Enjoying Antique Furniture In Your Home
Jul 4th 2009Jack Michaelsantique
Antique furniture can be of your interest if you are captivated by age old artifacts and their aesthetic appeal. Unique pieces of antique furniture are also favored by collector's who specialize in this field. The term antique applies to a number of things, including books, jewelry, toys, clocks and such others. However, the most popular in the category of antiques is furniture pieces like dining tables, chairs, beds (especially the four poster ones), dressers and so on.
If purchasing antique furniture interests you, first you need to have an idea about the several styles associated with the making of such furniture, judging the quality of timber used for the furniture and lastly the overall finishing of the furniture. Having no idea about these factors or details and going to buy such antique furniture would definitely land you in hot water. The furniture seller can get on top of you and you end up buying an ordinary piece of furniture believing it to be an antique one and even lose out a fortune on it.
Are you thinking how to differentiate the regular furniture with the antique furniture? Now just use your common sense. If you are going to buy an antique chair, you have to check out what kind of wood the chair is made out of. The best way to do it is to check the feet and edges of the chair. If you see these parts are slightly different from the other parts there is possibility that these parts have been repaired.
The difference in construction is also a major distinction between antique furniture and modern ones. While the older furniture used the plank-style construction, the comparatively newer ones utilized the tongue and groove construction. Checking the dimensions of a very old piece of furniture for irregularities is also necessary. If it is an original piece it would have irregularities because wood shrinks with age. The timber used to make antique furniture comes from trees like mahogany, ebony, oak, walnut, beech, chestnut, cherry, satinwood, elm and pine.
Antique furniture is available from a number of places. However, you need to find out a reputed and reliable antique dealer who would offer you the best piece of furniture at the right price. Online antique stores also sell such pieces. You need to check certain things before you buy any piece of antique furniture. These include the age and originality of the piece that can be judged from its present condition, the quality of the piece along with the details of construction and proportions, the patina and color and any modifications done to the piece. All these determine the price of the piece.
Antique furniture has different designing styles such as Oriental furniture, English furniture, Continental furniture, Georgian, furniture from the time of Renaissance, Medieval and Gothic furniture. This type of furniture can completely change the decor of your house making it look grand and majestic. Coupled with special kind of lighting the antique furniture are being used by many people to decorate their houses.
Buying and decorating your house with antique furniture is not enough and you need to pay equal attention to its maintenance. An occasional dusting session is hardly adequate. Antiques made of wood can be damaged by the ultraviolet rays of the sun and therefore you need to place them in a corner of the house that is not exposed to direct sunlight. Moreover you need to ensure that it is not exposed to extreme temperatures and excessive humidity. While extreme temperatures result in the rapid expansion and contraction of the wood, high moisture content can lead to the growth of mould.
Antique furniture is expensive and that is probably the price you need to pay to get a unique piece for your home. However, if you buy antique furniture keeping in mind some of these specifications you are sure to get your money's worth.