Add a taste of old-world Italy to your home with selected pieces of furniture or accessories. Enhance your home with pieces of Renaissance or Tuscan style, or even contemporary designs. Furniture should not only be functional, it should also be a work of art and you find that in the Italian styles.

The end of the Dark Ages in Europe began in Tuscany towards the end of the 14th century. It was a time of rebirth in culture, in a search for knowledge and in scientific advancement, and the growth of the craft guilds for furniture makers.

Renaissance furniture is large, heavy and ornate, with intricate carvings of everything from fruit and vegetables to birds, from animal grotesqueries to human figures. Renaissance pieces are big, big, big, however, and so will dwarf anything a small room.

Although the Renaissance actually began in Tuscany, it of course spread throughout the rest of Italy. Tuscan furniture took a different path, with a simple, rustic yet nevertheless opulent looking design that came into use in the rural areas of the country. The furniture is sturdy but not ornate, and it is the accessory pieces such as wrought-iron tables and ceramic and earthenware jugs that give it the distinctive look.

Everyone who talks about the Tuscan style comments on the colors - deep, rich red, golden yellows, and cool Mediterranean blues are friendly colors, warm colors. give a feeling of warmth and friendliness to the decor. Kitchenware utensils are usually unpolished or beaten copper, iron, tin and pewter. Tiled floors are a must.

The Tuscan style is all about projecting a relaxed, lived-in style. Throw-pillows and blankets are everywhere, tapestries and murals might cover the walls. Bowls of brightly-colored fruit - whether real or ceramic, decorate the large kitchen tapes. Herbs hang from the ceiling and cupboard display linens or dishes.

Furniture and home design did not stop in the 15th century, of course, nor even in the 18th. Today Italian craftsmen continue to design and build unique furniture and other decor for the home.

Thanks to the internet it's possible to visit all kinds of manufacturers or vendors of contemporary Italian furniture to see the unique European look they bring. 1Contemporary offers furniture from Canada as well as Italy and the United States.

Cassina claims to be the premier Italian furniture maker, and is the only manufacturer of authentic Le Corbusier furniture. Their site is a masterpiece of elegance, like their furniture. Le Corbusier, by the way, is the name by which the Swiss-born architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret is known. He was one of the founders of modernism, and in addition to buildings he also designed furniture, which has quite a distinctive look.

Momentoitalia is another elegant site which shows off the slim and elegant lines of contemporary Italian furniture.