The Pros and Cons of Vintage Furniture

The Pros of Vintage Furniture

There are some obvious and others not-so obvious benefits of having an interior classically designed to resemble styles from the past.

1. Looks

Modernistic home décors look good but is something anyone can have. It's nothing more than having the money. But with vintage designs there are two things of bigger significance. First, is the availability which is far lower than the one of contemporary equivalent. Then, there is the thing called taste. To make the most of your vintage furniture your overall interior design skills must excel. Few people will be able to assemble the complete look and feel, even if they have the resources and pieces available. The class of the French Baroque can hardly be achieved by anyone who doesn't have the artistic taste of classic design. That's something you don't learn at school.

2. Value

While your modern pieces may easily have their value down through the years, vintage furniture will be a worthy investment. It's plain simple – it's value has risen up to now, so why would it stop? It can only increase because it will be rare, unique, sometimes it can even turn into a classic piece for collections.

3. Quality

Back then everything was made with durability in mind. It was made to last. In contrast, everything now is made with the idea to be cheap, easy to manufacture, so that you can buy a new one when it brakes. In the early days the massive furniture pieces were designed to be passed through the generations. Of course, there may be the opposite side of the second-hand retro furniture, because its time may as well be ticking away but this is where you must look upon when buying vintage pieces.

The Cons of Vintage Furniture

Buying old furniture is a bit of challenge. Since most of us aren't wealthy moguls with the financial ability to go to auctions and buy the most preserved piece of furniture of the highest quality, there is a chance that we will strike a bad deal that will come back to haunt us. There are various drawbacks of this type of furnishing but still it's you who decides.

1. Comfort & Functionality

Normal evolution and so new fabrics, stuffings and materials bring a higher degree of comfort. The fruits of the last twenty years have brought the price down, but the comfort and functionality up. Chances are a contemporary sofa is much more comfortable than an old leather sofa. And what about functionality? It's been on a constant up ever since and each furniture piece you can think of has evolved. Still, there are simple and practical wardrobes, drawers, tables, etc., which are cheaper than ever, more functional than ever, easy on the eye and just what you need, nothing more - nothing less.

2. Cleaning and maintenance

Based on its age and materials, do you think that your vintage furniture will even make it through it's first several months? My guess is probably no. Fabrics will discolours and rip, the metal will corrode and the wood will probably weaken. Not that this doesn't happen to contemporary, but regular use is not exactly the perfect thing for your antique chairs for example. This could be said for many other furniture pieces.

Upon purchase, your antique furniture piece, be it vintage sofa or the chairs upholstery, may have been under loads of dust and may need some thorough spring cleaning. Deep dry cleaning can be done on-site and experts like those from Cleaners Oxford will always look to use the most appropriate method depending on the fabric, staining and condition of your furniture pieces.

4. Functionality: certainly a problem in some cases. You'd enjoy your wardrobe to be big spacious, sliding doors, many shelves, but a classic retro wardrobe may not be that. It may look good but creaky hinges are a common thing. The vintage industrial drawer may not be the easiest to open compared to the one finger sliding drawers available nowadays.

This article is exclusively written for HomeTalk.com by Daniel Davies: http://www.hometalk.com/danieldavies

Daniel is a diy enthusiast with passion for home décor. Visit Daniel's blog: http://diy-planet.blogspot.com/. Also contact on: https://www.facebook.com/danieldavies.83 and https://plus.google.com/+DanielD83/posts.

Thank you for reading!