Brown Furniture - Back in fashion?
Back in the 1970's and 1980's quality wooden antique furniture, AKA brown furniture, was considered a sound investment. So much so, that even financial investment companies were putting funds into antiques. However, those halcyon days of high prices and high returns are no longer and the ever increasing 'disposable' lifestyle has endured. But there could be whispers of change....
It would seem that now is an ideal time to be putting your hard earned cash back into brown furniture. Prices are reasonable and quaility is high. And as popularity increases, basic laws of suppy and demand should improve the returns on your clever investments.
So how can you incorporate dark wooden antique furniture into a modern lifestyle? First of all, there is absolutely no need for your sitting room to be all brown. This isn't the 1940's and all that money you spent on those huge windows will be wasted when the light is sucked up and destroyed by the huge amount of deperessing brown furniture. The key to making brown furniture work in a room scheme, is the mantra 'less is more'. One or two well chosen, good quality pieces, will have a much more positive effect. A beautiful mahogany chest of drawers and perhaps a couple of well placed occasional chairs will give your room a classy period feel. A room with all brown furniture, will give the impression of a student house in the late 70's... a look we would all like to forget.
The beauty of genuine antique furniture as an investment, is that it has proven to stand the test of time. The quality craftsmanship in each piece has already lasted for at least 100 years. And if well cared for, there is absolutely no reason (except maybe the doomsday clock ticking closer to midnight) for the furniture to continue for the next 100 years. Brown furniture, by it's very nature, will become your family heirlooms.
So where to spend the money? Useful pieces are far more appealing than purely decorative items. A chest of drawers, occasional table or sideboard are items we use today, so why buy an antique item that serves no purpose? You are more likely to hang on to a piece of furniture if it's useful and fits in with a busy lifestyle. There's nothing worse that cleaning something which contributes nothing to your life.
But where can you find these gems? Well, obviously reclamation yards like ours will have a collection of genuine antqiues, and they will be consideraby cheaper than a high end antiques dealer. Local auctions, house sales and charity shops are also other places to consider.
So get cracking and find that diamond in the rough. Happy hunting....
-
Posted by Iconography Ltd
11th February 2018
Follow on Google+
