Antiques..recycling at its best

I was probably the 5th , or maybe even the 10th owner of the small white cupboard that I sold to an antique dealer this week. This piece of history, at least 70 years old, was obtained by me six years ago at a show in Kentucky and will be recycled when it is sold by its current owner at a shop in Sandwich, Illinois.

I have been purchasing recycled antique furniture since I first married back in 1985 and have enjoyed the benefits of buying and selling things for my home, knowing that what I get rid of will not be going into a landfill when I no longer need them, but to someone else who appreciates old things.

As my husband and I prepare for our move to New York, we are in the process of downsizing. With one son at college and the other moving into his teens, we realize that we are moving into a new phase in our lives. We no longer need so much space or so much stuff so we are getting rid of things. This week, as I let go of my church pew from an old Baptist church in Georgia and a blue hanging cupboard that was originally a storage piece, it felt good to know that my stuff was not going to be sitting at the curb waiting for the trash man to pick up, but to another home by way of a antique dealer.

Next time you are in the market for new furniture, consider picking up an antique instead. You will not only be buying something functional for yourself, but also something with a piece of history. Many nights as I sit at my dining room table, I think of all the family meals shared there during the hundreds of years it has been around. I wonder about the stories of the families that came before mine and those that will come after mine and think about all that this one table will see in its lifetime.