To spend £1,500 on a piece of furniture?

[raqp]

Have seen a beautiful antique wardrobe for £1,500 at a local place. Has paperwork that shows it sold for over £10,000 in the late 1990s.

Would we be unreasonable to spend this much on one piece of furniture? It would be about 20% of our monthly pay!

I’d want bloody Narnia in it for that price!

If you love it and can afford it then buy it. About 10 years ago I bought a reconditioned French chandelier for a similar price and it brings me joy every day.

The reduction in value from £10k to £1.5k is very easy to believe because 'brown' antiques fell out of fashion. I paid £6k for a 1790s Sheraton sideboard in the 90s that I could not persuade anyone to purchase today- it's not currently worth the cost of transporting it to an auction house. Fewer people want 'big house' pieces so they are cheaper than they were. If you love this wardrobe and have space for it, and it's worth £1,500 to you , you should buy it. But if it's being sold by an antique dealer I'd be surprised if you couldn't argue the price down. They will have bought it at auction and paid almost nothing, tidied it up and applied a hefty mark-up. They'll expect to be asked their best price. Maybe offer £950 and take it from there... good luck and enjoy it!

20% of my monthly pay in wardrobes is IKEA 🤣

I went back this afternoon and it had sold 😣

Ach that's such a shame. Glad you went back though. Ask the dealer to keep you in mind if something like that comes up.

We were also told that it wasn't worth transporting my mum's furniture to an auction house, and yet funnily enough if you try and buy a really nice piece of brown furniture it costs a bomb. (Admittedly my mum's wasn't that nice).

@raqp I’ve been away so just popped back to see what happened. How disappointing but now you might find yourself actively looking for something similar which you might not have done otherwise (experience speaking!)

That's a shame it's gone. Have a look on Vinterior to see if you can find a similar one.

FWIW I agree with everyone that £1500 is very good value for a wardrobe. You get much better value buying vintage and antiques than buying new. I spent double than that on my vintage leather sofa which I adore and I earn less than you. Money spent on a piece of furniture you love is never wasted.

Sorry to hear that @raqp , how disappointing. But use this as a nudge to look at similar pieces- I'm sure you'll find something else to love.
Vinterior is really expensive- have a look at local auctions and buy at trade prices!

I usually look, walk away & think about it. If I can’t stop thinking about it I go back a few times & look, before I buy. Should it be gone, then it was never meant to be.

Large brown furniture has dropped in price enormously since the 1990s as others have said, but I think we're pretty much at the bottom of the market now. Sadly, most modern houses are not spacious enough to accommodate them.

I still share your disappointment; I was hoping to read that you'd bought it.

Vinterior is really expensive- have a look at local auctions and buy at trade prices!

There's all prices on there but it has an excellent search engine to help you find what you like, just search by price range to cut out the £££ stuff. And the sellers can often be found on other sites where you can negotiate prices.

Nice humblebrag. Obviously it’s up to you if you want to buy or not.

I've spent more than this on furniture. You earn lots of money, I don't see what the problem is.

That’s absolutely fine as long as you’re not one of those people earning over 6k pm who will then tell us that it’s not enough to live on and you feel skint. 🙄

There was no need to mention your income ; you can get old stuff for free on olio if that’s what you’re into? or visit a museum 🤣I call stealth boast 🙄
YABU

Buy it. It will last a lifetime. Think how many wardrobes you’d buy from ikea in the same time frame.

I have spent a lot more on furniture when I used to be well off. It is an investment and as others have said, brings joy every day.

😂 humble brag because it’s not a flat packed wardrobe from ikea? Ok.

Of course it’s not unreasonable, if you love it and you have the money buy it.

Oh I'm sorry, OP. Keep looking around until you find something else you like.

Do you even know what a humblebrag is? I’m imagining not. The OP was just clearly looking to let everyone know how much thy earn despite it being largely irrelevant to the issue in hand.

But surely disposable income is relevant for any purchases.
Im not sure how one can brag when it’s an anonymous forum?

Have you measured it. Assuming you live in a house who is going to carry it up the stairs? Does it have wood worm. What is the depth? I have a victorian wardrobe and have to use small wilko haingers because it's to small for regular ones now. It doesn't matter what it sold for 30 yrs ago that's irrelevant to its current worth.

If you will smile every day using it then yes. Not in same league but bought a Kwooker tap and it brightens my (sad little) life on daily basis.