The popular collections of antiques typically include fully functional furniture made from specific periods of time. Because it didn’t rely on mass production and power tools, antique furniture is often more durable and of greater value than most of the stuff made today. In order to collect antique furniture, you need to know a bit about the age and condition, the number of serviceable pieces in existence, and be able to distinguish the identifying aspects of the piece.

The appearance and condition of antique furniture are actually more important than age in assessing the value of a piece. For instance, a table that’s over 200 years old might have suffered irreparable water damage. Or it may be missing a leg or two that cannot be restored, turning that old hunk of wood into firewood. However, there are some basic construction tips that can help people determine the quality of the piece as well as the period in which it was made.

Apart from condition and age, a good piece of antique furniture needs to be usable. This means that if there is an antique chair meeting the requirements in all aspects, a person should still be able to sit on it without fear of it breaking. The way in which the pieces are fastened together is often a clue as to the age of the furniture, because metal fasteners such as nails were seldom used.

Restoring Antique Furniture is an Art

A majority of antique furniture pieces need repair of some type or another, and not just anyone has the ability to restore them to mint condition. The amount of wood that has to be replaced will affect the quality and the value. When choosing a pice of antique furniture, a serious collector won’t look at anything containing replacement wood that exceeds 25 percent.

Antique furniture was commonly used woods such as walnut, pine, oak, rosewood and mahogany. It’s value as an antique will be impacted by the kind of wood it was made from. The same kind of wood as the original must be used when undertaking restoration of antique furniture. It’s not that easy to find someone who is able to make a replica of a table leg using the same type of wood and duplicating the look of the grain.

These days, antique furniture replicas are churned out by factories; they’re made from laminates that copy the grain and pattern of the commonly used woods in antique furniture. But the contrast between the original craftsmanship and the factory produced products of today is very obvious.