In a society where most everything is throw away and breaks easily, there is something to be said about old furniture with "good bones". It is often less expensive to purchase an old chair and have it reupholstered than to buy a new one. Not only can it be less expensive; it keeps reuse out of the landfill. Interestingly, many of the modern furniture design companies base their designs on vintage furniture. They offer styles with a modern take, but the foundation is unmistakably vintage and the price tag attached is usually pretty high. This makes for a good argument to reclaim vintage and antique furniture and give it a contemporary edge of its own.
There are plenty of great places to source old furniture locally- antique and vintage shops, Value Village, architectural salvage stores such as, ReStore Habitat for Humanity, Facebook yard sale groups, garage sales, Kijiji, auctions, or curb side all have great promise.
Check out the fun article from the NY times about reclaiming old and unwanted items: https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/finding-beauty-in-old-things/
