Health & Fitness
Do I paint, restore or leave it as is?
In todays economy, people are calling us daily to purchase antique items that they have had in their family for years.
.....I found this really old piece of furniture that was my grandmothers in my basement. Should I paint it, refinish it or leave it the way it is?
This is a question we are asked several times at the antique shop and a reader asked me to write about. If it is truly an antique, then I would recommend you do NOT paint or refinish it. Often the value of an item is not determined by its appearance. Patina often shows the item is truly an antique. It is recommended that you clean the item (carefully using recommended items which can be found by googling "cleaning an antique).
If you do not care about the antique value, and you want the item to look good in your home, then by all means, make it look the way you want. Painting and stripping finish often decreases the value of the item. But if you plan on keeping the item, and not reselling it, then bottom line is, it is yours to do what you want with.
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I have items that are truly antiques that I have cleaned carefully and have them displayed throughout my home and my antique shop. I also have items in my home that were handed down from my great grandparents that I know I will never get rid of. I have refinished a few of them, and painted a few others. They will never leave our family, so I created a look that I wanted for those particular items.
In todays economy, people are calling us daily to purchase antique items that have had in their family for years. It is obvious people refinished the item or painted it and it has now lost a lot of value. Value cannot be placed on an item because it is old, or it was your great, great grandfathers. Once the finish has been tampered with, the overall value has changed. And try to keep in mind, what is vintage and what is antique. I will be covering that in another article soon!
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Bottom line- before you pull out that can of spray paint, or decide to refinish something- decide if you will be keeping it or passing it on to your children for the rest of your life and theirs.
Thats all for today! Have a great day folks!
Denise is owner of Olde Knitting Mill Antiques & Collectibles located at 20 E. Bridge St. in Spring City, PA.
