DO... UPCYCLE
There will always be “the best and the rest” in antiques, and people have found some clever (and moneymaking) ways to update and re-use the cheap and cheerful “rest”. Some pieces are never coming back into fashion, but interior designer Gavin Houghton ( gavinhoughton.co.uk) and Instagram dealer Jack Laver Brister (@tradchap) fit them with basins to make luxurious bathrooms. Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint, which creates a soft matt finish without the need for sanding or priming, has spawned a cottage industry transforming unwanted antiques. Sally White is a successful transformer who also favours Autentico Paint: she bought a set of 18thcentury-style dining chairs from an auction house in Lancashire, and painted them matt grey to give them a Gustavian look, picking out their carved wheatsheaf in gold. She has also painted a Victorian mahogany linen press bright blue where it swallows up crockery and equipment in her kitchen. sallywhitedesign.com Windsor chairs painted in enamel gloss are on trend, and expensive; reproduction Windsor chairs which go for tiny sums at auction, look good painted in deep gloss paint – bright yellow and strong dark green are fashionable colours for these. Bleached oak refectory tables sell for £900, but you can buy early 20th-century darkstained oak refectory tables for £50, bleach them and keep the pale look by sealing them with a clear matt finish. Put all measurements on your phone – spaces and width of door frames – as it saves taking out a window and hiring a fork lift later. Buy close to home – delivery charges can be eye-watering. Take your time – check eck carefully for wobble, warping, loose handles es and bad repairs. Darker er patches under the handles show they have ve been replaced. A good d dealer minds about this is – do you?
Inspect the drawers – dovetail joints on antiques will be uneven en and quite large; small, regular dovetails, or
Antique glasses at the Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair, right; an image from the Instagram account of Darren Miller Hadden (@ antiquehadden), left