Vintage Versus Antique in 2013

As the New Year starts--Dear Husbola and I begin to muse where our business will take us this year. One thing is sure--  People need to eat--they do not need another "sweet little painting for the powder room" so 2013 will prove to be another challenging year for selling.

I page through magazines (the ones made out of paper--how vintage!) to look for design ideas.  Do people want color--or is the belgian brown and cream still in?  Does chippy, weathered furniture excite people--or are we back to "the browns"?  Color--what color?  Retro color or harvest gold or avocado?  Or true red?  Pink like Grandma's 1960s lipstick?  Greens--are greens back?

The trends are what the particular magazine say they are.  Country Living says one thing--Veranda says another.  My British design magazines say yet another.  Southern Living yet another.  I have learned that for as many magazines as there are--the trends number the same.  What are women in their 20s looking at?  Or women in their 40's?  Are buyers really that trendy?

I don't think so.  It is expensive to paint a room or buy furniture.  We learned many years ago to keep the bones of our house neutral and then give change and pop in your rooms with accessories.  We are fortunate that the antiques business keeps us out and about all the time-we can constantly swap one thing and one thing then can go for sale.  It has kept our house fresh all these years.  Cluttered--but fresh.

One thing is for sure.  I don't think the shoppers under age 40 in our midwest market are looking for "antique" any longer.  Further,  the collectible widgets of 20 years ago are dead.  People want fairly priced items that they will live with "for awhile".  Not investment pieces.  They buy what they like--and whether it is a fine antique is not so important. 

As a dealer-I could make myself crazy figuring out what people want in 2013.  Our plan?  To continue to buy interesting items that "pop" at us.  And hopefully they will pop at one of our buyers.  So--buy what you like--don't follow the elusive "trends" and enjoy your finds.