Classic furniture fittings are back and your customers know it
When someone seeks to convince, when they want to set a precedent, when they aspire to turn a thought into dogma, they affirm that the idea in question is valid because it is in the collective subconscious.
And that’s it, all said and done, no discussion is possible.
Let me clarify that sometimes this is true and sometimes it is not.
On this occasion it is as true as night and day, the famous phrase loaded with content: “”the classic never disappoints””, is in the collective subconscious, almost as if it were a religion.
This is where we start from and, with this principle, things can only get better when we apply this phrase to the decorative fittings that are sweeping the trend, to the decorative fittings that return with the classic strength of always but subtly nuanced by the word that has become the “”abracadabra”” of today’s design: vintage.
Vintage, that tireless boomerang associated with beauty, quality and durability, is once again in the news.
What is it about vintage decorative hardware that keeps it coming back?
They probably never go away completely.
Boomerangs, that’s the thing about them, they move away, they leave space for fresh trends like the frisbee, but they always, always end up coming back.
And every time they come back, they come back stronger and with a multiplied transformative capacity.
That is probably what makes them really valuable pieces, their immense potential.
And your clients know it. And they seek them out.
Make it easy.
But not too easy.
The same shelves strategy may not work for everyone.
Remember that what unites them is the object, the fitting, not the way to find it.
Most of them coincide in being demanding customers who know how to appreciate the power of a decorative fitting to turn an antique piece of furniture into a vintage piece of furniture, because they have seen the process with their own eyes on other occasions, they have felt the magic and exclusive touch that gives it a plus, a must.
They know what they are talking about.
Let some of your vintage hardware be on the shelves at eye level, after all they are there because they are trendy, in demand by the public and your customers need to see them easily. But don’t neglect those special areas for the curious, the lower areas of less easy access, where you also place the heavier items to safeguard your customers from possible accidents.
This sort of treasure trove for explorers will delight the most curious who will discover vintage decorative hardware with an enthusiasm and interest that will make them loyal forever as they will assume, without remedy, that only in your shop is it possible to find what they were looking for, only in your shop will they be able to experience this sensation.
Vintage fittings have a special power of seduction, a quality that makes them different. When a piece of furniture incorporates a classic fitting, it produces a unique reaction. And when we say unique we mean that not all vintage decorative fittings and the furniture for which they have been chosen achieve the same results.
They are always unique results.
That is one of the keys to its success, the ability to customise an object.
An antique, old-fashioned or old piece of furniture, recovered and embellished with vintage decorative hardware, can end up being the most modern piece of furniture or become almost an antiquarian piece or even be the vanguard that announces the return of the boomerang once again.
The personality of a vintage decorative fitting has that attribute of the classic that makes it special. We don’t know if it is because of another of those ideas present in the collective subconscious: “”classic never goes out of fashion””; or because it reminds us of a different way of living, more distinguished, slower and even more elegant.
Be that as it may, decorative fittings offer furniture exclusive possibilities that go beyond the usual aesthetic requirements of each client. They are not just looking for a vintage decorative fitting, they are looking for the absolute integration between their furniture and that fitting, resulting in a unique piece, with its own personality and, if you like, with a soul, because vintage decorative fittings have the ability to inspire a past and that is, almost, like having a soul.
And there are no rules. You know that too, don’t you?
A classic decorative fitting that is practically out of print can become a customer’s object of desire, the missing piece that really gives your furniture that vintage patina that you are looking for and can’t find.
The moral of the story?
The vintage boomerang always comes back, take care of your stock and your designs, as far as you can. They are a safe bet. Even if you think it is not very easy to play that bet because there are not many clues about what kind of vintage decorative hardware, or what designs, are better to have in mind for the return of the classic. Trust your instinct, surely you have already received together some boomerang or another.
The materials of vintage decorative hardware are diverse and the designs are practically endless. Make sure you always keep a selection to face the first knock on the door of that return to the classic because we already know and we have seen that it will come for sure.
Accumulate experience and feed your intuition, let time bring you its wisdom and, little by little, as your professionalism becomes also a classic, you will discover the mysteries of the trips of vintage until you are able to anticipate them and even be that hand that launches the boomerang.
