I Think About Shaker Chairs More Than I Should

I have never been particularly good at minimalism. I like houses that accumulate things: books stacked where they probably shouldn’t be, ceramics brought home from trips, old chairs, slightly strange lamps, textiles, art, and all the evidence that somebody actually lives there. My instinct is almost always to add rather than subtract. And yet, for as long as I’ve been interested in interiors, I have found myself returning to Shaker design, perhaps because it represents almost the exact opposite impulse.

I even own a few Shaker chairs, which have followed me through different homes and somehow always work. I’ve had them alongside much more decorative furniture, contemporary pieces, things picked up at flea markets, and objects that have absolutely nothing to do with ‘Shakerism.’ They never seem to compete. If anything, their simplicity makes everything around them a little more interesting.