We live in a new construction home and because of that, I really wanted to lean into antiques and older items as I find they are an easy way to add character to a home that started out as pretty darn bland!
I swear every single time I go to purchase a brown wood antique, the person selling it to me comments on my 'young' age and says that no one seems to want to buy these things anymore. Well, that's good news to me as I'll have more selection, ha!!
My parents always hammered into me that I should not be 'cheaping out' on furniture but rather living without until I can afford quality pieces that I will truly have forever. If you are replacing that $200 Ikea piece every few years or every other move, that $200 eventually adds up and you might as well have purchased a high-quality piece in the first place. So I've always lived by this. It's definitely not for everyone but it's how I think in terms of purchasing furniture.
Everyone is on different budgets when it comes to furnishing their spaces but what I love about shopping for antiques and older pieces of furniture is that you can truly often find incredible high-quality antique pieces of furniture for under $500. So you don't have to spend crazy amounts to still get a much higher quality piece than a big box store would offer. It's honestly insane to me how popular brand-name furniture stores can sell their pieces for the prices that they do and more often than not, the furniture is so poorly made. That's not to say that all new furniture is terrible. I've scored beautiful things from places like Ballard Designs and Serena and Lily! And there are just some things that are hard to find as antiques- like a big wine rack- buying new is necessary because it doesn't really exist as an older piece.
The thing about really scoring is that you have to know what you are looking for or at least know enough to know that the price for what you're buying is decent. A pretty-looking piece of furniture could be on sale at a consignment store for $200 and it could be an amazing score or it could truly be junk. The same thing goes for a $5k++ antique- you could be getting a terrible deal or it could be an incredible buy.
Another thing about buying antiques, consignment, etc. is that you must have patience. I shared that I just recently scored my dream dining room table. I literally waited 3 years to find this table. Patience is absolutely necessary and will pay off in the end!
I am no expert, but I have been buying pieces for years now and have picked up a lot of good tips and tricks.
Pennsylvania House
Henredon
Thomasville
Dixie Furniture
Hickory Chair
Baker
Ethan Allen (the older the better with this brand)
Stickley
Hooker
Councill
Hooker
Century
Henkel Harris
Kindel
Kittinger
Drexel
Duncan Phyfe
Statton
**This doesn't mean that I stick to only these brands, but typically, these are name brands that have produced quality pieces of furniture and fit within my own personal decor style. To find out the brand, look for it stamped somewhere on the piece. It is usually underneath or in one of the drawers. A lot of these brands don't even exist anymore. It's such a shame, people just don't make furniture like they used to. If you are questioning a brand, just google it and you'll likely be able to find out enough to decide whether or not it's a quality brand.
Keywords for Searches:
Chinoiserie
Federal
Regency
Blue and White
Tole
Georgian
Williamsburg Reproduction
Burl Wood
Inlay Mahogany
Flame Mahogany
Faux Bamboo
Wicker
Hand Carved
Rattan
Queen Anne
Mahogany
Cane
Brass
Chippendale
Heppelwhite
Chintz
Solid Wood
Dovetail
Traditional
I mostly shop for furniture at places like consignment stores and antique stores, but if I'm searching online, these are just some of the keywords I search on places like Etsy, Google, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay. They're decor words or words that describe a style or type of furniture. You can sometimes put a brand and a keyword together and it can help narrow your search.
As you learn more over time, you'll start to recognize the 'collections' that some of these furniture brands had. For example, I have a chest from the Henredon Natchez collection (it's a stunning collection) so if I ever wanted to hunt for a matching second chest, I'd know what collection to search for.
I hear a lot of people say that brown furniture looks dated and I completely understand why people say that. It's not everyone's cup of tea! BUT! I do think brown wood furniture gets confused with being 'dated' because not too long ago, before you could order furniture on the internet, you could walk into a furniture store and buy an entire 'set' of furniture. I mean, you still can do this today, but it was much more popular years ago. For example, a bedroom set would consist of nightstands, a dresser, a bed, armoire, etc. and it would all match. When things come as a set, that is typically what people are referring to when something looks dated. Now, there are pieces that do look dated and different wood stains that are unpopular and that kind of thing, but my biggest decorating tip when you are decorating with antiques is that everything should be siblings, not twins. That will give you a collected look. There are, of course, exceptions to this! I think furniture sets can look good in a few instances... like if you have a very formal dining room. But if you have a set and want to freshen things up, you can break it up throughout your space. For example, put the dresser in one bedroom, two nightstands in another bedroom, and the armoire in the upstairs hall for linen storage.
I have an inlaid mahogany wood dining table that I just got. It came with 8 chairs, which is amazing, but I felt that the beautiful, intricate wood chairs made the table feel a little outdated. So I put the chairs in our basement storage so we can use them when we need more chairs, but day-to-day I have light linen upholstered dining chairs from Serena and Lily to make things a little more casual and feel more updated and fresh. I also think it's important to break up all of that brown!
Types of furniture keywords:
Bachelor's Chest
Highboy (the piece you see in the photo above)
Sideboard/Buffet
Demilune Console
Bowfront Chest
Armoire
Breakfront
Serpentine Chest
Cocktail Table
Butler's Tray Table
Drop-Leaf Table
These are just some terms I could think of off the top of my head that is used to describe furniture but
this is a big comprehensive list. You don't see these words often on big-box brand name furniture websites... these are kind of like the 'vintage' descriptors. For example, a Bachelor's chest is a small chest- often used as a nightstand or as a dresser in small spaces. Rarely are they called Bachelor's chests anymore, but traditionally that is what they are called. It helps to know this because you can search 'Bachelor's chest' on sites like eBay and get better results than just searching for nightstands.
I typically look for signs of high quality. The process looks a little like this:
- Find the brand... if you see a higher-end brand stamp, you can usually assume this will be a well-made and high-quality piece of furniture. No brand makes it a little trickier and requires more investigation.
- Check for signs of quality craftmanship like Dovetail drawers. Dovetail is a term that means that the pieces of wood are put together kind of like a puzzle. You can see what that looks like in the images above... Every single piece of furniture in my house with drawers except for one has dovetailed joints. This doesn't necessarily guarantee anything, but it is a good sign.
- I make sure there is no particleboard/MDF- it's that material that gives something a cheap look/feel and is used in a lot of furniture today.
Here's an example of something that looks cute online, but when you read the details, it is made of MDF. You see this a lot with painted furniture.
- Figure out what the wood is made of. Cheap wood is typically painted and even though they can say it's 'solid wood' it's really cheap wood that will ding and scratch easily. Cheaper wood is usually softer and you can tell! My favorite hardwoods are mahogany and walnut.
- Easy open/close drawers/cabinets/etc. Usually, a sign of quality is that no matter how old the piece is, as long as nothing has been damaged, the drawers, cabinet doors, etc. should be easy to open and close and the drawers should guide easily.
- Feel the weight of something. This doesn't go for everything but typically, if it's lightweight it's probably not made of real wood.
- Watch out for reproductions that look like the antiques but are of poorer quality. Reproductions are not always bad but oftentimes they are mass-produced to look exactly like an antique but are made of extremely cheap materials. My best example of this is my eagle convex mirror. I searched for years to find one that wasn't Syrroco. I think back in the 1960s, they reproduced the originals of the mirrors into a plastic mold called Syrroco. Syrroco mirrors are a dime a dozen and while yes, it's a nice way to get the look for less, it's literally just plastic. So I held out for years until I found a true, quality eagle regency mirror that fit within my budget. Mine is hand-carved wood and that is actually a reproduction of the true original which is made of real brass. The true original brass ones typically go for $10k+. Syrroco goes for about $50-$100 on resale sites and hand-carved wood is around $500-$1000.
- Beware of fakes. These are similar to reproductions, but again, with reproductions, you can often find a lot of high-quality options. For example, Williamsburg reproductions are often really nice. But it is the downright fake things that you want to watch out for. I see this a lot with furniture from places like Target where they reproduce a popular piece of furniture and it's actually made of cheap materials. I see this a lot with popular (and expensive china). There is a pattern called Chinese Rose Medallion and it's incredibly beautiful, hard to find, and expensive. There are about a million and one knockoffs and you might not even be able to tell what the knockoff is until you see the original. I actually have no problem with people buying the fakes from antique stores because it's a nice way to be able to achieve a similar look for less, but the problem comes when the consignment store or antique dealer doesn't know their stuff and they are selling the fake Chinese Rose Medallion at the 'real' price. This is a good example of how you just need to learn over time to get to know prices and all of that! You see that often on eBay where people just google what they are selling and they find the 'real' thing and then charge that price when they actually have the cheaper knock-off. They're not trying to scam you, they just truly don't know.
- Check the condition. I personally think there's something charming about a few dings here and there, but if a piece is totally trashed, it's sometimes just not worth it. You see the most wear on the feet, corners, and tabletop of the piece. If you are in love with a piece and it is high quality but badly dinged up, you can always have someone refinish it or have it lacquered.
Where to buy older furniture:
Estate Sales
Consignment Shops
Antique Shops
Goodwill/etc.
Craigslist
Facebook Marketplace
Buying online is WAY harder than seeing something in person. I recommend buying in person when you can! But, different furniture styles can be very regional. So, for example, I love the look of faux bamboo furniture. It's a popular furniture style right now but it's also pretty classic and there are a lot of higher-end brands that used to produce high-quality faux bamboo furniture. However, people in Pittsburgh don't typically have that decor style. It is much more common in warmer climates like Florida. So it's easier for me to hunt down faux bamboo online just because it's literally not here in Pittsburgh.
There are so many more tips and so much I don't even know. It just takes years of 'practice' and even after a few trips to your local consignment and antique stores, you'll start to get an idea. My number one biggest tip is patience. You'll more often than not walk into antique and consignment stores and leave without purchasing. It's a waiting game and if you can wait until you find the gem, you'll be so happy you did. A lot of the pieces in my home are pieces I truly waited years for. Again, this is not for everyone but I wanted to share these tips in case you have a similar style!
