Making Old, New Again

A world of creativity and modern thinking are redefining antiques!

Story & photos by Lizz Daniels

It wasn’t all that long ago that antiques were considered museum-esque relics that were to be honored in their original state. Pickers and collectors would travel near and far searching auctions and local shops for their “holy grail” pieces to either sell or put on display.

One thing that rarely happened was repurposing or reworking antiques. More often than not, even refurbishing an antique would diminish its perceived worth.

Ana Nieto is a local antique aficionado and owns Traveling Gypsy in downtown Seguin with her husband. Growing up, her mother loved antiques but enjoyed them as display pieces more than practical furniture.

“I will tell you from experience, I grew up in a house where my mother is living still,” Nieto said. “You go into her house and she’s got an antique sofa that she had redone, gorgeous –– it’s white. Two matching chairs, two beautiful lamps. It was a room that you would just look at. We don’t want that. I tell people buy something that you need, but you can use not just for one purpose. You can move it around whether it’s in the kitchen or dining room, bedroom or whatever. They look at me and they go, ‘I can do that, you’re right.’”

And it’s not just moving pieces to new rooms that have changed the culture surrounding antiques. Supply chain issue demands at major retailers and the popularity of sharing DIY projects and other content online have significantly impacted the antique world. In addition, social media influencers have taken to recreating expensive name-brand furniture from big-box retailers like Wayfair and Pottery Barn using antiques and second-hand finds. With the ability to find an instructional video just a click away, the days of putting depression-era glass on display in an oak cabinet are gone –– much like the idea of even having a cabinet dedicated to fine china.

“They’ve come a long way, the younger generation because they were scared when it said antique; they thought ‘I’m going to pay a fortune,’” Nieto said. “They come in and go, ‘wow.” So they can honestly get a bedroom set, and it doesn’t all match, but they make it work for themselves. Back in the day, when I was growing up, my parents would go buy a piece of furniture, and they’d go to the big store and the bed and the matching tables and everything. So you’d go buy it, and you’d put it exactly the way you saw it. Well, now what they’re doing –– they need a bed, and they need an end table, but you may want round, and he may want square because he doesn’t need as much room as you do, but it balances, and it looks really unique.”

In a world where artistic expression and diversity are more celebrated than ever before, it’s no surprise that antiquing as a past-time is evolving. Nieto has embraced the shift so that she can better advise modern clients as they set out on their vintage adventures.

“An artist is an artist, but he’s still got to draw that first line to know which way he’s going,” she said. “And someone that writes poems, they have to have an idea, where am I going with this? It’s not just, how do I do this. So because the younger generation is coming in and they’re going, ‘I can paint this.’ And its half the price. Plus, antiques in general is a solid piece of wood. Its like I tell people when they say, ‘I need a piece of furniture that I’m going to put in this room.’ And they’re older, they’re my age, and I go, remember we’re at the age where we need this. But don’t buy it just to buy it. It’s got to work for you. If the dresser is too small, you’re going to get a bigger one because you need it to work. You don’t need it to match. You don’t need to keep up with the Jones; you need it to work for you.”

Over at Austin Street Vintage, owner Betsy Cuvelier has witnessed the same shift away from the old-school mindset of collecting items to display. People are still interested in history, though, especially things that aren’t too common in 2022, like unusual toys, vintage film cameras, and old phones.

“I think part of it is maintaining the history, you know, passing along the history,” Cuvelier said. “Sometimes we’ll have grandparents in here with their grandchildren and there’ll be a rotary phone, and they’ll say ‘how do you think this works,’ and they’ll give them a lesson in using a rotary phone. And the child is just like –– what? There’s a lady that comes in here, and we’ve become friends. One time she brought her children in, and she said, ‘this is the story that has things for sale and I have no idea why anybody would buy any of it.”

While the terms antique and vintage have become synonymous in daily conversation, collectors know that vintage items are between 20 and one hundred years, and antiques are older than a century. Within the walls of Austin Street Vintage, antiques, and vintage collectibles litter every nook and cranny, with one-of-a-kind pieces ready to be discovered by shoppers.

“Sitting here, I do have pickers that come in and sell things,” Cuvelier said. “Sometimes, people that are just clearing out an estate or downsizing and they’ll bring things in to sell. My favorites are off-the-wall things. I’ve even had a big old hand-made covered wagon in here one time. I mean it was like 3 feet long and 2 feet high. And just it’s kind of amazing what people come in and buy. And there’s a younger generation getting into it, which I think is fabulous. I’ve ever heard it’s part of the ecological considerations. We need to start reusing instead of just buying and dumping.”

As a new generation of pickers set out looking for the perfect piece to complete their unique design, they discover that you really can make something old new again –– if you think about it from a fresh new perspective. •