Picking antique furniture for your living room
Your living room is a vital part of your home - with the opportunity of introducing a new look or style if you feel like you need a change.
Antique furniture can bring an instant sense of grandeur to any living room. But with a variety of eras, designs and furniture types available it can initially seem overwhelming to add an antique to your home.
If you’re considering adding antique furniture to your living room but are unsure where to start, consider the following:
What furniture are you looking for?
An obvious way to know if a piece of antique furniture would add to your living room is to see if your current room is missing anything or any of your furniture needs to be replaced.
You may have noticed your current furniture is showing some wear and tear, or maybe you’re feeling that your furnishings aren’t to your taste anymore.
If you’re unsure where to start, at Westland we offer a wide variety of antiques that we think will add to any living room:
If you’ve created a new design for your living room and think one of our antiques may be the perfect fit, take a look through our antiques catalogue.
What look are you trying to present?
When integrating any new look or furniture into your home, it’s important that it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.
We’ve previously written about how to combine antiques with modern decor, so we understand that there are several factors you have to consider when you’re adding an antique piece to a more current environment such as:
- Size
- Perspective
- Colour schemes and coordination
- Use of textiles
- Positioning of lighting (or whether to install antique lighting)
Antique furniture offers a variety of looks, sizes and textures depending on the era of its design as well as its designer.
For example, the geometric simplicity of this White Marble Arched Victorian Fireplace is notably different than the ornate floral design of this Stone Rococo Fireplace mantel.
Make sure you’re keeping all of these in mind when you’re searching for the perfect piece of antique furniture for your living room.
Will your antique furniture work with your current space?
There’s nothing more deflating than buying what you think is a perfect new piece of furniture then realising it doesn’t fit in with your living space.
To make sure this doesn’t happen, make sure to carefully consider your living room before purchasing any antique furniture. This should include:
Taking photos and measurements of your current room to make sure that your antique furniture fits - both stylistically and physically. Make sure you have enough space to appreciate your antique furniture or antique fireplace.
Consider the positioning of your current furniture - Your antique furniture may be able to fit, but make sure your current furniture doesn’t suffer as a result! Make sure you’ve repositioned your furniture accordingly if you’re worried your new piece on antique furniture might monopolise the room.
Being honest with yourself - A piece of antique furniture can be quite an investment. If you don’t think you have the space for antique furniture at the moment, you may have to wait until you or your room are more ready for a change!
Check the condition of your furniture
Buying furniture is an investment - especially for such a prominent place in the house as a living room. You don’t want to buy a piece that suits your room just for it to fall apart a few months later!
Therefore it's important that you inspect any antique furniture before you buy it to make sure it’s of the highest quality - and that none of it is missing.
It's important that you check for:
- Whether you’re buying from a reputable seller - This is especially important if you’re buying your antiques online - check to see whether the seller has a chance for you to view your antique furniture (like our Willesden showroom). If that’s not possible, check their customer ratings. You can also check to see if they are a member of an organisation such as LAPADA, this way, you know they are trustworthy.
- Woodworm - This can spread to other pieces of furniture in your living room, so watch out for any small holes in your antique furniture! This has often been treated by the dealer, but do make sure you check.
- Replacement parts - There may be newer parts added to your antique as part of repairs or upkeep - a warning for anybody that wants an entirely original piece.
- Reproduction items - Make sure your antique furniture is genuine and not a knock-off! Search for any wear and tear as well as any other markings that may indicate its age.
If you want to make sure your living room furniture has a unique look and atmosphere, antique furniture may be the fit for you - as long as you take the time to properly consider and check it first.
If you are interested in any of the pieces on our website, please get in contact or visit our showroom. Alternatively, take a look around our website.