Why buy antiques

Many people have started an antique business because they enjoy restoring antique pieces and selling them to people.

Some people enjoy collecting their items that center around their favorite game or comic book. For example, a 10 year old boy could be a collector of comic books and can have comic books from all over the world. Some people experience a certain level of excitement when searching for a certain antique. Many collectors enjoy visiting stores or antique shops all over the country.

Many people see antique collecting as a hobby and enjoy doing this in their free time. Many people like to see what type of antiques is offered in different stores or countries. Antique items were made to last. They were made from solid materials often close to nature, like timber, metal and textiles by individual artists and craftsmen, which gives them a soul.

Hand cut timber, with forged nails and woven fabrics have such a different vitality than modern factory produced items with volatile compounds that have a period of off gassing. Many of these skills are now lost and may never be able to be reproduced. Unfortunately, the skills and techniques that were passed down from generation to generation are being forgotten.

A Daylesford cottage decorated in a French provincial style. The sitting room furniture includes a s gilt rattan chair. Photo: Lisa Cohen. I love my antique dining table. I may change the chairs over the years to suit changes in trends but I always intend to keep my table, it has so many reminders of the parties I have had at it.

It is older than the arrival of the first fleet to Australia and has travelled and hosted many a meal, some boisterous and some more intimate. It has seen diners in afros and bellbottoms but also hoop skirts, corsets and powdered wigs. I would say it knows more about style than your average fashionista, as it has seen the trends come and go. Timeless antiques add character to a shabby chic home in Mount Tamborine.

Photo: Jared Fowler, Kara Rosenlund. Antique items will not lose their value the same way a modern item loses its value as soon as you take it out of the store, unwrap the plastic and take off the tags. Maybe a memory of something we played with and loved as a child or enjoyed looking at when we visited Gran.

These memories spur the choices and impulse buys that come from the illogical, emotional side of us. Mostly we suppress our passions and view our antique purchases clinically, with cold reason and an eye on economics and worth. But if you try occasionally to buy antiques that appeal to the inner child in you, that happy emotional free spirit you were before money became a factor.

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