Mean While Back At The Store

Here is a layman's rundown of furniture and its desirability in the OPEN market.  This is from an appraiser and retail store owners point of view.

Gorgeous  Irish 18th Century desk and bookcase. 

Antique: This can run from the 16th Century to the early 20th Century. Things that are earlier? You're not going to have much luck in finding or being given. There is a obscenely strong chance that it did not come over on the Mayflower, get over it.  It can be anything from a masterpiece to junk.  It can be valued from the millions of dollars to a few dollars per piece. One good thing about these periods is that it is almost always good quality, made from real wood and there might be, might be, someone out there who still wants it.  Each piece must be weighed on a case by case basis.  Lots and lots of variables.

Old & Collectible:  This group is going to run from just after the early 20th century to the early 1970's.  It can be valued from the millions of dollars to a few dollars per piece. The million dollar mark is now a real long shot. Basically, you're dealing with some merely expensive stuff and a lot of inexpensive to downright cheap. Its not always good quality either. You're looking a hand and machine construction, the good, the bad and the ugly. Its not always made from real wood. The later pieces will be much, much cheaper materials.  There might still be someone out there who still wants it.

This category will encompass several subcategories.

 "Regional Traditionalist"  This is the locally or state made traditional furniture. Corner cupboards,  bed and dining suites, reproduction sugar chests and hunt boards and the like. Think of TV shows such as, Leave It To Beaver, Ozzie and Harriett and Happy Days and a decorating view. Companies like Willett, MacMahan, Davies and other Campbellsville cherry furniture makers were big in my area. You'll have these types of companies in your area or state too.  They make the stuff your grandparents and parents scrimped and saved for. Their desirability is sketchy at best.

"The Stylish Collectible" These are the high end brands, many still in business today.  Companies like Century, Kittinger and the various companies that did the Williamsburg reproductions. You'd be surprised that some of these companies are hotly fought for by designers and decorators.  Many times these furniture companies may have Asian or European flavors or something is unique and different.  They can pay big bucks for these items.   But there are again, many variables.

"The Studio Set"   This category will also have the  cache of having  studio made pieces. These are professional artists, George Nakashima comes to mind as one of the most famous, though not the only one.  Provenance is a major key here.  This is not a local crafter, but a listed and reputed artist. This ain't your Grand Pap's furniture. Which leads to the next subcategory.

"All in the Family"  These are things that were made and sourced locally.  Of course, a lot of fine furniture was sourced locally, at one time.  Today that is something different.  It can run the gamut from amazingly beautiful to just horrible.  This is a sticky wicket.  Families, sometimes, will fight tooth and nail for a piece and pay accordingly. Sometimes a piece will be near museum worthy and will die from a lack of sale. Many of these pieces are subject to "The Regional Traditionalist" and its either merits or demotions. Their desirability is sketchy also.

"Paint Me Pretty"  This is a recent, but a big addition to this lineup.  This covers a lot of furniture from the 1920's to the 1950's.  Good bones but poorly made.  Comfortable but weak.  Hated but loved.   A lot of it is poorly made. A great deal of was literally churned out by thousands of box cars over these decades. There is little if any love and care and attention paid to the construction of this type of furnishing.  This is a lot of the furniture that you see that's painted in the home and shelter magazines.  And rightly so.  I doesn't bother me.  Its better than being in a land fill. It DOES bother me when a piece from one of the other categories is painted, much to the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Cheap thin veneers, gum wood bodies, watery stains all equal up to poor quality from this period.   Still, there are some hidden gems here, but you're going to have to dig for them.   Most of the value here, lies in what else you can do with it.

Now, for the last category.

Modern: This is going to date to the late 1970 up to yesterday.  This is going to be a shocker to you. That recliner you bought a year ago, that dining room set you purchased 10 years ago, that sectional sofa you bought last week, its all USED FURNITURE!   Period.  I don't care if you bought it from your local furniture store, Macys or The Ralph Lauren Home Store in New York.  I don't care if you home has been featured in Home & Gardens, Veranda or Architectural Digest. Its USED FURNITURE!  I don't care if you took great care of it or if you never sat or ate from it. Its USED FURNITURE!   If its from this period, even if you paid thousands for it, its used furniture.  Its not what you paid for it its what the market says its worth today.  Of course, there are exceptions to every category, this one included.  However, I've I see more and more modern furniture selling at a nice, public auction for pennies on the dollar. The whisper of bed bugs, even from fine homes, ruffles across the antiques trade.   Sometimes a modern piece doesn't even get a bid.  In my opinion, don't buy new furniture.


So there you have it.  A layman's guide to furniture. Remember each piece must be weighed on a case by case basis and there are lots and lots of variables. Bear in mind, the market is soft and real picky about what it loves. In all categories, things sell for less than what they did 5 or 10 years ago.  So now you know how furniture functions on the open market.