If you're furnishing a house your choice is dictated to some extent by the the age and type of the house and the decor. Most people with an older property like to keep things fairly traditional and the interior is then in keeping with the architectural style. If you have a fine Victorian or Edwardian property then you may well decide to hunt down some suitable pieces of antique furniture because chipboard sideboards and flimsy bookcases just don't really sit right, although you can often get away with plain painted bookcases or window seats.
Antiques don't come cheap of course because of the limited supply, but by searching online, say at a website like Antiques UK you can often find good pieces at reasonable prices and this is far more rewarding than tramping round auctions only to find it's all mediocre stuff or worse still you get outbid on just the walnut table and chairs you had set your heart on.
Browsing online is a much more relaxing way of finding some excellent antiques and usually you only need a few really good pieces to take centre stage in your room and provide the authentic ambience you seek. The workmanship and painstaking decoration is very evident in many large pieces of antique furniture and cannot fail to be appreciated, whether it's a table, writing desk, cabinet, or perhaps even a piano. An authentic antique is a solid investment both in financial terms and also in giving your interior presence, in a way that much cheap contemporaray furniture can never do. (more...)

