Oldroser, I unfortunately work for a 40-employee company that doesn't care about its employees' health. I live in a small town and my gp told me that many people from this company have orthopedic problems related to their work here. There was an older lady who had dislocated her shoulder one weekend. She was to have an operation the following Friday. On the Tuesday after the injury, she was back at work. I asked her why she wasn't at home, considering her pain. She said she needed the money. To make a long story short, she got a letter in the mail informing her that she was fired just prior to her surgery and when she showed up at the hospital, she found out she had no insurance. So, this company does not care about its employees and would fire me before using their worker's compensation. Also, I didn't take their medical insurance because I'm under my husband's.

Let me put it this way. I want to just sit down in a heap and bawl my head off when I think of the nightmarish amount of work it's going to take to strip the paint off the woodwork in my little ~1900 "Victorian Lite" house. :-) (I know it was originally dark-finished from chipped areas, although we cannot identify the wood yet.) Once you paint it is hard work to go back, and then subsequent coats of paint are added over the years and eventually lovely details of the moldings are all-too-often obscured with accumulations of paint. That is the situation we're in - we have "gawwwwww-juss!" :-) 10" tall baseboards in the living and dining rooms but the three-part top profile is so gooped up with paint that you can hardly see the detailing. It's pretty sad-looking. Let's not even talk about the lovely newel-post and bannister. I'd like to go back in time and slap the person (probably in the 20s or 30s) who decided to "lighten" the "outdated" interior right upside the head! LOL I must dispute BH's statement that trim in baths and kitchens was "always" painted. Not so, not so! It was not as common, true, and I will grant that it tended to be in the nicer houses rather than the typical middle-class house, but unpainted trim in "utility" areas did definitely exist. Have seen it with my own two little eyes in an almost completely unrestored Queen Anne house that had I been healthy or we had a LOT more money we would have bought. :-) Since shellac and water don't really get along well, unpainted wood in kitchens, baths, and similar utilitarian areas was more often varnished or sometimes oiled. As you say, you recently bought this house. Is this your first old house? Take some time and learn to listen to the house instead of being in a rush to do this-and-that. It will tell you what it wants and needs - these old gals can be mighty opinionated! Even with newer homes, though, many people do advise that one wait six months or so before making any major changes (except for repairs)... my experience with my previous house agrees with that advice. There is a part of me who believes that we are the custodians of these old houses as much as the owners, with a duty to respect what has gone before us and preserve these lovely places for future generations to appreciate especially as more and more old houses are being torn down. That doesn't mean we need to live with things that do not function or are unsafe but IMO we do have to realize that we may not get everything WE want if we're going to respect the house's past. (IMO if you're bound and determined to have exactly everything you want with no compromises, build! :-)) I also realize that you just bought the place but do keep in the back of your mind that old-house aficionados will generally pay more for a house with intact original woodwork. :-) We definitely would have! However, if you find that you'll be utterly miserable if you don't paint the trim, there are measures you can take to make it somewhat easier to strip that paint off in years to come, although it can never truly be returned to its original condition. ESPECIALLY if it is oak or another open-grained wood and there's any wear to the original finish. A fresh coat of shellac as a base for the paint, under the primer, is one option. I am sure that the folks over at the Old House forum will have more suggestions. If it's grain-painted pine rather than stained wood, don't even think about painting it over because it will be many times worse than the stained/shellacked/varnished to restore to something resembling the original appearance (it is impossible to restore the true original appearance). It can be done, but it is a real bear. Thus endeth the lesson. ;-) BH, I ADORE your kitchen. I wish wish wish we could afford inset-door cabinets but alas, that is a pipe dream. I would say maybe twenty years down the road, but I don't expect we'll be here in twenty years, I think we'll have moved to a single-story house. There's a charming brick bungalow down the street DH and I both have an eye on! LOL Here is a link that might be useful: GW's Old House forum

normally no...but this week has been a killer...my lips are chapped and hurting...and my thumbs both have splits...I usually lather on Lanolin grease I got thru Amazon and sleep in gloves...that clears it up in a couple of days...Hubby ordered four huge bottles of Amlactin for Christmas...he uses it and we sent a bottle to his Mother and gave the other ones to the kids...it doesn't work for me...I got a bottle subscribed a few years ago and hubster ended up using it...Now that its on Amazon he loves it! There is a lanolin grease called Lansinoh you can find at some drugstores and also back in the baby department at Walmart...its sold for nursing mothers...lather some of that on your hands and sleep in gloves...you'll be amazed at the results! I think every one of our bodies are different and you just have to keep searching till you find what works for you!!

1920’s, close to being an antique!!!!!. I am saying of no value, except to a Reaser descent and you. Anything solid with style is worth a refinish. If you search on line you probably will find a matching sideboard or hutch. See the selling prices. That should give you a more accurate answer. This sideboard has legs, which resemble the ones on your table, (and it has castors)is painted, for sale $250.00 1925 Reaser Furniture Co. Mahogany Buffet Mahogany Buffet by the Reaser Furniture Company of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Painted in seagull (light) gray and glazed, this piece has a low, shaped backboard. It features two long drawers flanked by cabinets. The drawers are equipped with bronze tone ring pulls; the backboard and middle cabinet doors are embellished with carved geometric trim and supported with balustrade legs on casters. Marked with a 03.11.25 Reaser Furniture Company label to the back. Measures 5'W x 40"H x 22"D. Pick-up at Sheffield Antique Mall - 684 W Poplar Ave, Collierville, TN 38017 (Row L, Dealer #55). Asking $250 Go for it…paint it or strip it….you won’t find a quality table, with leaves, for a few hundred dollars. And pairing with new chairs…how much fun! Four of these in the set , in 5 different color combination might work well: https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Idalia-Mid-Century-Modern-Dining-Chairs-Set-of-4-by-Christopher-Knight-Home/31294597/product.html?option=57312950