Old Furniture

I like old furnishings. Old things have character and will since they have survived so long. If the survival of the fittest works when applied to humans I think it does for furniture as well. Most bad furniture doesn't survive long enough to be seen. But the new factory made furniture, best exemplified by that cheap particle board furniture IKEA sells in record numbers. That humans buy so much of that junk reflects the decline in life today. In past times furniture was hand made to specification and it lasted for a long time. Now IKEA junk is quickly replaced my newer IKEA junk.

I am one who likes new houses with old furnishings, sort of like the 50 year old woman who has had plastic surgery, wears great make-up and looks 30 years old. But inside she is old and not unhappy that her life is clarified more by the experiences she had that made her who she is today. My preference for new houses is practical. I prefer a house that is not in constant need of repair, the new appearance is not what drives me to want it "new". But furniture is different. What is on the outside is what is also inside.

Old furniture has character, When I touch a 200 year old wooden table I feel a difference from touching IKEA particle board. The older table has a history and story that, although secret and a mystery is still significant. To handle a table that was handled by other humans 200 years ago is to bind with them spiritually. It makes me appreciate what has come before me and made me what I am. Too, the style and design of old furniture tells something about the attitude of people of that day.

I think people like me who love the old more often than we love the new are a dying ember in culture. This is the age when statues are torn down because they represent imagined "sins" of the past. A statue of a person who behaved contrary to what we see as ethical today, but whose behavior was the norm at the time, needs to remain in place. Those two degrees give us a frame of reference and if we are smart enough, an opportunity to learn from the past.

The many pieces of Victorian furniture I have in my home has made me appreciate that era and the overall good it gave to humanity. It also made me aware of how shallow a person is who rejects the era or persons from it because it does not fit into today's throw-away. trendy, shallow, IKEA culture.
But there is one positive, at least that IKEA junk won't survive long enough for the next generation to place a value on it.