Antiques: better value than Ikea

Not many people seem to realise this, but it’s cheaper in the long run to buy a solid carved mahogany antique chest of drawers than a modern pine one from Ikea. Without having to search far, you can get a beautiful Victorian chest of drawers in excellent condition for £200 which will last you and your descendants for a hundred years or more. The equivalent from Ikea might cost a quarter of that, but will probably last for only five years. And you have to build it yourself as well.

‘Basic “brown” antique furniture is extremely good value at the moment,’ says Mark Boyce of Ross Hamilton in London, dealers in 18th- and 19th-century furniture and works of art. ‘And buying antique furniture is the greenest thing you can do if you have a guilty conscience about cutting down trees.’ For really serious investment, though, Boyce recommends buying pieces with unusual details that mark them out from the norm.