What Is Your Preference When Shopping For Antiques - An Organised Setup Or A Chaotic Mess?

Monday has come around again and that means it's time for another Source Vintage blog post...!

So, this week, I put a question out on social media, asking, "When searching for antiques, what do you prefer? An organised easy to see setup or the thrill of digging through absolute chaos?" And the response really surprised me.

Personally, I think it really depends on my mood. Some days I like to take a calm, casual, approach. So an organised easy to see layout is nice. But most days I like to get stuck in and get my hands dirty! Reap the rewards of digging deep and finding something that nobody else has seen!

I was so surprised by the response, that I have dedicated this week's blog post to it. So, as always, get that kettle on and let's find out how you lot like to shop for your antiques...!

So, it was the photo above which sparked the debate. This is a room at the Red House Antiques Centre in York and it's filled to the brim with antiques. Such is the varied reaction from customers when they see the room, the staff at the Centre have nicknamed it the "Marmite Room", because, you guessed it, people either love it or they hate it!

Personally, I love it and I've bought many an item from it. I find it ever so rewarding to dig through absolute carnage to find something really special. Okay, I agree, it's not quite so thrilling if you don't find anything after all that hard work, but I think that's just the thrill of the chase.  

I suppose you could compare searching for antiques in a messy room to the dating scene. Stay with me here...

You can go on many dates, put time and effort into finding a connection in that pool of potential loves and the majority of time you won't find what you're looking for.  And then one day you find the love of your life. Everything clicks into place and you want to be with that person forever! And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the feeling of satisfaction and reward I'm talking about when it comes to digging through piles of antiques....

Can you marry antiques...? **scratches head while in deep thought**

To be honest with you, I suppose, just like dating, you have to be in the right frame of mind. I agree that sometimes it is just quicker, easier and a lot less work to peruse an organised setup. A setup where you have designated areas for specific items. So you can get in and out quickly. But surely, the reward of finding an absolute gem buried deep within a pile of oddities outweighs this...? Well, it certainly does for me. 

To my surprise, though, a whopping 80% of you opted for shopping in an organised setup. I bet you're the same people who opt to find your dates on 'Tinder'...! You don't want to put in the hard yards, you just want to get in and out, with no fuss! I know your game!

But, seriously... I really did think the result would be closer. Or am I the only one surprised here? Is searching through absolute chaos a more old skool approach...? Are times changing...? Do we have less time these days? Or have we just less patience? Has the internet changed what we want when we shop for antiques? Some people have said that searching too hard leads to frustration and inevitably to ill-judged buys...

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, I am genuinely interested.

So, let's try and look at the Pros and Cons of these shopping preferences. Let's start with the "Organised" approach:

PROS

-  Easy to see

-  Quicker

-  Calmer

-  Less demanding

-  More accessible

CONS

-  More competitive

-  Higher prices?

And now let's compare the "Chaotic" approach:

PROS

-  More Rewarding

-  Lower prices?

-  Less competitive

CONS

-  Less accessible

-  Difficult to see

-  Time consuming

-  Tiring

-  More demanding

I suppose the moral of this story is, if you have more money, less time and less patience, the "Organised" approach is the best way to go. But if you have all the time in the world, love a bargain, like the thrill of finding buried treasure and think your beer tastes better after a hard days dig, then you'd best dive straight in at the deep end of the "Chaotic" approach!

Please, this was just for fun. No scientific research has been conducted and there is no "Right" or "Wrong" way to search for antiques. Just like dating, do what feels right for you, but most importantly, have fun doing it... but for flips sake, do it safely!

Well, that's it for this week folks! I hope you've enjoyed this weeks post. Apologies for the awful dating analogies and, please, I meant no offence to those who choose 'Tinder' as a dating tool...  **wink wink**

Remember, if you enjoyed my blog, give me a follow on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, to get a heads up on all future posts! You can find the links to my socials at the bottom of this page.

So, until next week, stay safe, keep buying those antiques and keep spreading that Source Vintage love!

Cheerio!

Stephen

Owner Source Vintage

Shop from Source Vintage here