With most antique curio, the less damage and wear, the better. If you have, for example, an antique silver necklace without tarnish which looks as new as the day it was made, it will be worth a whole lot more than one which is old looking and dingy. With antique wood furniture, however, the appearance of age is one of the things that makes it attractive. Don't get me wrong – if you can keep your old wood furniture in good shape, it will fetch a better price. Even so, the appearance of age – the way it swells, darkens, and mellows wood – is a sought-after feature of antique wood furniture. Most antique furniture fans will tell you that they look for a certain luster and smoothness that only old wood offers.
This look is so popular, in fact, that many people use old wood to make new furniture and furnishings. Reclaimed wood furniture made out of old timbers from barns is a hot item nowadays, and people are even starting to make use of old beams in their ceilings and old boards in their floors. Antique wood is especially pretty when it is used in flooring. It has a deep, rich shine, and a smooth texture from years of use.
This is pretty funny to me, because I used to love to use old wood for craft projects when I was a kid. We lived way out in the country, and there was always a good supply of antique wood to be had if you were willing to look for it. I suppose we made some antique wood furniture of our own, cutting up an old crumbling farmhouse to make chairs for our secret lair. We did not think of them as antique wood chairs. It was simply the cheapest and easiest way for us to build things. After all, none of us had the money to go into town and buy new wood, much less new chairs!
I have never much cared for antique wood furniture in my adult life, because it reminds me too much of my childhood. I loved my childhood, but it is hard for me to justify spending a lot of money to buy things that I could make for free when I was little. Now that I have the money, I am going to spend it on modern, manufactured furniture. I'll leave the nostalgia for people who grew up with modern conveniences.
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