Furniture
Purchasing a piece of furniture should not just be about its aesthetic and how budget-friendly it is, if secondary market prices are any indication. The world’s most expensive furniture – the Badminton Chest (which dates to 1726) – was sold at a hefty price tag of US$36.7 million at a 2004 Christie’s auction15.
Contemporary pieces by iconic furniture designers like Yves Klein and Herman Miller also command lofty prices on the resale market. One of Klein’s iconic cocktail tables, which retail for between US$20,000 and US$30,000 on average, fetched US$125,000 at a 2014 auction16.
When considering which household pieces to buy, one should also pay attention to how unique and rare they are, the materials used, the technology and methods used in the manufacturing process, who the designer-carpenters are, and the resale prices of past pieces from a particular designer or company.
That’s because the furniture resale market is experiencing a facelift. Today, buyers view furniture not only as everyday household products, but as rightful pieces of art (just like paintings and sculptures) worth collecting, maintaining, and passing down to future generations.
Having a good eye and feel of what furniture will work with subsequent generations could potentially yield great financial benefits for you in the long run. As Loïc Le Gaillard, co-founder of Carpenters Workshop Gallery, told Forbes: ‘Try not to be guided by fashions or fads; think about it as a future heirloom. How will the next generation feel about it? Will it look good in a future home?’17
