Antique furniture is different from other antique collectibles, and furniture happens to be the most feasible and favorite choice.
No one gather the similar kind of piece frequently.
You may have a particular fondness to definite style or wood.
It means that you only purchase and gather tables, chairs, chests, or cabinets and load up your house with the specific wood or style.
If you happen to own or collect antique furniture, you need to know the principles such as the construction, joint method, various styles, and painting technique.
Therefore, you can decide if specific item is "old" antique (genuine) or "new" antique (altered).
When you are well informed about the principles, you can go confidently to many antique furniture auctions or merchants.
If you look over the product like table or chest, don't be hesitant to pull out drawers or any parts in order to look at the areas that weren't visible.
Don't be afraid to get dirty, or you'll never understand.
In the beginning of manufacturing, furniture was made from solid wood with advancement in cabinet making procedures; furniture adornment by using veneers (thin sheets of wood) was evolved.
By this way, it provided an affordable technique of generating decorative effects and made inexpensive woods stare similar to expensive hard woods.
Some of the woods applied in antique furniture are mahogany, oak, beech, ebony, cherry, walnut, elm, pine, satinwood, chestnut.
However, you should know the important principles when you specify the authenticity, age, quality, worth and price of antique furniture:

• Construction

During 18th and 19th centuries, antique furniture is constructed from several different types of wood.
Typically it consist two types, more expensive wood and less one.
More expensive wood was used on the surfaces that were exposed.

• Joint Method

Antique furniture will have joints that are strengthened with woodworking techniques like splints, dowel, hand carved dovetails, or mortise and tendon.

• Condition

Do not disregard pieces with spots or blemishes as the wood has not been harmed.
A good restorer can release surface spots.
Antique Furniture in it authentic perfect condition is worth the highest price.

• Color and Patina

Patina is the shine of the wood after years of amassing of wax polish and dirt.
A rich soft color is also a significant feature of antique furniture.

• Alteration

Revealing alteration include plugged holes, large pieces lessened in size, repositioned handles, freshly cut surfaces.
Altered furniture is always less advantageous than the genuine piece.
Now that you know what to look for, the question is where to look for antique furniture? After that, where can you hunt antique furniture? Besides dealers or auctions, you can use newspaper to look over if anybody's dealing in antique furniture.
By this way, you might even come across an excellent bargain.
In addition, you can find many sites on the internet that trade in antique furniture and get satisfactory bargains on antique furniture.