If you are looking for a new look for your home, you may be considering vintage or retro furniture. But, what is the difference between the two? In order to ensure that you get the best deals available when shopping for vintage furniture or retro furniture, it is important to understand what each one is and how to distinguish between the two.
Vintage furniture is furniture that is less than 100 years old (as opposed to antique furniture which is over 100 years old). On the other hand, “retro” refers to things associated with or revived from the past. This means that retro furniture is generally copied from vintage furniture, while not necessarily being vintage itself. Basically, in order to be considered vintage furniture an item must be from the 1980’s or earlier (but not more than 100 years old), while in order to be considered retro furniture, and item needs only look like an item from an earlier decade.
In fact, most “retro furniture” items are merely brand-new reproductions of true vintage furniture. This explains the large variations in price between seemingly similar vintage and retro furniture items. Generally speaking, items that are truly “vintage” will be more costly than items that are simply labeled “retro.”
When visiting furniture stores or galleries, one of the surest ways to ensure that you are getting a fair price on an item (other than doing your homework beforehand) is to ask the salesman or gallery owner to specify whether the piece is truly vintage furniture, or if it may be more accurately described as retro furniture. It is possible for an item to be vintage as well as retro, or retro as well as vintage, but that is not always the case, and assuming that a furniture item is both rather than either/or may cause you to spend unnecessarily on something just because you do not fully understand what you are looking at.
One of the best ways to fully understand the differences between retro furniture and vintage furniture is to check out the web sites of reputable vintage furniture or retro furniture dealers. Most of them have clear descriptions of both types of furniture, as well as links to external sites and sources that can help clear up your confusion. Or, you could simply make a trip to a local vintage or retro furniture dealer.
To view a comprehensive collection of both, you must go to www.elemental.uk.com