16 - Friday, July 31, 1992 - North Shore News

Tips antiques to treasure

PREPARING FOR an antiquing
trip by car requires some thinking
ahead on your part. You will be
looking at hundreds of items.

By Ron Gasbarro
Contributing Writer

After a while, everything blurs

together. All armoires start to
took alike. You will forget where
you saw the Galle vase you decid-
ed later you could not live

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without. So here are some tips —
and important questions to ask
yourself — for the road.

@ Will it fit?

Bring a measuring tape and
have a list of measurements of
areas around your own home. For
example, you know you want a
Chinese rug for your entrance
hall. Therefore, you should
measure the hall’s area and keep
the numbers in a notebook in
your car.

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The measuring tape comes in
handy when you see a rug you
want in the shop. Most shopkeep-
ers do not take things back after
you have bought them — so if
you bought it and it doesn’ fit,
you may be stuck.

Large pieces of furniture are
even more important to consider.
Will that seven-foot-long mahog-
any chiffonier go up the staircase
to your second floor den? Will the
Georgian oak ltowboy look
cramped between your fireplace
and the wall?

@ Will it match?

Bring a list of colors, and even
paint swatches if you are trying to
match sets of china to your dining
room walls. If you collect some-
thing like Fiestaware, keep a list
of the colors and pieces you do
own so you don't buy something
you already have.

Bring photos of things you
own. After trekking through nine
or 10 shops, you may tend 10
forget the subtleties of your own
furniture.

If you are attempting to find
another turn-of-the-century oak
Piece to match the pieces in your
guest bedroom, snap a Polaroid
of the room and bring it along.
That way you can compare what
you own with what is on display.

@ Is ita good deal?

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atmosphere in
which to browse, no
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ANTIQUES USED in quantity can be used to create an at-
mosphere that speaks of another time. But adding just one an-
tique item to a decor will give a new focal point or add some fia-

vor.

Here’s a secret phrase you
should ask every shopkeeper:
‘*What’s the best you can do
price-wise?’’ Antique dealers ex-
pect haggling, so don't be shy
about it. In fact, you will feel
even better about your purchase.

Some shopkeepers, however,
will took right through you if you
try to get them to lower the price.
This is certainly the case in shops
that have signs that warn you not
to haggle.

But you may be surprised.
Many times the shopowner is sick
and tired of seeing a particular
Piece. You may luck out.
Wouldn’t you risk being embar-
rassed for a chance to save a few
hundred dollars?
© How will you get it home?

Whether it’s an Export gravy
boat or a tall case clock, you have
to have a plan. Before you leave
home, clean out your car to make
as much room as possible.

Then, throw in the trunk a
couple of blankets and some rope
so you can cover your purchase as

well as tie the trunk-closed.

Hardly any antique shops will
deliver your purchase to your
door, and those that do never do
it for free. That’s why in any an-
tique shop, you see a lot of pieces
marked ‘‘sold;’’ the new owners
have not figured a way to get it
home yet.

If it is too large to fit in your
car, ask the shopkeeper what he
or she would suggest. It may turn
out that you have to make a se-
cond trip with a rental truck. But
that’s the fun of antiquing.

@ If you like it, buy it.

Don’t expect a shopkeeper to
set something aside for even a day
until you make up your mind.

But this doesn’t mean you
should buy everything in sight ei-
ther. A rule of thumb: if you are
still thinking about a piece you
saw an hour later, chances are you
will not regret buying it. Because
once it’s gone from the shop, it’s
out of your hands forever.

Distributed by the Los Angeles
Times Syndicate.

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