There was an advertorial in a homes magazine recently that remembered the dramatic starkness of the modern furniture revolution in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Unlike today where you can wander around an out of town emporium geared entirely to supply the family with exactly the right style and type of sofa or oak furniture range, back then the trends were coming thick and fast.  The old heavy brown furniture was definitely not the required choice for many affluent young couple.   Those eye popping bright orange vinyl three seater settees with chrome legs and no comfy plump cushion were very much the ‘rage’ in the late 1960s.  Our neighbours, a youn, very up & coming aspirational couple, were very into this most stark modernism.  It was a ill selected phase early in their marriage.  But, give them their due, they did embrase the modern ideas, and suffered the dicomfort of having a shiny black vinyl settee that was in fact, rock hard with no ‘give’ and that was far too low for comfort, and also got damaged easily – they both smoked;  that was another popular fad of the era.  This was all years before the scandinavian revolution that brought in cheap man made products that were brilliantly manufactured to look just like wood.  One really popular range of book cases spread out to encompass side tables and all manner of extras.  The rubber wood came in pale birch colour, or darker beech – they are not a patch on oak and never pretended to be.  That quaity of a solid oak sideboard and matching dining set cannot be surpassed, by anything, anywhere!

It is always a joy to walk into someone’s house and smell wooden furniture. My own dining room has never lost the wonderful aroma of my light oak sideboard which sits behind the equally light oak dining set.  I used to have a scandinavian rubberwood set of even larger dimensions than my much loved current set but although it was impressively proportioned and easy to extend to seat 12, there was not the satisfaction of seeing the deep glow, or the warmth of oak.

When choosing furniture you must take into account budget and who’s going to use it.  Care must be given to wooden furniture to ensure it doesn’t sit too near any source of heat, a radiator or open fire or wood burning stove would dry it out so much if not treated with a good beeswax polish product – this feeds the wood and moisturises it.  I recall the oak ffurnishings in a church I used to have connections with.  The ‘new pews’ are of old oak and have been in exactly those positions since 1642 when they were provided to replace the originals that were damaged.  These pews were never quite big enough for the crowds from yesteryear and so one additional seat was added at the aisle end of each pew, with very crude fixings and then later, wire was added to hold them in more securely.  You should see the look on faces of visitors who are invited to take a seat on one!  They are very very old but so much loved by the same families, but many generations later.

It is in this grim and very middling weather that minds tend to turn towards the comfort of a nicely furnished and decorated home that we can come home to each evening.  It is amazing just how much the phrase ‘as safe as houses’ can mean when things are truly grotty outside.  If we don’t take care of ourselves and pocessions, then everything goes to rack and ruin.  Take our furniture and effects at home, if we just buy the cheapest stuff that supermarkets and out of town emporiums stock, we are not investing in very wise buys.  TBecause of their cheapness, they are considered easily replaceable.  The local tidy tips are absolutely stacked out with broken chairs, table and cabinets that have been cast aside.  Heavy handling by the family and no respect for the beauty of anything is apparently the major cause.  The throw away today, buy new tomorrow trend worries many folk.

I feel absolutely sure that in the days when famiies had to rely on ‘hand me downs’ in both clothes and furniture/household effects, then we did have greater affection and respect for our surroundings.  Real, solid oak furniture is really worth hanging on to. The beauty of a light oak sideboard – it will glow in daylight.  The warmth of oak is one of the most endearing features and it will outlast so much more than man made.    Having a matching set of sideboard, table and chairs etc. has really enhanced my home.  I just love it.