When you think of “antique furniture” and it just sounds like something old and dusty, think again! Growing up, most of us thought of antique furniture as something that belonged to our grandmother, and was probably brown and creaky. But nowadays, we are using antiques to add sparkle and dimension to many of our projects, no matter what the design style. The careful placement of a special antique piece in a room adds dimension and interest, because it is nothing like any other piece in the room. If you are doing a sleek modern style in your home, think of adding a piece of Americana to a space, such as an old 3-legged wooden stool to hold magazines, or an old work bench repurposed as a console table.
If your home is a Santa Barbara or Mediterranean style, you might find a really special piece in a beautiful finish that is almost impossible to find in 21st Century furniture lines and feature it in a prominent place.
Speaking of antiques, we would like to share a source with you that has been a great partner of ours for many of our projects in the past few years. Relics is owned by Tim Harris and Todd Zillweger, and is located at 835 E. Camelback in Central Phoenix. They travel to France, Spain, Belgium and Italy at least twice a year and have developed priceless relationships with locals in those countries, and have a knack for finding really special and affordable European antique pieces, from Louis Philippe mirrors to old iron gates. They recently brought in some amazingly unusual iron gates, which had been salvaged from a cemetery in France which was being moved.