Over vacation, I was chilling on the porch of the New England inn where we were staying, and I happened upon an article about antiques collecting in a shelter magazine. Let me also say to my chagrin and sadness that I neither wrote down the name of the article or publication, nor even thought about swiping a copy. The gist of the story was that Millennials and Gen Z would become the collectors that we had hoped for in terms of breathing new life into the antiques trade. Do tell? Well, the story noted that Gen X collectors (that would be most 40-55-year-olds) were the ones who abandoned traditional antiques in favor of mid-century modern. The subsequent generations have not been wedded to that look exclusively, but rather were starting to fit out their houses in a much more eclectic way. The piece went on to describe homes where modern met formal and early portraiture could be shown with Arts and Crafts. It got me thinking both about the future of collecting and how the Gen Xers had been the ones who really tamped down the antiques market. I was born in 1965, so depending upon whose formula you use, I could be a very end boomer or a very first generation Gen X. In saying that, with feet in both camps, I do have to agree that my peers and those who were immediately younger were definitely not collectors of early items. They wanted modern design. Maybe because the 1950s and 1960s were so revered by our generation. Every year, the annual Grease themed high school dance in honor of the movie of the same name was always packed. The author of the article went on to note something that I had always felt was critical as well. The Millennial and Gen Z folks are very environmentally conscious (arguably the way that we, the Gen Xer, were supposed to be having come out of the 1970s). Thus, antiques are the perfect item for the environmentally concerned folks. It is about re-using and repurposing! It is also about, depending upon how you think about it, a carbon neutral footprint since the tree for the Empire dresser was harvested 190 years ago. So I think perhaps as the trade ponders where it is going, there is hope for a new generation of collectors. They will not necessarily decorate in a formal Colonial or Victorian style, but they will mix and match pieces in their own aesthetic. They will discover that mismatched china is cool or that a quality painting makes any room look better. And in the end, that is perhaps what will come to shape the future of the trade and where we all should be thinking about in terms of the market. Born to collect should be the motto of Peter Seiberts family. Raised in Central Pennsylvania, Seibert has been collecting and writing about antiques for more than three decades. By day, he is a museum director and has worked in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Virginia and New Mexico. In addition, he advises and consults with auction houses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly about American furniture and decorative arts. Seiberts writings include books on photography, American fraternal societies and paintings. He and his family are restoring a 1905 arts and crafts house filled with years worth of antique treasures found in shops, co-ops and at auctions.