When shopping for furniture at a flea market, estate sale or thrift shop, use the following tips to identify valuable pieces and to get the best buy in the process:
- To get your money's worth, learn to identify different kinds of wood--such as chestnut, oak, walnut, cherry, cedar, pine, maple, etc.--by the grain, color and texture. Be on the lookout for veneers, plywood, and imitations.
- Familiarize yourself with historical details of the furniture category. For example, small worm holes in chestnut may be a sign of age rather than damage, since the pockmarked wood could have come from trees affected by an early 1900s blight.
- Examine an item for signs of true damage, and use the imperfections to get a lower price. For instance, since loose joints on a picture frame will need to be repaired before the frame can be used, a reduction on the price tag is fitting.
- To assess the age of an antique wood piece, turn it over to see how it's made. Pegs instead of glue or nails, and unevenness in turned pieces indicate that the item is hand-made and may be a genuine treasure.
- Inspect the feet of wicker items. They provide the best indication of the item's condition.
- Keep in mind that many pieces of furniture and accessories may be easily repaired or restored without investing a great amount of time or money.
- A chair or a stool shouldn't have more than one or two broken strands if it is to be used for practical purposes.
Here are some pointers for restoring your purchases easily and without added expense:
- To enhance a finished wooden piece, spray furniture polish on a rag, never directly on the surface, and wipe over the surface. Lemon oil also works well as it brings out the grain and removes dust in the process.
- Give unfinished wood a coat of wipe-on polyurethane to bring out its grain and to make it water-resistant.
- Use a stain marker to cover nicks or scratches in the finish, whether wood or wicker. Many tones, finishes, and colors are available at home improvement centers and craft stores.
- Replace broken or missing wicker strands.
- Oil wooden antiques once a year with antique oil or tung oil to keep the wood from drying out.
- Inexpensively re-cover or replace worn-out chair seats.
Resources Minwax Antique Oil Finish
The Thompson Minwax Company
Website:
www.minwax.com
The Weekend Refinisher: How to Make the Most of Your Furniture--A Step-By-Step Guide
by Bruce Johnson (ISBN: 034535866X)
Ballantine Books, 1999
Order this
title.
Random House, Inc.
Website:
www.randomhouse.com Also in this Episode
