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Apr21Beautiful furniture adds elegance and style to your home and sometimes in unexpected ways. There are numerous decorating styles to choose from but now it is acceptable to mix styles assuming it is done tastefully. Pick up any interior design magazine and you will see contemporary pieces juxtaposed with antique pieces. The most important thing when buying antique furniture is to buy the best quality you can afford and make sure it is appropriate for the overall look you are going for. Always buy from a reputable source and choose something you like that will fit in with other favorite pieces you already have. Antiques on Old Plank Road is the best source for antiques in the Chicago area and their comprehensive web site www.oldplank.com enables customers to shop from any location in the USA. Antiques on Old Plank Road has a full restoration shop on site which enables them to guarantee all their restoration work. Reproductions are a viable alternative to genuine antiques and are usually less expensive. Some reproductions are almost indistinguishable from the real thing so it is important to have something in writing stating the aproximate age of an antique. When choosing antique furniture, look for the wood type. Walnut, oak and cherry were very popular woods used to make furniture in Europe prior to the 1940s. The craftsmanship was outstanding, especially compared to today, which is why antique and vintage furniture stands up so well over the years. Wooden peg construction was often used which allows the joints to expand and contract without loosening. Antique furniture of superior quality was usually made of more exotic woods like mahogany, rosewood, satinwood etc. Antique furniture has a timeless charm and will increase in value over the years if it is taken care of, so choose carefully and use only a reputable dealer or antique store. If you are interested in buying antiques over the internet, try Antiques on Old Plank Road at wwww.oldplank.com .  If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Mar20
Vintage Italian Gilded Metal 6 Light Chandelier with Flowers Vintage Italian gilded metal chandelier with 6 lights, flower motif and original canopy. It is in excellent original condition and has been rewired for the USA by our in-house electrician. Italy Circa 1940-1950. Country of Origin Period Measurements Materials/Techniques If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Mar18“Preservation should be, if at all, reversible” - With just a little care you can safeguard antique furniture from environmental changes and careless handling. The finish on antique furniture pieces can be damaged over the years making restoration necessary so the antique can be enjoyed by future generations. Below are listed some environmental factors affecting wood such as light, humidity and insects.
It is always better to maintain the original finish of a piece of antique furniture rather than refinishing it. However, if the surface is badly damaged, it might not be aesthetically pleasing to keep the original finish. Some tips for moving antique furniture:
Below are some tips for taking care of antique furniture:
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This exemplary table is a custom creation done in our own on-site workshop to solve a designer’s dilemma. The project started with a 5′ long French draw-leaf table from the 1920’s. The table had two 19″ leaves, but would have looked diminutive in the client’s space unless the leaves were always left extended. Our solution was to use the petite table as the inspiration and chassis for a dining table on a much grander scale. The first step was to completely disassemble the original table. The five parquet panels and leaves of the petite table were saved and one additional panel was built. Great care was taken to ensure that the newly made panel did not look out of place. Our craftsman analysed the grain and figure of the original walnut and selected boards to match the eighty year old parquet. The original carved legs were saved, but the apron of the table needed to be extended significantly. The center and ends of the apron are original, for the remaining pieces the style and scalloping of the table sides were copied. Just like the original, the side pieces were painstakingly carved by hand. This was extremely time consuming, but the end result was a perfect match. Four of the carved shells on the apron are original and eight more were cast and added to the side pieces. All of the new wood was hand distressed to mirror the aged look of the rest of the piece. The entire table was stripped and sanded to prepare it for a new finish. Using a mix of numerous stains and glazes the finish was brought back to its original hue. The piece was sealed with a pre-catalysed lacquer, rubbed by hand with fine steel wool and beeswax was hand applied to the entire table. The wax adds warmth and depth to the finish and is an authentic and, most importantly, a great-looking surface for a vintage table. It is impossible for any observer to distinguish between the new and old parts of the finished table. The end result is a massive dining table that looks like it was made in the 1920’s. The designer and client are thrilled. If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Oct11Buying antique furniture has a dual appeal. Firstly, it is a pleasant experience filling one’s home with antiques and fine creations of craftsmen; secondly, it is the possibility of later financial gain because well-chosen antique furniture appreciates in value. Nothing adds more style & grace to your carefully maintained home than a fine antique, especially a carefully selected piece of antique furniture that’s both functional and beautiful. There are certain things to keep in mind when buying an antique:
Take your time looking around to decide exactly what would you would like to see in the space available. Antique French furniture made from imported woods such as mahogany, rosewood and satinwood tend to be more expensive than provincial furniture made from oak, walnut and cherry. The most important thing is to find something you like in the right size and style with a nice patina to the wood or paint. One of the most appealing things about antique furniture is the aged appearance of the material it is made from, this is something that can only be achieved by time and is impossible to reproduce. Excellent reproductions are available but tend to be less expensive due to this factor. Reproductions made from aged wood are also available, these pieces are usually of superior quality, often made using the old techniques and will endure in the same manner as quality furniture made 100+ years ago. One way to identify antique furniture is by the imperfections that have occured over time such as cracking, warping and signs of normal wear and tear. If a piece has been taken care of and kept out of the sun, all that is necessary is rubbing down with steel wool and a coat of beeswax. At the other end of the spectrum it might be necessary to rebuild a piece and completely strip the wood and refinish it. Beeswax is the preferred treatment for wood, it gives a natural lustre to the wood and can be re-applied sparingly to maintain the surface. Periodically it might be necessary to rub down the surface with steel wool and apply a tinted beeswax to treat minor blemishes. A lot of antique furniture imported from Europe has suffered from worm damage resulting in tiny holes in the wood. In 99% of cases, the worms are dead and treatment eradicates them completely. The worm holes add a certain charm to the look of the wood but can be filled quite easily. Reproductions very often have fake worm holes, scratches, scuffs, glass rings, distressed paint etc. in order to mimic the very desirable look of an antique. With the arrival of the internet, European antiques have become much more accessible to anyone living in the USA, it’s just a matter of finding what you want. Happy hunting!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Oct5French polishing is a method of wood finishing involving the application of many coats of shellac using a rubbing pad called a “fad”. Great skill is required in applying the shellac as different rubbing motions have to be employed to produce the required finish. Due to the labor-intensive nature of French polishing, its popularity waned in the 1930s when less expensive methods of finishing became available. The technique is most often used for mahogany and other expensive woods. It produces a very hard, durable finish though it is sensitive to heat; the good news is that a surface that has a French polish finish can be repaired if damaged. Shellac comes from the secretion of the female lac insect found in Assam and Thailand; the secretion is deposited on tree trunks so the insect can gain a sticky hold on the tree. The flaky secretion is harvested and dissolved in alcohol to produce a liquid form of shellac which can be applied to wood. The natural color is largely dependent on the type of tree sap consumed by the insect.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Jul19The “ceruse” finish is achieved by applying some kind of white material (eg paint or filler) to the pores of the grain where it is absorbed, leaving the non-porous areas untouched. This is why this technique works so well with oak which has open porous graining.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Jul6A “folly” is a fanciful structure put up more for aesthetics than function. The Old Plank store has an outdoor garden section that contains lots of urns, statues, statuettes, pots, vases, and the like. AND we have built an amazing folly that has to be seen to be believed. So if you can’t visit or want to save a little gas, we’ve made a small video that gives you a flavor of what is possible. We can order all the architectural elements of the folly and design it to your specifications. The material is reclaimed from old buildings in England and the elements are made from original English molds. The designs can be constructed by a local masonry artist from the drawings provided by us. Anything is possible: sheds, walls, bridges, whatever. One of these follies will make you the envy of the local garden club. Call or email us for more information and enjoy the video.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Apr12Burled wood forms naturally in nature when a tree forms bumps (or burls) on the outside of the trunk. When the wood is cut into planks, the burls create an interesting pattern in the grain and this is known as “burled wood”. Most of the burled wood we have is elm, walnut and mahogany but it can occur in other wood species too. Book-matched grain veneer is created by splitting the tree trunk down the middle, opening it like a book and shaving off the two matching sides of the wood. This is obviously a very expensive process but produces a beautiful effect and adds richness and interest to the pattern of the grain. Book-Matched Burled Walnut Chest of Drawers France, circa 1860
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Apr8Corey Amaro moved to France 20 years ago with her new French husband. Her web site has some very nice photos of old French furniture, linens and bric-a-brac that she has collected over the years. If you weren’t already yearning for the Country French look, this web site will surely make you do so. We take no responsibility for the relentless urge you will get, after seeing this web site, to throw out everything you possess and scour the web for anything and everything French, old, and irresistible. Enter at your peril: http://willows95988.typepad.com/ If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! keep looking » |
