The Arts and Crafts movement represented a reaction against the moral and material implications of the Industrial Revolution and Victorian urbanization. Its followers were concerned with the threat that the division of labor (and other methods of production) posed on creative design.
Arts and Crafts designers employed more personal, ¨honest¨ materials and methods in their art rather than machine-made materials. They encouraged rural designers outside of the factory-crowded cities and the use of nature-based decorative motifs. William Morris the British poet, artist and architect, for example, rejected Victorian opulence and ornamentation in favor of simplicity, good craftsmanship and good design.
The Arts and Crafts style, also known in the United States as Mission style, resulted in simple, sturdy and functional furnishings. The term ¨Mission style¨ reflects the influence of the traditional furnishings and interior design of the American Southwest which incorporated Hispanic elements associated with the early Mission, Spanish architecture and Native American design. Rugs, pottery and baskets of the American Southwest add warmth, texture and color to styling in the United States.