Why I Love Antique Furniture

Antique furniture holds a mystique and history that has fascinated me since I was a child. Growing up in a house with furniture and accessories both expensive and brand-new, and charmingly aged and even dilapidated, I never understood why anyone would choose to spend their money on the modern, unoriginal option. Although even my parents found it odd, it was the wooden toy box covered in faded paintings of horses I truly loved, rather than the shiny new toys inside it; even my attention to the television would often give way to watching the seconds swing by on the one-of-a-kind grandfather clock in the living room, or to pounding away on the “ugly” white piano with peeling paint that had been in our family for three generations. Another of my most cherished and poignant memories is watching my mother pull the delicate cord on the multicolored stained-glass lamp atop my night stand each night after she finished reading me my bedtime story (the lamp was a gift to her mother on her wedding day).

From the age of seven or so, I began accompanying my mother to flea markets and antique furniture shops; I rapidly became as excited as she at the prospect of finding a beautiful piece to complement the already extensive, eclectic collection in our home. I will never forget my first “major” discovery; wandering alone in a poorly-attended flea market at the tender age of ten, I came upon a perfectly antiquated armoire with its original glass doors completely intact. After summoning Mom with delighted screams, we discovered this find also encompassed the other primary cause for thrill in the world of antique furniture; aside from aesthetic pleasure, it brought us fiscal pleasure, at the bargain price of just $150! That armoire contains most of my mother’s wardrobe to this day.

Today, my own house is filled with several pieces of incredible antique furniture from my childhood home that were passed on to me after years of loving them (and a little begging!), combined with many items discovered with a keen eye for beauty and bargain that was honed practically since infancy. Just about the only “modern” items to be found within my walls are my laptop, television and stereo (electronics are the one thing whose “antique charm” is lost on me). I can’t wait to pass on the special items that will become dear to my own children one day, as I know they will provide the comforting reminders of childhood and family that the stained-glass lamp on my night stand offers me.