Your Grandma’s Favorite Furniture is Trending Again
In an age where fast fashion has given way to fast furniture, a welcome shift is underfoot. Interior designers and discerning homeowners are shirking mass-produced items in favor of well-made antiques with classic silhouettes and a singular hue. Once the scourge of the design world with resounding cries of “too dark” or “too dated,” pre-1940s stained and unpainted wood furniture—mahogany, in particular—is having an honest-to-woodness renaissance. Folks are flocking to the soul and substance of time-honored pieces such as secretaries and highboys. (Incorporating dark wood furniture is also one of our favorite ways to help ground a colorful country house.) Still, there are a few tricks to making it feel fresh, not fussy, so peruse these ideas for embracing these stately statement-makers.
Rethink the Dresser.
To maximize space and storage, consider subbing in a mahogany dresser (American-speak for a low chest of drawers), for a standard nightstand. (In the UK, the term “dresser” refers to a kitchen cupboard where you prepare, or “dress,” food.) For bed-height compatibility, look for a piece 26- to 30-inches tall. In the pretty art-filled room above, the dresser helps break up all the playful pattern.
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Divorce the Suite.
Pining for Sunday suppers around Grandma’s hand-me-down dining table but still thinking it feels a little...gran? Swap the matching chairs for non-coordinating seating (or a banquette, even). It’ll instantly loosen up the look, giving you the soul, sans the stuffy.
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Embrace the Side Table.
While so-called “serious” brown furniture is typically associated with hire-a-mover-type behemoths, you can also infuse a room with ample character and charm using nothing more than a handsome side table in a unique shape. Some of our favorite styles to plop alongside a sofa or chair include a cricket table, a barley twist table, a gateleg table, and a Pembroke table.
Warm Up the Bathroom.
With all that chrome and tile, bathrooms can veer “cold”quickly. But add an unexpected antique as a linen closet or a vanity, and the room will feel awash with warmth.
RELATED: Our Favorite Ways to Add Old Soul to a Bathroom
Move the Sideboard to the Living Room.
Sideboards, which typically stand taller than a dining table and feature a series of shallow drawers, were historically used in dining rooms as a means of serving food and drink. But they’re equally at home in a living room, where they provide a spot for displaying objects d’art (or, okay, storing the remotes).
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Put Your Best Foot Forward.
Get a leg up on fellow antiques shoppers by knowing the names of these common foot styles.
Score a Secretary.
In the 18th century, the French secrétaire (also known as a desk with a “fall front”) gave way to the distinctly British and American secretary: a slant-front desk with a chest of drawers below and a bookcase up top. Thanks to its vertical design and narrow footprint, it's equally practical in a dining room (think bar), living room (think bookcase), and bedroom (think home office). It’s no wonder you’re one of the more coveted pieces in the antique-furniture world.
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Spot a Dovetail Joint.
Employed in furniture-making for centuries, dovetailing (flaring, wedge-like projections that interlock to hold together the sides of drawers and internal components of case goods) is a sign of quality craftsmanship.(Psst: The size of the keys—another name for those flared components—can help date a piece, as machinery introduced in the 19th century allowed for much smaller and more precise cuts.)
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