A wee introduction from a newbie

Hello all! My name is Nic and I'm very happy to have found a community with people who love old things as much as I do! I've lived in Edinburgh, Scotland for about a year now. I just turned 30 and I recently decided to switch career paths and start hunting down and restoring vintage and antique furniture. I'm putting together a business model that will allow me to donate 20% of all proceeds to local charities and I need help getting started since I don't know many people here yet and I'm not really sure where to start or how to find furniture.

I'm particularly fond of Mid-century Danish and Scandinavian design. I love the clean lines and soft, rounded shapes. Eventually I would like to become a skilled carpenter and design my own furniture, but I don't have any experience yet.

I look forward to my journey and getting to know some of you!

P.S. If anyone would like to give me tips on how to hunt down bargain vintage/antique furniture it would be much appreciated

 

Hi Inglewood!

Welcome to Antiquers..........

 

Welcome!

Debora

 

Greetings, Nic! Sounds like a wonderful lifeplan!

 

Welcome!

 

Hi Nic and WELCOME to ANTIQUERS!!!! Sounds like you're open to learning and have a good idea of what you want to do!!! A Great start in a new place!!! Sounds like work and fun put together, and wishing MUCH success!!! Others will pop in and maybe start to give you tips!! Keep your eyes peeled for stuff in local papers, yard sales, local estate sales, local auctions, that kind of thing.....especially if you're getting your feet wet and are learning a new trade!! Personally, I wouldn't think you'd want to buy an expensive piece that you need to 'learn' on!!! But others will be along!! Happy Hunting!!! And hang around here!!! Lots of information to be gleaned from here....this is a world-wide site!!

 

You can pick up stuff for free from Freecycle, even if it’s stuff you don’t really want there will be parts you can use, hinges, casters, springs, material or just pieces of free wood for repairs to better pieces. Or check out Gumtree where there are bargains too. There’s some tips in England that pull out saleable pieces that were to be chucked out, not sure what you have in Scotland though.

 

Thanks Bakersgma, I'm really excited about it! I think it's a great marriage between something I love to do, giving to my community and (hopefully) making enough money to live on.

 

Thank you for the warm welcome and kind wishes Aquitaine I think you're right about the learning part, probably best to start small and work up to more expensive pieces (if I can stop myself )

 

Good to know, thanks Houseful. I've never heard of Freecycle, this is great! I love their mission and it looks like it will be a good place to start practicing finish and repairs on some less desirable pieces. I'm not sure what you mean by, "There’s some tips in England that pull out saleable pieces that were to be chucked out" , could you elaborate please?

 

Some of the UK Council rubbish tips/dumps have Recycling shops attached to them (usually a portakabin) where you can buy items that the public brought in to throw out that the dump staff think are too good to throw out. There may be a different system in Scotland but it’s worth checking out.

 

Ah! I see now, I don't think Edinburgh has anything like that but I will look more into it. Thanks for the tip!

 

Lucky you, living in Edinburgh! Thrift stores also sometimes called second chance or charity shops are great places to find bargains. Church thrift sales are also known for great finds and bargains. Best wishes on your new venture.

 

Welcome to the forums! Not a reseller myself but the successful ones I know started slow and built up their knowledge before they jumped in to deep. It can be really difficult to turn a profit in antiques and collectables.

Not sure if you have any auctions over there in Scotland but here in the states they are a great way to acquire furniture. You might want to figure out how people dispose of estates too in your area and see if you can purchase some. There is unfortunately always people passing on or downsizing so there is always used goods to be had.