Mission style furniture is a style that is popular nowadays. Although most often mistaken for a more contemporary style, the furniture has a history that extends even as far as the 19th century.

Joseph McHugh was the first one to coin the term ‘mission’ to describe a line of furniture with a characteristic clean rural style back in 1895. Mission furniture was the first fruit of the Arts and Crafts movement, a movement that addresses the call for uniqueness, craftsmanship and creativity that seemingly got undermined by the industrial revolution. During the industrial revolution, many goods were mass produced and so the artistic side of creating products were not that emphasized anymore. The originality and unique designs were lost when everything can be produced by machines. The furniture was statement pieces that were designed distinct from urban designs that were mass produced. Their clean, rustic style was the key characteristics of the mission . The simplicity of these pieces of furniture gave the artistic flair to any room in the home. The designs, however simple are intricately made.

Most furniture created in the mission design has mixed very well with more contemporary furniture, resulting to confusion. Many mistake mission pieces for more contemporary designs and themes. But the mission design can be easily recognized via the details that the furniture possesses. Most mission style furniture are characterized by simple designs that contain mostly flat lines and slats that contain no soft frills and curves. The legs of the furniture are usually straight and supported by beams or stretchers.

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