The principal material used to make Victorian furniture was wood. Fine furniture that adorned the homes of wealthy families was made with hardwoods such as mahogany, rosewood and oak. Sideboards and dining tables from the period survive today and attest to the skill of Victorian carpenters. Less expensive furniture was also available for people of more modest means. These were made of less expensive wood, such as pine.
According to furniture restoration experts Bruce W. Miller and Jim Widess, wicker furniture became extremely popular from about 1860 onwards, because it could be used to produce items in many different styles, including Gothic, Chinese, Rococo and Classical. A typical catalog of the period lists 70 styles for rocking chairs alone, including an elaborate American rocker that found favor in Europe too. Wicker was also used to make Victorian baby cribs, love seats and book cases.
Fabrics were used in Victorian furniture, often as coverings for chairs and sofas. A reaction against the neoclassic severity of some furniture helps to explain the Victorian taste for upholstered furniture, according to furniture historian Thad Logan. A desire for more comfortable furniture and the development of more advanced upholstery techniques meant that furniture took on more rounded edges and padded surfaces.
Like fabrics, leather was used for upholstering chairs and sofas, such as studded Chesterfield settees. Leather was also used as an inlaid top for desks and writing slopes. Leather was available in many colors, even in Victorian times, although not as many as today. Many of the designs for leather furniture used from 1837 to 1901 have stayed fashionable and would not look out of place in contemporary homes.