Fast furniture can lack quality to the point that it often gets thrown away, not fixed, when it becomes defective. The often-cheap price-point encourages this, spurring people to simply buy replacements.
While I admit to having bought fast furniture from Ikea, especially for quick storage solutions, I value finding antique pieces. There are several reasons for this.
First, despite being crafted years and years ago, many well-maintained antique pieces are ‘quality.’ Often they are solid wood and frequently even hand-carved. This is appealing because of the durable factor the antique pieces can offer as well as an artistic, unique touch.
Additionally, real wood vs. MDF is no mental tug-of-war to me: MDF can contain noxious chemicals I don’t want off-gassing in an eco-focused home.
Buying antique means choosing something that was produced long ago, not requiring energy strain in modern production.
Even though there will always be people who curate and collect antiques, I do worry what fast furniture does to furniture values as a whole. With their supply ongoing and prices low, the expectation becomes that furniture from all walks of life should be equally as accessible in terms of speed, ease, and price. . . .
It’s my hope, and surely that of others, that unique and antique furniture pieces can retain their charm and place in society and homes world-wide with the prices and reverence they deserve.
Many value antique furniture for the charm and history carried with each piece. On the other hand, fast furniture can lack quality to the point that it often gets thrown away, not fixed, when it becomes defective. The often-cheap price-point encourages this, spurring people to simply buy replacements.
Atop the above points, antique pieces nod back to history. As a society that’s always looking toward the future and embracing a go-go-go mentality, antiques can teach us valuable lessons about ways of the past. They come with stories attached to them, and those are truly irreplaceable.