subject: Using Accent Funiture As Focal Point In Any Room [print this page] Accent furniture is intended to stand out amongst the rest of the home furniture in a room. It might offer a specific function, such as a curio cabinet that displays your Faberge eggs (you wish!), a chess table with a beautiful wood or ivory and ebony chess set, or simply a traditional gnarled hickory rocking chair. It might also be something as simple as an old hatstand in your hall. Whatever it may be, here are some ideas for accent furniture in your own home.
Curio Cabinets
Curio cabinets are excellent pieces of furniture for a hall or living room. They are large enough to be functional but not so large that they take the eye away from your main pieces of furniture - this is what accent pieces should do. They should not be overbearing, be decorative and add some character to a room, while also having a functional part to play.
Curio cabinets are not those large display cabinets sometimes referred to as china cabinets, but are smaller, and generally no more than about 3 ft wide and around 12-15 inches deep. A curio cabinet will usually have glazed doors and glass shelves to display curios, collections and incidental ornaments.
You will find that the majority of American Furniture firms will have curio cabinets of one type or another on offer. An example of an accent piece is a corner cabinet, that makes good use of a corner in your lounge or living room, and can be used for collections, curios or anything else you may collect or wish to diaplay. Stickley Furniture offers one particular corner cabinet which measures 28.5 inches either side, which when you use Mr. Pythagoras, means the front must be 40.3 inches. This offers three shelves in the top part behind a glass paned door, that are suitable for any curios or collection pieces, and a cupboard beneath hidden behind a solid wood door.
Cocktail Tables
Cocktail tables often double as coffee tables and vice versa, though cocktail versions are often more ornate. Southwood Furniture offers a number of beautiful solid wood cocktail cabinets, professionally designed and carved, with and without shelves below for magazines and so on. If your room is more modern, then a wooden frame holding a solid granite top would look good.
Other types of occasional table are used to hold lamps and chess sets, and magazine tables are another form of accent furniture. These tables include a magazine rack, and look very lovely - and conforming to the popular concept of accent furniture - decorative, functional, and not too large and imposing!
End Tables
While not strictly accent furniture, end tables are useful to sit at either end of a sofa or by an armchair in the absence of a coffee table. Many people prefer the convenience of a side table to a regular coffee table, firstly because it is in a more natural position, lying to the side of them rather than in front, and secondly because they have no need to bend over to pick up and put down their cups or drinks glasses.
Accent Tables
Unlike the above tables, accent tables have no specific purpose. They come in many forms and can be use for lamps, candles, reed diffusers, chess sets or as the base for a variety of curios and decorative elements. Tables such as these are avalable in various shapes - round, rectangular, oval or octagonal - it doesn't matter, but they should be small and they should preferably have a good conversation piece standing on them.
Miscellaneous Accent Furniture
A traditional wooden rocking chair is a good accent piece, and would look good in any traditionally furnished living room or even in the kitchen. If you are looking for a rocking chair that is made from traditional gnarled hickory branches to the original old design, then Simply Amish offers these, and you can relax on it on your porch as your great grandmother may have done back in the day.
You will also find accent furniture in the hallway - examples being an umbrella stand. telephone table and hat stand. It is debatable if these could be described as accent furniture since many consider them to be essentials. Keep in mind the definition of accent furniture as being functional, but also having a unique look an being decorative. That just about describes a hat stand these days, when few wear hats, but use the pegs for hanging their coats.
In fact, any form of unusual small item of furniture can be referred to as an item of accent furniture , and those that tend to provoke discussion or comment would be particularly popular. If you have any empty spaces in your living room, bedroom or dining room, then you can fill them with home accent furniture or accessories that have been designed just for that purpose. It should not impose on the room, but must also look good, and will either be an item worthy of note itself, or be used to display such noteworthy pieces that will initiate a discussion or conversation, or that will have a specific decorative function.
