Are you fascinated by different cultures and civilisation? Have you always wondered how they lived? How were their houses built, what materials did they use, how did they cook?….What did they cook?

Well if you are, then we are on the same page. (Seriously, no pun intended!)

I always wondered about different people and their cultures. How did they live, what did they eat and so on?

Working as a business coordinator at a furniture store wasn’t exactly going to fulfil my thirst for world knowledge. Even though I had worked with different furniture types from around the world like China, Malaysia etc, these items were designed for the Western market.

So glass dining tables, leather sofas and Oak framed beds were the norms.

However, things were about to change.

One day, at the store, we came across a new line of furniture. This new selection was from India and manufactured from reclaimed wood.

Wood that in some cases was over 150 years old!

Now, this shocked me, 150 years old and now being used as furniture?
It had so many different lines and grains, the colour was so unpredictable and no two items were the same.

It was a substantial collection of hardwood furniture.

I was amazed by it. Crafted from such old material, it had already lasted the test of time, and now it seemed like it could last forever.
It wasn’t flat-packed furniture that would need replacing in a few short years; these items would last generations.

I looked through the whole collection and was just so impressed and awestruck. (yes, I know, you probably thinking okay mate clam down, it was only a sideboard, but let me explain)

I started wondering about where it came from, what had it been used for before, where were these tress? How many of them were there?
Now being in the furniture trade, I came across many different types of furniture.

And even though they might have been made in places like China, they were mainly targeting the western market.
I was used to a particular type of furniture. However, this new collection was something totally different.

This collection was like a window into a different civilisation altogether.
It has a story, a history. It was a different world.

Now that I was intrigued, I started to research traditional furniture from around the world.

I wanted to know about local furniture from different countries.
Did they use dining tables? If so, then what type? How about beds? What types of styles did they have?
Chairs, sofas, how did they sit around for family meals or get-togethers?

This eventually led me to today, here, where you are reading my blog.

This is where I have documented my findings and where you can find all the information I have manage to collate on traditional world furniture.

Enjoy!
And if you’re anything like me. I’m sure you will!