Furniture

 Now here's a piece of trivia for you. Did you know that Coldplay's bass player likes Swedish painted furniture? Well, it's actually Guy Berryman's brother who is the big fan. The brothers and a friend have set up Berryman Antiques to sell Swedish antiques.

The right antiques for the right house is something I've heard people say in the past. It's as though you have to live in a certain type of property to buy certain furniture and collectables. Now I admit that a modern house is perhaps a little difficult to furnish in an arts and crafts style or with Georgian grandeur but I was heartened by an article I saw this morning in the Daily Telegraph about a small Suffolk cottage that has been furnished and decorated in a style more befitting a country pile. You can read the article HERE and it is fascinating

My Financial Times article this week is all about desks and writing accoutrements. Called 'On the Write Lines' you can read it HERE

My Collectors Corner article in today's Daily Telegraph is all about antique beds. Take into account that we spend one third of our lives in them, and choosing a bed becomes a rather important decision. You can read it HERE

I've always said that the price that any antique or collectable realizes is not a simple matter. It can vary due to condition, age, rarity, desirability, provenance and style. If any one of these things is slightly 'off' it can fundamentally affect the value when they are sold.

This is exactly what happened with two Victorian desks that had been used at Grimsby fish market, probably since they were new. The two desks smelled so bad that if they were placed in a warm room the smell was overpowering. They sold for £10o, for the two, which was around a tenth of what they might have been expected to reach.