniture and architecture achieved an extraordinary purity of form that anticipated Modernism by over a century. Mother Ann Lee's dictum "Do not make what is not useful" produced ladder-back chairs, oval boxes, built-in drawers, and the iconic peg rail with a clarity and perfection that has never been surpassed. Shaker communities at New Lebanon, Canterbury, and Pleasant Hill created environments of breathtaking simplicity and functional beauty. Shaker style has become perhaps the most enduringly influential American design tradition, with its principles of simplicity, utility, and craftsmanship resonating across every era of design. Modern Shaker-inspired interiors embrace the radical idea that utility itself is beautiful—that a perfectly made chair or a well-organized cupboard needs no decoration to be aesthetically satisfying. Incorporate Shaker design through ladder-back chairs, peg rails for versatile wall storage, built-in cabinetry with simple flat panels, oval storage boxes, and furniture with clean tapered legs. A Shaker-inspired palette of muted blues, greens, reds, and yellows against white or natural wood creates rooms of serene functional beauty.