The Year of Shaker: A Design Movement Goes Mainstream (Plus 10 Sightings)

It’s been over a decade since a relatively fringe 1700s religious sect—the Shakers—found unlikely ubiquity in the modern world. It started with Shaker peg rails (this story, originally published in 2013, took us by surprise when it went wild). Then Shaker-style kitchen cabinets became mainstream. A New York City restaurant, a French bakery, and a Mexico City hotel all took design cues entirely from Shaker villages. And on it went.

In all the years since, enthusiasm for the simple, utilitarian design has barely dipped. If anything, it’s grown. But recently a new slew of Shaker-adjacent news leads us to believe the Shaker fervor shows no signs of slowing.

First, Fan alerted us to this exhibit, at the American Folk Art Museum, on Shaker art (utterly “exuberant” compared to their pared-back furnishings). Then this pop-up, co-curated by the actress Frances McDormand, caught our eye; featuring Shaker cradles, it invited visitors to “take your time. Rock yourself. Mend if you’d like.” Now an exhibit called  “The Shakers: A World in the Making”, backed by the Vitra Design Museum in Germany and previously on view at the ICA in Philadelphia (where it was covered by the New York Times), is now at the Milwaukee Art Museum through the end of January.

If you’ve ever wanted to adorn your envelopes with Shaker designs in miniature, now you can, thanks to a new collection of Shaker Forever stamps. And with the debut of the Amanda Seyfried film The Testament of Ann Lee last year, filmed in part at Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts, it’s safe to say that Shaker design has officially entered the mainstream.

The 250th anniversary, in 2024, of the first Shakers’ arrival in America is perhaps a reason for this latest resurgence—though we can’t help but wonder whether Shaker cradles and handmade wares answer a yearning, now, for simpler times.

Here are 10 Shaker-inspired offerings we’ve bookmarked lately.

Above: California-based Block Shop partnered with the Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts to update traditional Shaker designs into bold textiles, like this Tree of Life tablecloth, $190. See more in Inspired Tablecloths by Block Shop x Hancock Shaker Village.
Above: Another from the Block Shop x Hancock Shaker Village collaboration: a Tree of Life Print, $220.
Above: The forthcoming Shaker Museum’s pop-up exhibits, called Shaker Outpost, have made Chatham, New York a pilgrimage site for design aficionados all summer. Curated first by Maira Kalman, then Paula Grief, both longtime Remodelista favorites, the exhibit is now helmed by multidisciplinary artist Kiki Smith, with a General Store stocked with Shaker-inspired wares to take home. Image courtesy of Maira Kalman and Mary Ryan Gallery New York via Shaker Museum.

Above From Assembly Line, the Sister Stool is “a modern take on a classic Shaker design,” designed for “reaching tall cupboards” and to hang from a peg rail when not in use; $750.
Above: The humble, ubiquitous Shaker peg gets (admittedly) a very elevated twist by Belgian maker Van Cronenburg: Hand-cast in bronze in one of Europe’s oldest foundries, the Van Cronenburg Bronze Shaker Peg is “developed using historical sketches from the Shakers.”
Above: “We’ve been obsessing over Shaker design for 10-plus years now, and we thought we had seen it all,” writes Margot. “We stand corrected.” At Orné de Feuilles of Tokyo, hallmarks of Shaker design—swallow tail joints and copper rivets included—are given practical new use, as in the Shaker Dust Box, a Shaker-box-turned-wastebasket. See more in Found in Translation: 5 New Uses for the Shaker Box from Japan.
Above: From Maine-based furniture maker Heide Martin, the Shaker Side Table is “a nod to Shaker meetinghouse benches with a touch of whimsy.” Each is made to order.
Above: Ikea, which usually takes its cues from Scandinavian design, turns instead to the Shakers: The Nakanäs Table ($399.99) takes its cues from Shaker design. (Sadly the great Nakanäs Chair, with woven seat and curved backrest “for comfort and unadorned beauty,” is no longer available.)
Above: “The Shakers believed that furniture should be honest and not deceitful—no veneers or unnecessary ornamentation.” This Nightstand ($480), the latest release from chef and writer Clare de Boer’s furniture company, Roseland, follows suit: “It’s hand-rubbed with the same raw linseed oil we use on our bed, resulting in zero VOCs and a finish that becomes richer and darker over time.” (Read more about Roseland in A New Furniture Co. from Clare de Boer.)

For more timeless Shaker design, see:

• Found in Translation: 5 New Uses for the Shaker Box from Japan
• Remodelista Reconnaissance: Shaker (Ish) Peg Rails in an Upstate Kitchen
• In the Dwelling House: 16 Design Ideas to Steal from the Shakers
• Instant Order: 16 Simple, Smart Uses of Shaker Peg Rails from the Remodelista Archives

N.B.: This story originally appeared on October 18, 2024 as “Shaker, Continued: 7 New Favorites for a Trend Resurgence” and has been updated with new images, products, and information.