Restored Chesterfields stylish in a heritage or contemporary interior
From experience working in the trade, perusing galleries, working at and attending fairs and auctions over a long period of time (some 30 years) collecting antiques or vintage pieces is a pleasure indulged in by a vast number of people from very different backgrounds and all walks of life. Holiday periods and long weekends give everyone opportunities to catch up on jobs left undone, or pleasures denied.
A favourite pastime in our family is hunting for that special piece of furniture waiting in a second hand store, recycle yards, church opportunity shops or in ads on ebay . In these days when recycling is so very important it makes good sense to try and buy pre-loved pieces. With the money saved on buying new you can also enjoy a holiday.
Chesterfields before their new coat
A great deal of satisfaction comes from finding something at a great price that serves a great purpose and recycling it grandly to give it another opportunity to provide many more years of service. A happy treasure hunt memory is finding a pair of serpentine fronted Victorian Chesterfields in the early 80′s that needed a new home and loving care. Found discarded in a country yard with their original leather covering hanging in shreds they were brought back to life with the aid of some stuffing and a new coat of stylish black fabric. After 20 years of service, when moving house again they gained another new coat and were sold on to a new home. Their style worked wonderfully in both a heritage or contemporary setting.
Hallstand restored
Recently my youngest son showed me a turn of the 20th century hall stand and great country table that he had restored. Both ended up looking wonderful from a sad and sorry state.
Hallstand being restored
The hall stand he knew would work well near the front door for dumping keys, coats, and umbrellas. The house it was going into was an old Queenslander so it suited both the style and era and was immensely practical.
He had to take it all apart first and then keeping every original piece he reinforced all its joints, manufactured a new drawer and other broken parts, reassembled it and then gave it a new coat of varnish.
It would have been easy to have just dumped it but the whole exercise, which he had never attempted before, gave him immense personal satisfaction. Good to know that the woodwork classes from his school days would, with practice and persistence have a practical application.
The table he recycled grandly was found in a garage sale at an incredibly reasonable price. And it was big enough to seat 12 people. He gave the legs and base that supported the top a coat of paint, and replaced its broken castors and then re-waxed the old wide timbers on the top lovingly and it looked truly great. And when finished wasn’t so precious that people wouldn’t feel relaxed and happy sitting at it to enjoy their daily meals.
The use of antiques and collectibles in traditional or modern settings will always be desirable; the lure of the past is strong. The very nature of their delightful idiosyncrasies is very appealing.
The variety of choice available in lovely decorative pieces, such as the colour, warmth and mellowness of aged wood, the gentle softness of old paint and gilding, the variety in exotic inlays and now extinct materials, all produced by craftsmen who refined their skills into an ‘art’ form is generally enough incentive. However, when all of these attributes are combined with the ‘thrill of the chase’ it can be quite irresistible.
Happy hunting…Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle January 2010
P.S.
Becoming an antique collector may seem fraught with danger. However if you make and follow a few guidelines you can protect your interests when purchasing. Download our INTRODUCTION TO ANTIQUES which aims to provide a basic foundation of knowledge. There are some guidelines to follow and advice that may assist you. If you are an international visitor to our site, seek out and find the relevant guilds and associations in your city, town or state.
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