Contemporary furniture design came into being through the mixture of enquiring, innovative minds, advances in technology plus the ability to produce incredible furniture at cheaper prices. The commercial revolution also played a tremendous part in this particular, especially in regards to cheaper materials, entry to factory space as well as the power to create artistic furniture pieces at the price more suitable for the population in a broad way.

On the late 1800s, designers began to think about sleeker, simpler designs for modern furniture. Whereas in past times furniture was constructed almost entirely from wood, resulting in heavy overstated pieces indicative of grandeur and luxury. This having access to new materials and different options for working allowed designers for making small and modest sized items. These new furniture designs were safer to incorporate within any required living space and also gave the purchaser an opportunity to buy stuff were an expression of their own personal tastes, with less limitations. Contemporary furniture design became noted for being serviceable and functional but with a creative slant that saw modern furniture often viewed as art pieces in themselves.

Odd angles, clean lines, curved shaping and materials like metal and moulded plastic paved how for modern furniture to infiltrate into our consciousness. It's to ignore the striking designs of recent furniture pieces - the fluidity and sharpness often employed in these designs made people really start to crunches and take notice of modern furniture.

Many designers of modern and contemporary furniture can also be noted for being incredible architects - contemporary furniture is basically about functional items being considered as architectural and artistic designs. Architects like Charles Rennie Mackintosh, A professional and in some cases Antoni Gaudi did start to incorporate contemporary furniture design inside their overall architectural visions. Gaudi would often design furniture pieces to complement the interesting nuances of his buildings, creating a harmony relating to the external structure and internal decoration.

Other notable contributors for the contemporary furniture movement include Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Eileen Gray, Le Corbusier and Lilly Reich. Mies van der Rohe invented the now famous and sometimes copied 'Barcelona chair' with the exceptional contemporary furniture often used cantilevers permit supportive yet delicate framework, often created from chrome. Mies worked in collaboration with Lilly Reich over ten years, sharing both an experienced and relationship. In addition to her involvement within the design in the Barcelona chair, the happy couple also worked together to generate the Brno chair, another iconic section of modern furniture that is still cited as both inspirational and aspirational.