| Add a taste of old-world Italy to your home with | | | | friendliness to the decor. Kitchenware utensils are |
| selected pieces of furniture or accessories. | | | | usually unpolished or beaten copper, iron, tin and |
| Enhance your home with pieces of Renaissance or | | | | pewter. Tiled floors are a must. |
| Tuscan style, or even contemporary designs. | | | | The Tuscan style is all about projecting a relaxed, |
| Furniture should not only be functional, it should | | | | lived-in style. Throw-pillows and blankets are |
| also be a work of art and you find that in the | | | | everywhere, tapestries and murals might cover |
| Italian styles. | | | | the walls. Bowls of brightly-colored fruit - whether |
| The end of the Dark Ages in Europe began in | | | | real or ceramic, decorate the large kitchen tapes. |
| Tuscany towards the end of the 14th century. It | | | | Herbs hang from the ceiling and cupboard display |
| was a time of rebirth in culture, in a search for | | | | linens or dishes. |
| knowledge and in scientific advancement, and the | | | | Furniture and home design did not stop in the 15th |
| growth of the craft guilds for furniture makers. | | | | century, of course, nor even in the 18th. Today |
| Renaissance furniture is large, heavy and ornate, | | | | Italian craftsmen continue to design and build |
| with intricate carvings of everything from fruit | | | | unique furniture and other decor for the home. |
| and vegetables to birds, from animal | | | | Thanks to the internet it's possible to visit all kinds |
| grotesqueries to human figures. Renaissance | | | | of manufacturers or vendors of contemporary |
| pieces are big, big, big, however, and so will dwarf | | | | Italian furniture to see the unique European look |
| anything a small room. | | | | they bring. 1Contemporary offers furniture from |
| Although the Renaissance actually began in | | | | Canada as well as Italy and the United States. |
| Tuscany, it of course spread throughout the rest | | | | Cassina claims to be the premier Italian furniture |
| of Italy. Tuscan furniture took a different path, | | | | maker, and is the only manufacturer of authentic |
| with a simple, rustic yet nevertheless opulent | | | | Le Corbusier furniture. Their site is a masterpiece |
| looking design that came into use in the rural | | | | of elegance, like their furniture. Le Corbusier, by |
| areas of the country. The furniture is sturdy but | | | | the way, is the name by which the Swiss-born |
| not ornate, and it is the accessory pieces such as | | | | architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret is known. He |
| wrought-iron tables and ceramic and earthenware | | | | was one of the founders of modernism, and in |
| jugs that give it the distinctive look. | | | | addition to buildings he also designed furniture, |
| Everyone who talks about the Tuscan style | | | | which has quite a distinctive look. |
| comments on the colors - deep, rich red, golden | | | | Momentoitalia is another elegant site which shows |
| yellows, and cool Mediterranean blues are friendly | | | | off the slim and elegant lines of contemporary |
| colors, warm colors. give a feeling of warmth and | | | | Italian furniture. |