For many people, antique furniture creates a special, unique theme for their interior decorating. Of course, you need to know how to select antique furniture first.
Furnishing your home with pieces of antique furniture is a decorating option that has always been popular. And now, with all the instant and global methods of communicating and sharing information that are available, it is easier than ever to learn about and locate the antique pieces that will perfectly complement each room in your home. Of course there are, just as in any project you undertake, a few strategies that can make your experience progress more easily and more smoothly.
To begin with, it is important at the outset that you are very clear about what you want. Are you looking for a bedroom suite, a chest, some garden and lawn furniture, or a sideboard? Are you looking to buy a piece from a specific period, and if so, which one? A quick glance through various popular antique guides shows upwards of twenty different periods or styles in American furniture manufacturing alone. Are you also familiar with the different terms used to describe the characteristics of antique furniture? Another glance through those same guides lists almost twenty different types of feet found on American antique furniture alone. Do you know exactly where you’d like to place this piece in your home, and have you measured the space to know exactly what sized piece will fit in that spot? All of these are important questions to be addressed before you make your antique furniture purchase.
Once you are ready to go shopping, there are also specific things you can look for that can help you identify an authentic, high-quality piece of antique furniture. For example, if you are looking for a chest, look for pieces that have been constructed from a small number of wide boards, usually from soft woods such as pine or poplar. Additionally, there should be very few knots in the wood, and the hinges should be in the style of cotter-pin hinges, long, wrought-iron flat face hinges, or square-angled butt hinges. The backboard of the chest should also show traces of rust where the iron of the hinges has rested against the wood of the chest.
If you are looking to buy a type of painted furniture, there are also specific characteristics to look for there. The most obvious characteristic is the type of paint used. Acrylic paint was not invented until the 1940’s, and was not widely available until the 1950’s, so if you see acrylic paint then most likely you are looking at a reproduction, not a genuine antique. Another difference between a genuine antique and a reproduction is that the wood workers of the 18th and 19th century only painted the exposed surfaces of a piece, and did not paint the areas that weren’t visible, such as the inside of drawers. Finally, old paint is very hard and brittle, and should show signs of wear and tear from everyday life. If you find a piece whose wear appears to be regular or in patterns, chances are that it is a modern reproduction that was “distressed