Right Time to Invest in Antique Office Furniture?

With the UK economy the way it is this must be the best time to invest in antique furniture. Traders are all reducing prices and often taking a loss to generate  sales. Our antique office furniture is very competitively priced but we have also reduced many of our antique desks, tables and chairs over the past 6 months.

If you are considering buying an antique it is well worth a look at whats on offer now. Although some antiques are subject to the vagaries of fashion, so their value may well fluctuate over time, there will always be a demand for good quality well made antique furniture. If you are unsure about what to buy in the way of antique desks we offer you advice on choosing and buying an antique desks our website.

Quality antique office furniture is a prime example of a great investment opportunity. It not only offers you the pleasure of enjoying and using beautiful well made furniture which enhances any home or office, but it should also keep it's value and probably increase in value over time. One cannot say this of any other piece of furniture, particularly office furniture which is often poorly constructed or very utilitarian.

Another great reason to invest in antique furniture for your office is that you can benefit from additional VAT savings you can make. Buying an antique desk or writing table for your business enables you to reclaim the VAT, if you are eligible to pay this, so you are actually paying even less for your investment piece.

If you are going to invest in any antique furniture for your home or business it is advisable to ensure that the piece is genuine and well made as well as pleasing to the eye of course. We believe it is important to take your time in choosing and ask about for a full condition report with photographs if your are not able to view the piece in person.

Any antique dealer should be very happy to answer any questions you may have about their stock and give you advice if you are usure what peice is right for you. We offer advice on choosing an antique peice of furniture as well as sending customers good condition reports and plenty of good quality photographs.

Read our advice on 'Buying an antique desk' on our website for more useful advice.

Antique Desks

Gavin Burrell discusses the problem of the knee-hole height on Antique Desks.

This is a question which occasionally comes to the fore because we are taller than was generally the case when these desks were made in the 19th century. The majority of enquiries relating to this come from those who are 6 foot 5 inches tall and have had problems of this nature in the past. So those who are around 6 foot tall do not have to concern themselves unduly.

Antique William IV pedestal desk with a kneehole 24.5 inches high and 23 inches wide.

In most Antique desks from the 19th century the kneehole height is between 23" and 25" which fits most sizes since the general height of the seat of an antique desk chair of that period is 18 -19 inches. A kneehole height above 25.5” would be unusual in an antique pedestal or partners desk.

Manufacturers at the time had worked out the balance between that desk and chair so that it was suitable for most sizes and that holds up for most of us today.

We do have a solution for raising the kneehole height by a further inch so long as the desk is of the type with plinth bases. The majority of antique desks of this type have hidden castors which allow the use of castor cups. These are hand turned on a lathe from oak or mahogany. When in use they are unobtrusive and offer that extra bit of height. We have tended to keep the uplift at one inch but I see no reason why we could not make them larger at 2 inches. However the lift bellow the plinth would be considerably more than normal.

Antique Large William IV Partners desk with a kneehole height of 24.5 inches and width of 33 inches.

One needs to be careful about raising the kneehole to high as it can make the proportions of an antique desk look odd as the balance of the design is altered. This one of the reasons we do not advocate making the plinths taller. Most of us who invest in an antique desk or antique library table are looking for originality in the piece as well as a useful item of furniture so major alterations of this type are a false economy.

Our Hand-turned Wooden Castor Cups

If you are tall a larger antique desk will feel less constrained because the kneehole width will be greater and allow more movement when sitting at the desk. It would be sensible to think in terms of an antique partners desk or antique partners library table even if you plan to have one side unused against a wall. The vast majority of library tables stand on brass castors and can be raised using the castor cups.

Something to beware of!

We generally find desks with a higher kneehole of 26 inches - 27 inches are conversions made from Victorian dressing tables and as such do not have the intrinsic value of a genuine rare desk.

Examples of Antique Desk Chairs

Comments and any other solutions to this problem would be most welcome.

Welcome to Burrells Antique Desks.

We would like to offer our subscribers to opportunity to view our stock as soon as it becomes available. We know we have the best selection of large antique desks, antique writing tables, antique library tables , desk chairs and and library chairs

available anywhere at the best prices.

We are searching the whole of the UK for our antique office furniture but only buy the most desirable and serviceable models at the best prices so that we can offer our customers good quality antique furniture at reasonable prices.



Compare our stock to any other online antique office furniture dealers and we think you will agree with us that there is no competition with regard to quality and price.

Our latest addition is this absolutely fabulous antique Georgian library or writing table. It is very rare to find a good quality large Georgian writing table in such good condition these days. We know we have look and look for these and they are very hard to find.

This very good quality Georgian Writing Table is on sale from our website for £4,950. If you would like more information please contact us and we will send more information or answer your queries.

We have a number of new accquisitions all nearing completion by our restorers so check out our blog or website soon to see out latest rare and desirable peices.