Unless you're considering an alcohol-free life of celibacy and happen to enjoy speaking in tongues, the Shaker lifestyle is probably not for you. But there's nothing to stop you from adopting the Shaker design aesthetic for your home.
The Shakers - or the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing - are a religious sect that was founded in England in the 18th century by Ann Lee. In 1774, Lee and her followers sailed to America, eventually settling in the town of Niskayuna, New York. The Shakers believed in a life of strict celibacy and hard work and in the next century managed to attract almost 20,000 converts.
It was the Shakers' religious convictions that were to shape their unique design aesthetic. They consid- ered their work an act of worship that gave glory to God, so it had to be carried out to perfection and with love, hence the amazing craftsmanship. Many of the Shakers had been furniture makers before joining the movement, so they were well-versed in traditional techniques such as dovetail-jointing (although some Shaker furniture was made using nails and pegs).
The Shakers also believed that the beauty of an object lay in its utility. The result was an aesthetic of clean lines, stripped of all decorative elements. In this respect, the Shaker style has been described as a precursor to the Danish or Scandinavian modern style that was to emerge in the 20th century.
Indeed, looking at a Scandinavian classic such as Hans Wegner's wishbone chair or Alvar Aalto's stacking stool, the comparisons with Shaker furniture are obvious. The Shakers went along with the theory that 'form follows function' almost a century before the birth of Louis Sullivan, who coined the phrase.
Authentic Shaker pieces cost US$10,000 for an 1840s chair, US$20,000 for a blanket box and US$50,000 for a chest of drawers. A less expensive alternative would be Shaker-inspired furniture. Or look towards using some of the Nordic modern examples by Wegner and Aalto. Pieces should be plain and functional, and preferably made of a light-coloured timber such as pine, birch or maple.