Merchants of Fine Antique Furniture
Less concerned with the quirky, kooky and oddball which has become the mainstay of so many dealers nowadays, we focus mainly on timeless established styles, quality traditional staples and the kind of beautiful, practical pieces people want in their homes.
We’re proud to have one of the largest independently held collections of antique furniture online in the UK and we strive to combine this with a truly seamless online buying experience.
The Founder
A second generation antiques dealer, Steve has been lucky enough to have been around the trade his whole life. Growing up in his father’s auction house and antique shop in the West Midlands, attending most of the big international fairs, he’s been buying and selling since he was a young lad.
A chance graduate scheme after university led on to a role as Commercial Director of a 150 person strong company, while gaining some rather handy ecommerce expertise along the way. Capitalising on this experience Steve saw an opportunity to get back into the antiques game serving an emerging new generation of online furniture buyers.
Personally handpicking every piece, with his eye for quality developed over a lifetime collecting, trading and watching fads come and go, Steve sources pieces from right across the UK, most often with his trusty little white doggo Arthur in tow.
Steve is more buoyant than ever about the future of the industry, with more people than ever discovering the joy of living with fine antique furniture while being able to access it via ever more convenient and efficient channels.
Trad is Back
But it never really went away.
We deal in a mix of styles and periods, from the 17th century to the mid 20th century, but the main reason people come to us and keep coming back is our vast collection of traditional English period furniture. It’s our biggest passion, our first love and it's been our most constant focus over the years.
True quality in this trade is most abundantly and easily found in good traditional pieces. Beautiful, immensely practical classics. Pieces which have often lasted many lifetimes and will last many more to come.
We keep items as original as possible, but wherever needed our furniture is restored professionally and sympathetically back to its original former glory using only traditional methods.
We maintain an inventory of around 250 pieces of furniture online, so whether it's furnishing an entire period property or just adding splashes of period character to a more eclectic interior, “we got you” so to speak.
Buying Antique Furniture Online
Founders was built from the ground up as an online business. We sell a good deal to interior designers, prop buyers and the trade, but our biggest customer base by far and therefore our biggest focus is private individual clients buying for their own home.
We work hard to ensure pieces are “ready for the home”, that the purchasing experience is easy and the delivery hassle-free. Simple goals but not always givens in this industry.
We’re able to offer great value by not having to cover the overheads of swanky showrooms and we include delivery to the majority of the UK in all prices so you know that the amount you see is the total you’ll pay.
Operating solely online, we price our pieces as keenly as possible from the outset rather than building in room for reductions. We offer one price for all, with no separate trade prices or special discounts. All stock is our own, stored in our own two warehouses and is ready to be dispatched once ordered.
Some buyers take pleasure in browsing antique shops and fairs for months on end looking for the specific thing they’re after, and nothing against that of course, it can be a lot of fun! But a growing number of people want the ease and convenience of typing in what they’re after online, purchasing from a reputable dealer and then having the thing turn up at their door.
For many years now customers have been putting their trust in us to deliver pieces which match their expectations and our 200+ 5 star reviews are testament to this.
Why?
The environments we create for ourselves to live in have a meaningful impact on our lives. We have the power to shape our world by surrounding ourselves with inspiring, beautiful, well made things. Things from a bygone era when quality, design and aesthetics mattered and meant something.
Nowadays most people surround themselves with poorly made, mass produced furniture made from subpar materials, when often for a similar price they could enjoy beautifully crafted, expertly designed antique furniture made from natural and durable materials. Pieces which will age gracefully and probably last for hundreds of years to come, all while maintaining value.
New furniture is now largely viewed as disposable, which is a terrible idea and was never the case in the past. So we like to remember that every piece of antique and vintage furniture we sell means less demand for the natural resources needed to produce new crappy furniture destined for the tip after a few years of use. That’s got to be a good thing right?
Classics
There’s always people creating and consuming “new” stuff. But whether it’s books, music, films or furniture, we generally prefer classics.
Classics have stood the test of time. They’re already verified and proven. They’re still here, they haven’t been forgotten about and that's most often for very good reason.
Rather than trying to produce something new and adding to all the problems associated with doing so, we like to focus on what already exists, what is still here and what will be here for generations to come, the classics.
Talk to Us
If you want to discuss a piece you’re interested in, if you need any help with an existing order or if you’d like to pop along to view a specific item, just pick up the phone or drop us an email anytime.
New stock is added to the website often daily so keep checking back and enjoy perusing our ever evolving collection.
“Highfalutin’ traditional antique furniture without the fuss.”