Antique shopping - Guinevere Antiques

Antique Shopping – Guinevere Antiques

I look for antiques after my furniture layout and fabrics are ready. I purposefully leave some spaces for antique pieces of furniture, instead of everything being newly made.

With a lot of my furniture I sort out a lot of other issues like scale, balancing the room and making it much grander.

The Importance of Decorative Objects

My finishing touches tend to be quite decorative objects. A home is somewhere you have the good, bad and things.

Feeling Confident in Antique Shops

Antique shops can feel quite overwhelming. Ultimately a certain amount of trust has to come into it. You need to trust the dealer. Make sure that if you are really worried you go to a reputable dealer. You really need to bring in a certain amount of flair and not worrying too much.

The Benefit of Shops You Trust

I love going to junk shops and finding one piece out of 500. Shops like Guinevere are great at helping to curate a space for you.

Looking for Furniture

It is really handy to have a furniture layout with you when you go to a junk shop or antiques shop. You should have assigned certain items on your furniture layout that you want to buy as antiques.

The Order of Shopping for Antiques

When I start antiquing I tend to start in a systemic way. I tend to start with furniture, filling up the gaps in the room. Slowly I move onto other things like tapestry and objects, sculptures and things. The next layer is getting oversized pieces that will enhance the furniture they will be sitting on. Once you've sorted out the bigger pieces, it is so much easier to focus on the smaller more decorative items

Lamps

The next layer are things like lamps, essential things. For some tables I need larger lamps and for others I don't.

Looking for Wall Textiles

I am passionate about tapestries and antique textiles

Don't Give Up and Keep Looking for Objects

When it comes to objects, I like things that are very different. Different heights, widths, all sorts of sizes and materials. I always like having some candlesticks and other decorative pieces. I build each table with different heights and objects that don't necessarily go together.

Only Buy Objects That You Really Love

Take a stroll around, look around, and come back a few times. There is really no need to rush anything. Measure everything or ask them to send you an email with all the details. Do not rush anything.

Checklist for Antique Shopping

Wooden furniture

• Check the nails closely
• Examine the hardware. Look closely at drawer pulls and other hardware.

Rugs

• Turn the rug over and check how it is knotted.
• You should check for fraying.
• Have a purpose in mind.