Why is the popularity of restoration and vintage furniture soaring?submitted on 22 September 2014
Why is vintage furniture so popular? What makes a piece so alluring and sought after long after it was made? Gone are the days when one could bid on old furniture and get it for nothing! What used to be 0.99p now retails for around £90!
“Je ne sais quoi” quality
So, what has driven the demand for these pieces to such heights? At first it was merely because second-hand furniture was all a person could afford, but these one-of-a-kind pieces had a certain “je ne sais quoi” quality about them, a certain mystique that impressed and captivated people. Owners began looking for that certain item that made guests ask the all-important question “Where did you get that?” which fuelled their sense of pride and uniqueness. The basest human instinct to feel unique and appreciated was very gratuitously filled by the ownership of such items. Not satisfied with only purchasing old and antique items, restoring such pieces rose to become more of a passion than a trend.
The “restoration” movement
The rise in popularity of such pieces was evident in the growth and demand for vintage fairs, where many would flock, gathering to try and out-bid each other and seek out that one elusive item that would make them stand a cut above the rest. Indeed, How many times have the words “they do not build them like they used to” been uttered? This then led to the rise in popularity of what many would call the “restoration” movement, where owners of such pieces would try to restore these items to their former glory. Even when an item was not labelled as a classic masterpiece, owners preferred to restore an item to its original finish whilst also keeping some of the patina - dirt and wear built up during the life of the item. The objective being to bring an item back to its original state while still making sure evidence of its age and use were evident. Not satisfied with making such a piece useable, it was an effort to hold on to the nostalgic allure of an heirloom.
The beginning of innovative and entrepreneurial upcyclying
With a peak in popularity and demand of the restoration movement, some innovative souls began refinishing these antiques, re-purposing them to better suit the households of today. Then, the re-finishing era was born. The idea of taking an old, antiquated item and re-purposing it to fit in today’s modern, hyperlinked world was instantly embraced and people found that, for example, an antique apothecary table could be turned into a fashionable centrepiece (Additional information on fashionable centrepieces can be found here) that also doubles as a convenient CD organiser.
However, as with all things in today’s fast-paced world, every rise in popularity inevitably leads to a slump in demand. Today’s vintage items are more sought after if they had been updated to better suit today’s technology. The saturation in the market also led to the decline of vintage furniture resulting in the most second-hand items being labelled as vintage as opposed to being just someone’s used furniture.
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