SPARE a thought for the next poor wardrobe, cabinet or chest of drawers you see gathering dust in a dark corner of the antiques warehouse, unloved and unwanted.

Victorian furniture, once the staple stock of the auction house, is today valued at just a fraction of the price it commanded five years ago.

Out goes the brown stuff - branded ''frumpy, lumpy'' and out of favour - and with it the dependable income of thousands of antique dealers throughout the country.

Some blame it on the ''Ikea factor'', or the resourceful use of plywood demonstrated by Linda Barker, television's most famous interior design expert.

However, the market in ''brown furniture'', from Queen Victoria's reign to the second world war, is showing signs of terminal decline.

A typical nineteenth-century chest of drawers priced from (pounds) 1200 to (pounds) 1400 five years ago is said to have fallen by about a third in value. Wardrobes, cabinets, fold-over and dining tables as well as chairs from the same period have also plummeted in price.

According to the Antique Collector's Club index, prices overall fell by 3% in 2002 and a further 2% last year.

Auctioneers cite changes in taste, rather than loss of interest or purchase power, when attempting to pinpoint the reason behind the decline.

While Sotheby's and Christies confirm that collectables at the top end of the market are still selling well, the middle range of Victoriana - once relied upon to furnish UK households - is proving harder than ever to shift.

Second-hand furniture dealers are being forced to modify their stock in order to weather the downturn, while many others are struggling to stay afloat.

''Business is sticky just now,'' said one expert at Sotheby's. ''A nicely veneered, bulky linen press doesn't seem to cut quite as much ice as it used to.''

Trevor Kyle, director of evaluation at Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull, agreed.

''A Georgian mahogany bureau which could have fetched from (pounds) 1000 to (pounds) 2000 a year ago, you are now picking up for (pounds) 500 to (pounds) 600,'' he said.

''The main reason for that is that bureaus are hopeless places for computers. Ironically, modern technology is dictating the value of antiques.''

Experts also blame the ''Ikea factor''. The Scandinavian chain appears to have seduced modern households with its cheap, flat-pack convenience.

Flagging interest among core American buyers has also caused the market to stagnate.

Neil Froggatt, director of applied arts at Bonhams auctioneers, explained: ''The market in frumpy, lumpy furniture is difficult. Wardrobes are now almost impossible to sell.

''As people are going for the flat-pack modern look, the routine weekly, or monthly art and antiques sales are finding it harder and harder to sell what we call 'brown furniture'.

''It is an awful shame really, because you can't go wrong with a Victorian chest of drawers which has been around for 150 years and will be around for another 150,'' he added.

In Yorkhill Quay, home to many of Glasgow's second-hand furniture stores and antique dealers, at least one business has quit its premises in recent weeks because it could not afford rent for shared warehouse space.

Jim Donegan, partner of Flying Dutchman Antiques, based at the quay, said his company is weathering the tough market climate by sourcing more unusual stock from Europe.

He said: ''I don't understand how some dealers are still in business. It is not the business it used to be. Only 5-10% of our stock is Victorian. Even then we tend to sell china rather than large furniture. Nobody wants it any more.

''The middle classes are going for simplicity. What they want is a Scandinavian style, simple lines. They don't want fussy furniture with carved wood, or Queen Anne legs. The demand just isn't there.''

Boredom with Victoriana has triggered tastes for retro chic, with modern design from the 50s to the 70s.

Gavin Strang, valuer for Lyon & Turnbull, said: ''It is a really polarised market at the moment. Those items are either too big, too brown and not making half as much as they used to. But, on the flipside, it means that some things are making huge amounts of money, and breaking records.''

However, fashion - even in the highbrow world of antiques - is a fickle thing, Mr Kyle said: ''The Ikea trend will run its course, and brown furniture could come back. Now might be the time to buy it up.''

declining values

Nineteenth and early twentieth century furniture:

One year ago

Standard Victorian chest

of drawers

Then: (pounds) 400-(pounds) 600

Now: (pounds) 200-(pounds) 300

A set of six Victorian, balloon-back dining chairs

Then: (pounds) 400

Now: (pounds) 200

A 1920s oak bureau bookcase, made by Glasgow manufacturers

Wylie & Lochhead

Then: (pounds) 250-(pounds) 300

Now: (pounds) 150

Georgian mahogany bureau

Then: (pounds) 1000-(pounds) 2000

Now: (pounds) 500-(pounds) 600

Five years ago

Victorian wardrobe with carved and mirrored panels

Then: (pounds) 300-(pounds) 400

Now: (pounds) 100-(pounds) 150

Linen-lined Victorian wardrobe with veneer finish, full-length mirror with hand-bevelled glass

Then: (pounds) 1200

Now: (pounds) 700-(pounds) 800

Early Victorian dark mahogany sideboards

Then: (pounds) 1000

Now: (pounds) 500-(pounds) 600

Edwardian oak bureau with leather interior and auto-matic runners

Then: (pounds) 380-(pounds) 400

Now: (pounds) 200