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I have long had a love affair with antiques and have many pieces of antique items in and around my home. I have sourced them from antique stores, eBay, garage sales, Gumtree, kerbside pick-ups etc.
On one occasion I actually did some "picking" similar to "American Pickers" when I saw this cast iron table and chairs at a rural petrol station.
I love antiques because they don't end up on the tip within 5 years mainly because they are beautiful, well made and don't "date". Even if I chose to sell any of my antiques I would most likely get my money back which is something you can't say for Ikea furniture or anything made of chipboard or melamine.
Antiques are the ultimate form of recycling.
The first 5 pieces of furniture shown below are the eBay pictures when I first bought them.
Mahogany bankers bookcase (c1910)
Mahogany dining table with 6 chairs (c1900)
Oak drawer filing cabinet with sliding tambour front (c1930)
My favourite piece - what was once an ash cabinet from a haberdashery store (c1890) which would have displayed laces, gloves, etc. - the glass windows lift up and slide in above each opening. The drawers have the tiniest dove-tailing I have ever seen. I now store and display all my white Maxwell Williams crockery, serving & casserole dishes etc.
Mahogany Sideboard (c1900)
Mahogany secretaire / bookcase (c1900)
Art Deco oak kitchen cupboard (c1930)
Not sure it classifies as an "antique", but one of my favourite pieces of furniture at home is an old radiogram that we inherited from my wife's great aunt. It is immaculate, it was obviously looked after so well. It really seems like it's still brand new. It even has the original purchase receipt inside it.
