Shaker Style

The simplicity and functionality of Shaker design really appeals to me. I was flipping through a coffee table book at the library the other day, and the opening section featured a Shaker inspired kitchen. Although I lack the discipline for such an austere look, I do admire the clean, simple, no clutter elements of this style. Our design style at present might best be defined as Mid-Infancy.....feature pieces being the navy blue Pack N' Play set up in the middle of the living room and the Winnie the Pooh walker that travels from room to room lending baby style and elegance wherever it goes. I wouldn't trade such a mess for the world, since it includes a sweet, bubbling baby to adore, but it's still fun to leaf through the pages of design books and dream. Looking at this feature piece on the Shaker kitchen sparked my curiosity to know more about the utopian community that inspired it, so I did some research and found this fascinating article detailing the history of the movement.

The fact that"Shaker" is now more often associated with design style than a religious movement is ironic in and of itself because the original Shaker communities actually scorned beauty. As Shaker Elder Frederick Evans said, "The beautiful....is absurd and abnormal. The divine man has no right to waste money upon what you call beauty in his house...while there are people living in misery." The essence of Shaker style is extreme simplicity, which makes it strangely akin to the modern contemporary design ethic. Shakers believed that everything you do (especially the small, day to day routine tasks), you should do as well as you could to honor God. Unlike other Utopian communities, Shakers embraced technology and innovation. Several common inventions are attributed to the Shakers, including: the flat broom, the apple corer, the clothespin, and the circular saw. The emphasis on form and function reflected the creed of the Shaker communities that "beauty rests in utility."

Ultimately, Shaker communities virtually died out (might have had something to do with their strong beliefs requiring celibacy for all), but the legacy of their fine crafts and handiwork remain.