Antique shopping is always exciting and it can be one of the most rewarding things that a person finds for their home. Finding an old piece of furniture that has been lovingly maintained for years is a wonderful thing because an individual knows that a lot of love and patience went into keeping that piece of furniture healthy and it also shows a collective love for an older time. Nowadays there are techniques that capture the age of the piece but it is not a true antique. For example, women in today's society will get plastic surgery to stay young but may be really older whereas antiquing techniques today are like a 16 year old wearing low cut dresses, excessive make up and getting a fake ID: At the end of the day they are still 16 even if they look 25. Just like people being wary of young teenagers, antique shoppers should be wary of pieces of furniture that may or may not be antique. Here are a few tips to make sure that piece of furniture is really an antique, and not a fake antique.

First of all, look inside the drawers at the lining where the screws and nuts and bolts meet. If it is a true antique then these features will be the same. If the holes are different or if it has too many holes then it's likely been altered at the foundational level and now it may be more of a mix-and-match with the new pieces of wood and the antique pieces of wood. Also, the holes and knobs will leave a slight stain finish on the veneer and if you do not see that then that indicates a lack of time which lends itself to not being an antique.

Another thing to beware of is people who try to make their furniture antique. Maybe they are doing some staining or perhaps they are purposefully damaging the furniture to give it an aged look. Look for worm holes that go up and down from the surface- this is completely normal, but if you see flat-looking worm holes that are jagged and random then that indicates that a person is just damaging the furniture to make it look old.

And of course, trust the gut instinct. An individual knows that antiques should not be picture-perfect and that is appealing to the buyer. But be careful- is the entire piece of furniture used evenly? Is there wear and tear throughout the entire piece of furniture? If so, it is likely a fake. If someone is still doubtful about the quality of the furniture they can take it to an antiques dealer for their opinion.