PRE-LOVED items are featuring heavily in all style and interiors publications as being the big trend for 2020. Buyers had moved towards lighter woods and simple décor but is this trend continuing or are people looking to buy in a market where so many things represent incredible value for money? Not only are the financial advantages obvious but, with climate change becoming ever more relevant to everyday life and our choices, antiques and pre-loved items come with a zero carbon footprint so not only are they money-saving, they are also planet-saving.
Blending antiques, pre-loved and contemporary items – very 2020s
In the media, especially within interiors magazines, you will see the properties featured are often decorated with antique furniture and objects. Using the old with the new shows they are not mutually exclusive.
A blend of contemporary designs and colours with antiques that have been brought up-to-date, for example a chair recovered with a funky fabric, will create an interior which is unique, stylish and comfortable. Of course you do not have to limit your purchasing to furniture; there is a wealth of unique decorative objects available which, selected carefully, will enhance any contemporary environment.
All the major Sunday papers have recently featured articles
on buying antiques not only for pleasure but because of their impeccable green credentials. This surge in interest, which has been very evident in our recent sales, will surely push up prices thereby giving investment potential. What is more, buying pre-owned comes without the worry of whether that new Indonesian hardwood furniture has destroyed yet more priceless orangutan habitat.
Functional, beautiful, interesting and guilt-free
For many people, the word antique conjures up a vision of an unfashionable object or furnishing that has no place in a modern home. For other people, it will conjure up an image of something that will be expensive and exclusive to large houses or stately homes. Because their parents are the first generation where antiques have not been avidly collected, many people are unsure of how antiques will fit into their lives and are afraid of trying something new alongside something old.
Today people seem to have lost their desire for individuality
and they have lost this connection with the past. This is partly due to the lack of time people have to spare so they go for the production line, the one-stop shop where items are delivered virtually the next day, but these are often earth-harming quick fixes with a life expectancy of a hamster.
However, time spent carefully selecting vintage items will be much more rewarding in terms of pleasure, intellectual interest and may eventually be rewarding financially as the cycle goes on and antiques and traditional art become fashionable again. In the meantime, take advantage of the attractive prices and furnish your home with beautiful objects that will be appreciated by generations to come.
The lack of interest in general antiques has hit prices with pieces being considered unfashionable and ignored by today’s buyers. Changes in lifestyle have also hit prices. A good Georgian sideboard can today be bought for a few hundred pounds whereas 20 years ago, it would have been at least £2,500. Chests of drawers, dining chairs and cranberry glass all represent incredible value for money and could even be good investments. Modernist furniture from post-war Europe has the clean lines people look for todaybut it was built to last from quality materials rather than unsustainable mulched Romanian pine forests.
Carbon-free
Antiques and pre-owned/pre-loved furniture and objects have a zero-carbon footprint. Modern production methods and materials are not environmentally responsible or sustainable despite what the little tree stamp ‘from sustainable sources’ might lead you to believe. Palm oil is often credited with being from sustainable sources. Once planted, that may be true but try telling that to the family of Sumatran tigers, now fewer than 400 in number, whose forest it replaced.
Swathes of new buyers are discovering the appeal of antiques and vintage items. In terms of attractiveness, quality, price and on environmental grounds they cannot be beaten. Take the plunge and you will be amazed what is available to purchase. Not only will it not break the bank but it will not break the planet either.
