Looking For Great Furniture for Your Home, Look To The Past

The best values in furniture tend to be older second (or 15th) hand pieces that have given many years of good service to their lucky owners. This is especially true of case goods like chests of drawers, tables, bookcases, china cabinets and other types of wood furniture.These types of older wood furniture are sturdy enough to stand the test of time and use in our homes as every day items. Solid hardwood furniture is becoming more and more rare. It’s the major reason the best furniture tends to be old furniture. Hardwood furniture is very sturdy.If you look into drawers and into the undersides of tables and chairs you will see the differences in construction that make this quality of furniture both obvious and desirable. Dovetail drawers, chair legs that are part of the seat, dust barriers between drawers all denote quality construction.Much of this furniture is older than 60 years…almost but not quite antique…so it’s still reasonably priced. Find it in old homes, at garage sales, in antique and junk stores…anywhere you can.Even furniture with some damage can be refinished with miraculous results into something to enhance your home. The best at antique furniture restoration and antique furniture refinishing know how to take care of the wood and treasure it.This older furniture with hardwood construction is much better quality than modern furniture made of press-board or MDF. Even a little water exposure will destroy any furniture made of this material, including kitchen cabinets. Just ask any insurance adjuster.You can collect old furniture one or two pieces at a time as you have cash to buy.Don’t worry that you will end up with a home that looks like a museum. All kinds of styles of furniture are available including antiques, antique reproductions, modern, primitive and lots of choices in between. You can specialize in a particular style or mix them up for an “eclectic” look.A primitive bench can warm up a hard contemporary room without compromising the minimalist look.A bombe chest can be a centerpiece of a room without overcrowding.A gate-leg, drop leaf table can be a dining table or an end table as you move from place to place, serving multiple purposes and looking good, too.This collected furniture tends to look more sophisticated and has the virtue of making you look good, too. So start hunting for really good furniture. Also, make sure you find a specialist in antique furniture restoration or antique furniture refinishing who knows how to take care of the wood and have fun making your home just what you want.