@lindac, thank you!! Yes, once upon a time our family was large enough to take up that table and more. ;) I know that's one reason my mom wants to keep and restore it. I will look for someone to create leaves with an apron. I never have it without at least one leaf in it anyway. And, I am hoping to use it fully extended in our next home.

The two 'master' chairs are indeed from a different set. (But I LOVE them. They are sooooo sturdy and comfortable - everyone wants to sit in them! and they have great character) I also think they're made of mahogany, not walnut like the other chairs. But the cane back chairs have carving on the legs that is identical to the feet of the sideboards. All upholstery has been replaced multiple times from looking at the underside of the chairs - I also suspect the caning is not original, but it is doubled and is very heavy grade caning. Sideboards have carved mouldings identical to the mouldings around the edge of the table. *shrugs* Even if the chairs are from a later time, they match well with it. Don't suppose anyone has any ideas on the actual age and origin of the larger pieces? I've looked all over the internet, and I've had one person from Europe suggest they're from the 1930's, 40's, or 50's and made in America, which I have to disagree with. American pieces made during the great depression era aren't large, they aren't heavy, and typically don't have the nice veneer work on them. People simply couldn't afford that sort of furniture at that time. I have several pieces from that era, they're pretty common in this part of the U.S. 1940's ushered in WWII; the ability to manufacture pretty furniture was eclipsed by building airplanes and war machines. 1950's pieces don't tend to have the thick cuts of wood for a carcass - the table top alone is just over an inch thick, same for the tops of the sideboards. They also didn't typically use mortise and tenon construction for things like mouldings around the edges of furniture. I have yet to see any American furniture from any of those decades that have wooden knobs. They usually have brass or brass plated pulls. European pieces tend to have brass hinges; the sideboards I have do have brass hinges, whereas American furniture has iron or steel. I guess I'm just going through process of elimination now. LOL The style is so eclectic, yet not as awkward and top-heavy as Victorian pieces, that I'm led to believe it might be late (very late) Edwardian - which would put it being made in the mid to late 1900's, possibly even early 20's. One other clue to its possible age: It has a servants bell underneath at the area that would be occupied by someone sitting immediately to the left of the head of the table. It was an electric buzzer type thing, with a shred of the original sheathing left around what remains of the cord and it is a woven fabric. Actual copper of the cord looks dangerously thin - as in not up to modern electric standards. The buzzer appeared to be made of Bakelite, but also appears to be added later as I removed it and the wood beneath is lighter, but not by much. It is held on with flat head screws. It came with three leaves, and it will expand just enough for the three of them. The wood has shrunk so they don't fit tightly against one another, you can see right through to the floor in some places, but the moulding still meets at the edges. It has dowels/pegs on the underside of the frame to 'stop' the table at the correct length. I haven't measured it with all three of the leaves yet, but I do know I'll have to have a table cloth that's 70x120, if not larger. Also! The leaves do not have a metal tab system to lock them into place! Or the dowel and tabs like you see on modern pieces! It has carved wooden, half circle 'tongues' which are about a quarter inch thick. They insert into companion slots carved into the next leaf. They must be inserted in order or they don't fit together at all. Each leaf is marked for order of insertion with a scratched roman numeral: I, II, and III. I believe the veneer to be of walnut, as does the antiques dealer/appraiser friend of ours that looked it over this last weekend. He has been in the business for 30 years, and he's never seen anything like them himself. All he could do is confirm they're quality pieces and were a good investment. :-) I have not inspected the underside of the stretcher as it is just too heavy to flip onto its side.

I think it depends on what you intend to put on the shelf. If it's dishes you're going to need a hefty bracket system (and the shelf will be heavy itself, right: walnut?) Ikea's LACK shelves use a neat hidden bracket but they can't hold very heavy stuff like books. It's basically a wall plate with rods that stick out perpendicular to the wall and slip into holes in the shelf. Cool. Here are some other ideas: This guy set steel rods into the studs (no need to remove drywall or anything) and into the back of the shelves. He says they hold 150# I love how he wrapped the shelves around into the window frame area! http://www.ikeafans.com/forums/project-blogs/3659-its-finished-my-new-ikea-kitchen-pictures.html And here's more discussion on the same basic technique.. http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Floating_Bookshelves_Without_Brackets.html Love to see pics of how this turns out!!!

I can tell you ALMOST for sure without seeing any more of those chairs that they are cheap repros and not worth nearly 1700 USD ..Sorry I have translate pounds to dollars before I can relate. A similar pair should cost maybe $350....a real antique pair might cost around $4000 to $5000. These chairs are too heavy, with overblown decoration even for Louis XV, appear to be painted with "glossy gold" and the fabric looks to be a printed pattern imitating needlepoint. My advice is don't buy them....and further advice, as you say you are new to "aged furniture" do some home work before you venture to buy something from a picture.....unless of course you are a dealer trying to drum up business on this site. The mirror looks to have a better chance of being a real antique, but the chair reflected in the image in another cheap repro. If it is from the same dealer I would be wary of that too.....and at nearly $1000 for a not too big and not terribly old mirror, again I would leave it there for another sucker to buy