It has been well-documented that since the start of the pandemic there has been a mass exodus from the city to the countryside. Estate agents have reported a surge of 120 per cent more people thinking of leaving urban areas for the sticks last summer, with the trend showing no signs of abating.
For many of these new countryside dwellers, they have found themselves with a great deal more space needing to be furnished. The modern or high street furniture which they brought with them from the London flat may well not suit the new country home, and this has led to a direct increase in the number of new buyers at auction and in particular, at our monthly interiors sales. These regular auctions offer everything from carpets to tables to ceramics, often for well under the £1,000-mark.
As so many people have now upped and left for the countryside and are embracing rural life, the traditional early 18th century furniture which will give that country home the period look its crying out for, is now becoming increasingly popular. With, for example, a traditional gate-leg oak table perhaps selling for only a few hundred pounds, buyers are coming to understand the bargains which can be had at regional auction houses. Perhaps having previously viewed buying at auction as solely for the very wealthy or the trade, private buyers are now appreciating the ability to furnish their homes almost entirely for well within their budgets.
Typical country house-style antiques and furniture can be found at the monthly Cheffins interiors sales
There is a whole array of furniture needed for country living; this could be the perfect kitchen sofa which you wouldn’t mind covered in paw prints from the dog; a club fender for those cosy nights by the wood burner; a large, scrubbed farmhouse table for when friends from town come to stay or deep pile Persian rugs to keep the toes warm in draughty old houses. Boot racks, hat stands, desks for working from home, cosy armchairs and nightstands for those country homes which don’t come with an ensuite as standard have all seen new leases of life in the interiors sales in the past 18 months. Whilst pastoral pictures and traditional paintings which could look as at home in a little country cottage as in a regency pile have also all become increasingly sought-after.
Examples of the types of furniture which can be regularly found at Cheffins interiors sales and Fine Sales here in Cambridge
As more and more people are finding they can work from home or are looking to start a whole new life in the countryside, we expect these traditional pieces to see steady growth in values and would urge anyone who has recently moved or who is currently considering it, to keep an eye on our regular interiors sales.