Curtains Blinds

A home seems warm and welcoming with sun shining in, especially in the cool of winter, but that sunlight may destroy antiques. Antique furniture should be protected from the affects of ultraviolet light just as much as your skin. Blocking out direct sunlight using vertical blinds and other window coverings can protect the fragile wood and textiles of antiques. It is always wiser to prevent damage than trying to repair it.

Most people who own antiques value them for monetary as well as personal reasons. Sometimes antiques are heirlooms passed down through generations, collections of old photographs of family members now gone, or diamonds in the rough, bought for small change and painstakingly restored to reveal their true value. No matter how they were found, antiques need to be cared for. One of the enemies of old wood and fabric is sunlight, especially in summer. Sunshine has the power to deteriorate the woods and textiles, as well as pigments used in antique furniture and art.

Antique wood furnishings require particular methods of maintenance in order to preserve their lacquers and finishes. Sunlight can bleach woods and degrade the varnishes used on your walnut writing table, oak bedstead or shaker-rocking chair. Deciding on sun free positions for where you display your antique collection can help maintain their state in as close to original condition as possible.

Even on cloudy days the ultraviolet rays from the sun can harm wood antique furnishings. Owners should be aware that keeping their antiques in direct sunlight, even for short periods of the day, may cause irreparable damage. Other sources of heat, such as heating ducts and potbelly stoves should also be avoided to maintain the integrity of wood antique furnishings.

Many of the textiles used to upholster antique furnishings were dyed with pigments that were not as resistant to wear and tear as modern fabrics. Owners of antique furnishings that still have their original upholstery must protect the fabric or leather from direct sunlight. Sun damage can not only discolor upholstery but also cause permanent and irreversible damage to leather and the threads of fabrics.

Direct ultraviolet light can cause art works, paintings, old photographs and tints to fade and may even cause the paper and canvas they were executed on to disintegrate. Much like upholstery, sunlight can damage the basic structure of old paper, card and canvases. When deciding where to hang your antique works of art it is important to factor in if and where the sun falls on walls during the day. Either placing paintings and pictures out of the path of sunlight, or blocking it with curtains or blinds will keep your precious antique art pieces safe from damage.

Many enhance the look of their home by restoring or replacing antique floorboards. Sunlight can do as much damage to wood flooring as it does furniture. Wood flooring can become stained and mottled by the bleaching affects of sunlight. The only way to prevent direct sun from damaging floorboards is remember to draw the curtains or pull down the window blinds when sunlight begins entering a room.

A sunlit home is bright and friendly but direct sun can do major damage to your antique collection and restored wood flooring. It is best to prevent damage by shading direct ultraviolet light blinds vertical blinds or other window coverings rather than trying to repair it after it happens. Restoring old floorboards and a collection of antique furniture are a precious investment of time as well as money and preventing them from being damaged can help keep them in their optimum condition as well preserve them for the future.

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