The Arts & Crafts Movement was taking place in Great Britain and America from 1880-1910. It was a reformist movement that encompassed architecture, interior design, cabinet making and decorative arts. I am going to talk about the American Arts & Crafts movement. In America the movement promoted personal craftsmanship in the creation of furniture and architectural details. They took advantage of the machine to produce the basic components and assembled and finished the piece utilizing the skilled craftsman. This lowered the cost of making the item and thus made it affordable and available to the public.
The beginning of the 20th century brought societal changes, people were moving beyond the Victorian era of opulence and moving towards a more simplified lifestyle. To achieve this lifestyle, architects like Greene & Greene and Frank Lloyd Wright created the Bungalow and the Prairie style home respectively. Both of these styles incorporated bringing the outside in. The Bungalow was functional and emphasized horizontal lines, simple porches, bands of windows and overhanging roofs. Wright's Prairie style appeared in 1900 and although distinctly American, the Prairie style borrowed many elements from the Japanese.
The Arts & Crafts Movement also included Art Nouveau and Art Deco which spanned from 1910-1925. Many well known artists such as Gustav Stickley, Mackintosh and Louis Comfort Tiffany produced high quality furniture and beautiful decorative glassware and lighting which can still be bought today, most likely through reproductions.