We all have furniture and household accessories that deserve the heave-ho immediately. Sorry, but pretty much everything you dragged along from your first apartment or college dorm won’t stand the test of time.
However, certain furniture pieces are worth keeping because they will look great in your house forever. Really! According to Drew Henry, founder of Design Dudes, some pieces will never go out of style. In fact, you should keep an eye on these furnishings when shopping at antique stores and flea markets. Even your parents’ basement may be a treasure trove of furniture that gets better with age.
But how can you spot a genuine, timeless gem in a sea of mass-produced, trashy furnishings? To help you on your quest, we’ve rounded up 9 furniture items that will never look dated and will stand the test of time.
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1. Mid-century Sideboard
The mid-century sideboard — often produced in teak — is definitely one of the most popular examples of Danish design. With its origins preceding WWII, this piece was representative of a new desire for elegant, comfortable, affordable, and often futuristic mass-produced furniture.
People started to lose interest in mid-century furniture during the 70s and 80s, as designers explored revolutionary expressions in their furniture (especially with the rise of plastic), but it has now seen a comeback in the past decade.
The elegance and simplicity of the mid-century sideboard, its textural qualities, as well as its suitability for use in isolation, all indicate that, even if interest in this furniture item does start to decrease, its adaptability to various home design trends is here to stay.
2. Chesterfield Sofa
Sinking into a Chesterfield sofa is an indescribable but delicious sensation. According to home design experts, leather upholstery is classic and won’t go out of style. Here’s what Justin Riordan from Spade and Archer Design Agency told us: “You get yourself a couch like this for the same reasons you buy a vintage car — respect and nostalgia.”
Tufting details, along with turned legs and clean, simple profile lines, offer both feminine and masculine elements, making them useful in various interior design styles. According to Smitha Ramchandani, owner and president of SR Real Estate Group, this piece of furniture also ages well because the tufting keeps the material neat and structured.
Interesting fact: the low height of the seat is said to have made it easier for men to sit upright without increasing their clothes.
3. The Western Futon
The traditional Japanese Futon is different from what you can see nowadays in most furniture stores. Since Western cultures aren’t accustomed to sleeping close to the floor, the classic, mobile Futon mattress of Japan was adapted to create a new style of bed mattress and frame.
Thanks to the malleability of its design, this low-to-the-ground bed can suit different interior designs. Furniture designers continue to incorporate various materials and styles in the construction of such beds, and people are still buying them for their houses. So as long as people continue to enjoy sleeping horizontally, the Wester futon will still be popular.
4. Trestle Dining Table
Trestle tables were extremely popular in the Middle Ages, and guess what? They are still popular today! Most people choose a trestle-style dining table because it’s easy to store and transport and easy to take apart and assemble.
Unlike its mid-century or glass counterparts, this type of table has a timeless quality thanks to its malleability within various design styles. You may have noticed that a common feature of these timeless furniture pieces is that they are made of timber.
According to experts, timber furniture is grounded and also connected to the natural world in a tangible and visible way. As a result, trestle dining tables suit many types of interior design and maintain their popularity through various trends.
5. Freestanding Bath
Is there anything more eye-catching in a bathroom than a lovely freestanding bath? These aren’t only perfect for when you want a relaxing, hot soak, but they are also a timeless design element. And yes, different designs, such as freestanding baths with feet, can suit any bathroom.
This type of bath is very popular, with people buying them all the time to give their bathrooms a more luxurious feel. According to experts, lots of people want to feel as though their house is just a little bit more lavish than someone else’s. Having this type of bath that’s used in high-end hotels and spas definitely helps with this.
Keep in mind that while freestanding baths are lovely, they are not the best choice for families with children who enjoy splashing around.
6. The Wall-Mounted Desks
As a lot of people are complaining about the shortage of available space in their houses, interior designers have come up with ways to incorporate stylish space-saving techniques. Given the fact that more of us are working from home than ever before, a new trend has emerged, and it’s here to stay.
Wall-mounted desks are very practical nowadays, and we expect them to continue well into the future in the home. They can be incorporated in many different ways to boost the architectural flow of your house, maximizing its space. A wall-mounted desk is modern and stylish, not to mention that it’s a budget-friendly solution.
7. A Laddered Bookshelf
Many people believed the future of traditional books was nigh after ebooks came into the picture. This quickly proved to be wrong, with book sales actually increasing. This means that the bookshelf is here to stay. A big part of owning a home is creating a feeling of peace and solitude, which is why so many people love collecting books and displaying them in their houses.
And while bookshelf ladders may be rare and usually associated with big mansions boasting vast libraries, as long as people still love having them, they will be timeless furniture pieces. Their peculiar popularity in contemporary interior design stems from the fact that they evoke the past. When used in modern design, a laddered bookshelf act as an echo or anchor of this past, contextualizing the space.
8. Fainting Couch
A fainting couch looks so sophisticated, romantic, and elegant and is a complement to any room. While it has some similarities with a chaise lounge — many people confuse them — these are two different furniture pieces.
The fainting couch is another blast from the past, yet it’s more diverse than a simple adder. It can come in a wide range of sizes, styles, and shapes. Contemporary fainting couch designs may leave behind some of the undulations characteristic of traditional designs, but this doesn’t mean that traditional fainting couches can’t be used anymore.
Whether in isolation or with other furniture types and traditional ornaments in contemporary interiors, a fainting couch is definitely a timeless touch of style.
9. Hat Stand
Is a house really a house if it doesn’t have a hat and coat stand? Hat stands were extremely popular during Victorian times when the entryway of the home showed off the owners’ wealth. A larger entryway with more space and items indicated a wealthier family.
Most stands come in a tree-like shape, which grounds their design in the natural world. This provides them with a sense of continuity and therefore creates a timeless furniture piece. As long as people still wear coats, hats, and scarves, expect to keep seeing hat stands in people’s houses.
You may also want to read Boring Dining Table? Not With These 10 Awesome Makeover Hacks!
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