Next time you are shopping for furniture or just browsing at an antique store, keep in mind that every piece of furniture has a story to tell. Furniture styles have evolved throughout history as our daily rituals and customs have changed. Furniture also has moved from being designed purely as a response to function to decorative designs according to current tastes in architecture and fashion.

Originally, furniture makers and carpenters were responsible for the design of furniture as a craft. Architects and architecture also played a role in the development of distinct styles that are still reproduced today. In their role, architects have designed specific furniture for their buildings and then copied and reproduced those designs for their great popularity.

In the early and mid-19th century, extra-deep seats were needed to properly accommodate the bustles of ladies' dresses, and special one-armed upholstered lounge chairs called "fainting couches" were created to accommodate ladies who needed to catch their breath from the grips of their tight waist-cinching corsets and bustiers. Thank goodness those times are long gone. It is indisputable to say that fashion has been a great catalyst in the evolution of furniture design.

Every important furniture design that we see today had its origins in some other piece of furniture that preceded it. For the most part, most distinct furniture styles are in response to movements in architecture, the arts, fashion and even politics. Furniture was, for the most part, crafted by hand until the 1830s. From that moment on, machinery and invention gave way to furniture production as we see it today. Craftsmen took great pride in knowing that their creations were used every day. And now, hundreds of years later, those creations are considered valuable antiques.

The Industrial Revolution gave us the ability to form metals and finish them in shiny platings of chrome or gold, as well as plastics to add as decorative hardware in the form of Bakelite knobs and pulls. From the 1920s through the 1940s, furniture was influenced greatly in both material and theme by transportation: airplanes, automobiles and transatlantic cruise liners. Art deco and moderne styles were clean designs favored all over the globe.

Post-World War II architecture gave us the ranch style home in its many interpretations and the condominium high-rise. Along with them came a furniture style called mid-century modern. Radical social movements and aeronautical advances left everyone open to new influences in design, graphics and color. Cantilevered surfaces, organically shaped wood tabletops and new materials such as Formica in colors like atomic orange, avocado green and harvest gold were all the rage.

Today, with globalization a part of every aspect of commerce and education, we see contemporary furniture being manufactured 5,000 miles from where it was designed to cut down on the cost of production. But globalization has also opened markets to new ideas and influences. Today's design trends pull from design styles from all over the world, and decorating styles have followed suit.

Our tastes now are distinctly influenced by the world and economics, and our embracing of eclectic interiors is evermore present. Each designed item is rich in its heritage and history. I'm sure you'll never look at a piece of furniture the same way again.

Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubillones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Fla. To find out more about Joseph Pubillones, or to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.