Nothing more environmental friendly than Antique!

Eco houses, zero emission cars, restaurants that serve food from within a 30km radius, even aeroplanes flying on biofuel. Everything is aimed at reducing our carbon footprint. But all these solar panels on your roof, vegan diets and electric cars won’t compensate for a house filled with Ikea furniture. What will? The answer is….Antiques. Antiques have been eco-friendly long before going green was cool. 

Decorating your home with antique 

Buying antiques is the most environmentally friendly way to decorate your home. Admittedly, the environmental impact is not the first thing that comes to mind when you buy a new cabinet or desk. Design, price and comfort are. As should longevity be. Antiques tick all those boxes too. Made by hand from solid wood from nearby forests in stead of factory-processed hardwood from tropical plantations.

Both antique and vintage furniture provide a positive effect on the environment. “Never throw out what you can reuse” is an expression that most definitely applies to antique furniture. Often hundreds of years old, antiques don’t take up landfill space nor do they produce toxic fumes from recycling. Restoring or buying antique furniture saves trees and most of today’s materials used to restore them are as ecologically friendly as the furniture itself. We’re talking nails and screws versus synthetic glue that hold the wood together. “Nothing is so dangerous as being too modern. One is apt to grow old-fashioned quite suddenly”, noted Oscar Wilde in his An Ideal Husband.

              ^{Dutch Louis Seize cabinet (left) and Qajar lacquered doors (right)}

IKEA or ANTIQUE?

So when everything turns old-fashioned at some point, do you keep buying new modern furniture or do you invest in unique pieces that have been cool for centuries? This elegant Dutch Louis Seize library cabinet offered by Theo Daatselaar Fine Arts & Antiques is practically a steal! Likely moved from home to home as it was passed down the familytree ever since it was made around 1790. Try doing that with your Pax Brevik!Nothing You think a house full of antiques is reserved for old age pensioners? Think again. Your hipster loft offers little privacy and do you really want your guests to look at your unmade bed? I thought so. A late 17th-century Japanese six-fold lacquered screen (main image) from Kollenburg Antiquairs will solve your privacy problem. It also tells a much better story than a plastic printed screen from your average highstreet warehouse. The mingling of Japanese and Chinese notions, styles and implementation of workmanship on this screen is remarkable. The wood panelling, the mosquito net, the nori-urushi, the red occre, the pigments and most of the gold are Japanese and beat any contemporary screen hands-down!

This logic also applies when you’d like to create an ensuite in your new house. You could visit the local building market for a multiplex door. Or you could go for these extraordinary Qajar lacquer doors from Foumani Persian Gallery. The Qajar Dynasty ruled over Iran from 1796 – 1925 and unmistakenly left their mark on the arts and not just the art created in the region. The same cannot be said from Hornbach or Gamma. Antiques add warmth to your home and their stories create a feel of authenticity.

^{Flemish highbacked chairs. The S-volute shaped legs are decorated with carved vines and flowers. The knob on the lower part of the chairs is decorated with a wreath. The legs are connected with bent brackets that in the middle are decorated with rosette and flower motives} 

Though often wrongly perceived as uncomfortable, antique chairs often have an Arbo-proof ergonomic design. Take these six Flemish highbacked chairs for example. Newly uplostered using silk these chairs offer much more comfort than most contemporary counterparts. The same goes for this Ceylonese settee (for sale at Guus Röell)

You wanna talk ‘cool’? Invite your friends for a game of poker and Cuban sigars at this early 18th-century Cuban mahogany card table offered by Driessen Antiquair. While you’re at it, serve them whiskey in Rummer glasses. OK, that might be a bit much…

^{18th century Chippendale cuban mahogany card table}

Discussion on how best to save our planet will likely continue forever. So time to start acting; make your mark on the earth, help protect endangered woods and species, and do all this while decorating your house in a way suitable for any lifestyle magazine. Antiques are eco-friendly, stylish and affordable. They have been here for centuries and are here to stay for far longer than you and I will.

For more curated antique, art and jewels also have a look at Gallerease!