Evoking rusticity and relaxation through simple and elegant designs, vintage Adirondack furniture originated in the Adirondack Mountains of northeastern New York. The most famous piece is the Adirondack chair, which dates to 1903.

With its ample armrests and sturdy but comfortable slanted seat, the reclined Adirondack chair was designed by Thomas Lee for his own country home. The postwar golden age of modern patio and garden furniture production — led by the likes of Brown Jordan, Knoll, Salterini and Woodard — was decades away at the time, and there were few pieces of furniture specifically created for outdoor use.

Lee, a Massachusetts-born Harvard graduate raised in a wealthy family, was no furniture designer. He merely needed a durable, rugged chair for afternoons in the sun while he was vacationing on Lake Champlain in Westport, New York, in the summer. The amateur woodworker used just one wooden plank cut into 11 segments that were jointed together for his now-legendary seat, which is said to have been made of hemlock, hickory or basswood.

The story of the Adirondack chair continues with Lee’s friend, carpenter Harry Bunnell, covertly patenting the chair and going on to produce it as the Westport Plank chair for a growing audience over the next two decades. Over a century later, the Adirondack chair has gone through several design evolutions while maintaining its popularity and basic form with slats of wood such as pine offering comfort both indoors and out.

The widespread demand for rustic Adirondack outdoor furniture was bolstered by the turn-of-the-century establishment of rural escapes to treat diseases such as tuberculosis. The low-slung Adirondack chair became common in these places of convalescence, allowing patients to recline and breathe in the country air. It also complemented the camp-style architecture that was prevalent in the Adirondacks for recreation as well as restoration, where rugged furniture with exposed wood and minimal carving filled interiors and wide porches.

Today, Adirondack chairs are made in a range of materials and can be found around the world, from ski resorts to lakeside piers, their durability and classic form making them an enduring favorite for spending time in nature.

Find vintage Adirondack chairs, benches, lounge chairs, decorative objects, folk art and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Finding the Right painted-furniture for You

Vintage, new and antique painted furniture enhances a room through patterns, blocks of color and ornamental flourishes. Decorating furniture with paint was especially prominent in the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States when folk artists used chairs, chests, tables and cupboards as their canvases. Although a later trend involved stripping antique pieces of their paint, early American homes were vivid with furniture painted in an array of colors.

The practice of painting furniture has a rich heritage, with remnants of pigment identified on a 12th-century painted chair from Sweden. It has come in and out of fashion over time — in the design of 17th-century Mannerist furniture, paint was lightly used to enhance carved ornamentation, and painted furniture gained popularity with designers working in the chinoiserie style, as 18th-century European artisans mimicked Chinese lacquer in furniture motifs. In France in the 18th century, furniture was lavishly painted or gilded in gold.

Now painted furniture is popular for pieces that are both utilitarian and works of art. A color from a pattern can inform the whole design of a room, or, as bold and saturated tones are in vogue, a vibrantly adorned piece can be a bold focal point. Muted palettes can contribute to an air of calm for a study or bedroom while bright reds, yellows or blues can enliven a dining room or living room.

On 1stDibs, find a variety of vintage, new and antique painted furniture to match any space or taste.