Tamara Harbar
Going Green
Shopping for antiques never gets old.
When my mom wanted to buy us an anniversary gift, my husband and I opted for a 100-year-old elm sideboard. That unique antique now stores linens and displays mementoes.
These days, environmental issues make antique and vintage shopping a fun way to reduce waste and indulge in “retail therapy” at the same time.
I enjoy the guilt-free buying that comes with antiquing. Antiquing keeps usable, and often high-quality, items out of the landfills. It also helps reduce the greenhouse gases and air pollution produced by coal-burning plants that power manufacturing factories.
Buying old stuff slows resource depletion, too. Fewer materials and resources are involved in selling and buying an older item than in making and transporting new goods.
We’ve all had enough disappointments with fresh-off-the-assembly-line products to know “new” isn’t necessarily better. Before planned obsolescence came along post-WWII, goods were made to last. That’s just what many of them have done, having been built with sturdier materials and better craftsmanship.
Older wood furniture, like our elm sideboard, was crafted when slow-growth woods with denser and stronger grains were still around. With alternatives like this, parting with particle-board has never been so easy.
Antique or vintage items are often worth repairing or refinishing, if necessary, as long as that won’t destroy the piece’s heritage value. If, like me, you’re buying for pleasure and not to invest, refinished and restored antiques and lightly-used vintage items are also out there.
Thanks to prices often in line with or even better than prices for comparable new items, we’re now treasuring a new-to-us entertainment unit: a well-loved maple sideboard with drawers perfect for storing DVDs. It fits into our home like an old friend.
Creative uses for antiques/vintage items
• Think outside the item’s original use. Traditional dressers or sideboards could become entertainment units or provide office storage.
• Yesteryear’s washstands make distinctive occasional or side tables.
• Vintage tea towels could be used as gift wrap – or tea towels.
• Lace tablecloths or curtains look beautiful in homes with traditional baseboards, and door and window trims.
• Vintage clothing can be a source for costumes, as well as party wear for weddings and other special events.
• Antique books, art, framed samplers or sepia-toned photographs can supply the finishing touches for a themed room.
• Decorate bathrooms and laundry rooms with china shaving mugs, soap paraphernalia or washboards for instant charm.
• Accessorize sports-themed rec rooms, sewing rooms, etc., with appropriate olden days conversation pieces.
Savvy shopping
• Vintage: at least 20 years old. Antiques: 50-100 years old.
• Measure what you want to store in furniture pieces before shopping.
• Take a measuring tape and pen and paper for notes.
• Accept that antique and vintage items have been used before. Flaws are part of an item’s unique story and can add character and authenticity.
• That said, before buying, check for damage (cracks, tears, stains, broken parts, etc.) you may not be able to repair or live with.
• Painted furniture may contain lead; take appropriate precautions sealing it, and if/when sanding and refinishing it.
• Antiques can’t substitute for products with up-to-date safety standards (baby cribs, etc.)
Antique and vintage stores are easy to find in the Stratford area or near-by Shakespeare. See what’s in store.
