To me my first thought when I saw it I thought it would look great in a den or family room with books and decorative pieces more so than in a dining room but it could work for both spaces. Nice piece, what was the price with 80% off?

Nice piece!! I think you can use it anywhere you want, but I am pretty flexible about the use of furniture. I think with books on the shelves, it will suggest more of a desk feel and that would be appropriate for lots of rooms.
Diane

I think it is a beautiful piece and can be used almost anywhere. If you don't want it in the DR, you could use it in either the LR or the kitchen.
Good Luck!

I have that set up (not nearly as nice)in my studio and it is filled with pictures, knick knacks and keepsakes. When we lived in a smaller apartment, the pieces were used separately in two different rooms. There are a LOT of options with this set. And it is beautiful!

Very nice but looks huge. Do you have room?

Thanks for the quick replies and votes of confidence. I am usually not an impulse buyer and hope that I got a decent deal.
Roseabby- the original price was 10,900 but with the discount (which included storage for up to 5 months and delivery/set-up) it was $2100.
What do you think? Did I do o.k?

Office/kitchen sound interesting but I am leaning toward the idea of using it in the LR- I think it would be perfect as an accent piece to display pictures/books etc. The wall is over 15 feet long & the ceilings are 9 feet. The buffet is just under 7 feet wide & 7 1/2 feet tall so I think it would eat up some space and be a good focal point.

If anyone has pictures of a similar piece set up like this, I would love to see them.

Thanks again.

What a beautiful hutch! It could go just about anywhere you need storage. I have a hutch in my kitchen that used to be in my dining room in my previous home. You can never have enough storage!

kitchen- dishes and linens
dining room- serving platters, silverware
den- books,cds,electronics
guestroom- accessories,photos, pretty blankets on the bottom
Good luck with the hubby!

ajsmama- we were posting at the same time. I have plenty of room in either space- the living room is 15''6 x19"4 and the DR is 17"6x19"4. That is actually one of the things that prompted me to buy it. These 2 rooms are huge (at least to me) so I am looking for ways to "cozy" up the spaces with unique pieces and personal touches.
I have LR furniture already that I plan to use again but the room is much bigger than my old house so I feel like it could be a little lost. I think this piece will complement it.

You did well, that is a beautiful piece for that price!

Whew! I was feeling a little nervous since I didn't do any research/comparison shopping.

That news and a few St. Patrick's Day cocktails tonight should make it easier to tell my husband :) He will probably be thrilled but at least I usually show things to him before I buy. Can't think of too many times that he has really disagreed with my choices but $2000 is a lot of money to spend even if it is a good deal.

Thanks again.

I just saw this on my CL this week and loved it, but have no place for it. I thought if it when I saw your beautiful one. The overall configuration is similar.

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: On Maine CL

Cool piece my3 dogs!

The buffet picture was a big hit with my husband & the friends we celebrated St. Patty's Day with too!

For those who mentioned it as a piece for an office, that was where my husband thought it might work best too.
It is only 18" wide though with no space for a chair so I am not sure if it would be deep enough as a computer credenza??

Any opinions and pictures are appreciated. Thanks!

I agree it could work anywhere. Even in a bathroom with rolled towels and toiletries displayed. Sounds like it will be a great fit for your living room....glad you got such a good deal on it.

It's a beautiful piece. My cynical side wants to know If the store is going out of business, where it will be stored and who will deliver it when the time comes. Do you have that all in writing, along with pictures? They will have your $$$ AND the furniture......

I have a perfect place in my kitchen for that gorgeous piece.

lol- catnap- if you are in nj, they really had some cool pieces if you want to pick out one of your own :)

Good point wantoretire- I paid with my amex, took some pictures of the piece and have already contacted the storage company that we will be picking up the piece. It is separate from the store and located about 10 minutes from where I live.
I am thinking of getting a price from him for storing a pottery barn bedroom set for my son. It is on sale now so I want to buy it but they will not hold it so maybe this option will work.

I intend to bring my husband to the store on Saturday to see the buffet- they are also doing a final auction on art work and rugs. There are 10-35 thousand dollar rugs that are on sale for 80% off too and all of them will be auctioned this weekend. I am hoping to find something for our family room.

I actually have a question about what rug size to look for- the room is 18x24 so I am thinking I need to go with a 12x15 but kind of want to separate the space into a tv area and walk-thru/sitting area. I wonder is 2 rugs would be better to define the spaces?

Maybe I should start a new post?

Ten grand for that piece is obsurd. For ten grand you could buy the real McCoy and have an investment. These upscale furniture stores kill me, when you take it out of the store it is nothing but used furniture.

You have to be a savvy shopper, it should of started at two grand and then of been marked down.

But, at least you didn't pay the original price you waited until it went on sale, which is still steep.

Personally, I like the one my3dogs saw on craigs list for $700. better.

I hope I don't come across as a downer since you already bought it. But if you like it then that's what counts.

You could use it really anywhere in the house. I like to see unusual pieces go in unfamiliar territory. I have a chest of drawers that I use in my kitchen as a buffet. It is new so I wouldn't pay a lot for it. I talked her down to five hundred bucks and that was at my favorite antique shop, ironically.

......Jane

{{!gwi}}

Bummer newdawn- that is exactly what I was hoping NOT to hear but can't say that I am surprised! No research/ comparison shopping on my part probably cost me some money. I would never have paid $10,000 but at least I really like the buffet!
It did look like good quality so I hope I didn't get screwed too bad :(!

Thanks for your opinion and the picture of your kitchen. I love it. In my house growing up, we used an old dresser for dish storage in our DR and I always loved the way it looked.

I purchased mine, it "is" smaller, new, discontinued & store going out of business. It's solid cherry, no veneers, by Bernhardt. $369. The bakers rack was an additional $120(didn't like it so we made one for about that price).

As long as you like it, you didn't pay too much. Just ignore that others got it for less. :0) I like it!

There's a reason the store is going out of business, and shoddy business practices comes to mind. There is no way that piece is worth $10,000. I'm betting they jacked up the price to $10,000 so with the supposed "discount" they could sell it for the original price. Even furniture stores that aren't going out of business do this all the time when they have (phony) sales. Furniture stores drive me crazy.

That being said, it is a GORGEOUS pice of furniture and I'm sure you could use it in many different rooms.

I have to agree with ND that that piece is not worth $10,000. But you say you love it and it is worth $2,000 to you.

Do the shelves come out? If you are trying to find a use for it then maybe it can be used as a console for a flat screen TV by removing a couple shelves.

Crescent I have been around quite a while, and have payed my dues. You know what I mean, dealers and furniture people could see me coming a mile away. I am not talking about you crescent.

I didn't say your piece wasn't nice, it is. And I would love to see pics of where you put it when you get your room finished.

Please don't take me wrong Crescent your piece is perfect. Please don't stop loving it because of my comment. You probably have way more money than I do, so there.

....Jane

where in nj did you go crescent?? and how much of a selection was left? i might check them out if they're close enough to me(eastern pa)...even accessories are great to find during furniture store closings!
and, without knowing the brand of furniture it's really hard to know whether you got a great deal or not! a hooker piece for that would be a huge rip-off obviously, but if it's henkel harris, you got a great deal! if it was a reputable store, i'm sure you got a good deal...

I'd be putting that piece in my kitchen

Is your house built yet? If not, I was going to tell you that our old living room was 12 x 20, and if I had the hutch in there, then it would be very crowded. Your living room and my old one is very close in size. It seems like a large room, but it's really not.

Plus, as you go along you'll find really cute accent furniture, along with chairs, etc, so you want to make sure you have space in the LR for your new acquisitions.

Since your DR is larger than the LR, I'd definitely put it in there.

BTW, I'd almost kill to have that hutch! I have no room in my DR for one, but when we redid our kitchen I had one built in, and I just love it. I collect a lot of kitchen stuff, and I have fun re-arranging when the mood strikes.

Jane- no offense taken and I do still love the buffet. I tend to agree with many of you and realize that the price was marked up in order to make the "discount" seem like a better deal.
With that said, I am still looking forward to enjoying it and am playing around with lots of ideas on how best to use it. I love the idea of putting it in the kitchen but don't have the space since we designed a beverage center using cabinetry. So far, iI am leaning toward using it in the living room.
My current living room furniture will be lost in the new LR and I could really see the buffet filling up the space on the 16 foot wall. I plan to float the furniture and I think that decorating the buffet with pictures/book and knickknacks will really look great. The ceiling are 9 feet too and I have no other tall furniture so I am hoping it will look nice.

Keep the comments and pictures coming- I love the ideas & since I am very new to this, the constructive criticism is helpful too.

The picture below is an inspiration for how I could see using it in a living room. The room is open to the DR similar to how the one in the picture is & the size is comparable.

busybee- the name of the store is Quint Essentials and they are located right off of Rte. 78 (exit 33) in Basking Ridge. Selection was somewhat limited but there are tons of great rugs and an auction going on this weekend.

I think 10K was too high, but 2K was a good price. Do you know who the manufacturer is? There is not way to tell from a picture on the computer how well made a piece is (for the most part, unless it is falling apart) or how good the material it is made out of is (heavy? lightweight? solid wood?). It looks like a solid piece to me.

The shelves do not look very deep - how deep are they? fwiw, I like your piece better than the CL hutch posted. It is overly ornate for my taste (no offense to anyone who likes it) and would not be a good fit for my home, where yours would. A nice antique piece similar in looks and of very nice quality that size in my area would be at least 15K. I've seen them up to 30K.

Newdawn, that is a nice chest. Is it old or new made to look old? I've seen similar pieces at stores here. $500 is about average regular price for them. I have a pine piece downstair in our den (one long drawer with double doors underneath - flat screen is sitting on top). It was around $500. (Afraid to go to Photobucket to retrieve picture. Lately, every time I do that, I loose my post!)

That's the thing you learn after long years of experience about sales... it's not about how much it's discounted, but how much it now costs and whether it's worth that to you. I think for new furniture the price you paid is not bad, and it is sometimes nice to have new, not used! But I'd do some quick studying up about rugs before you go bidding on their stock of those.

You wondered whether it would be good as a desk and I think it wouldn't because of the cross bars on the ground, those would preclude putting a chair under it. But FWIW, regarding narrow desks, I have a desk that I spaced out from the wall (with just a 4-inch shelf with and apron attached to the wall and two legs) prior to putting a hutch on top of it. Was hard to get the level just right, but the desk is much more useful this way.

Oh, and Allison, when I want to go to photobucket while posting, I just do it in a new window, so I don't lose my post. Or, I cut and paste what I've posted into a draft email for the duration.

KarinL

I agree with Allision. In fact, I was thinking it looks a bit like the one she has in her kitchen--so may want to check out how she has decorated it before you decide.

And, Allision, I was having a similar problem with my posts disappearing. It was because I had a virus on my PC and Internet kept crashing. You may want to check for that if you've not already. Before I got rid of it, though, I got in the happen of composing my posts in Word and doing a cut and paste as it's just so annoying to loose a post and I rarely feel like retyping it.

Oh, and Allison, when I want to go to photobucket while posting, I just do it in a new window, so I don't lose my post. Or, I cut and paste what I've posted into a draft email for the duration.

That's what I do, KarinL. But the past 2 days, no matter if I'm here or at DD2's house and I have two windows open (here and Photobucket), they close up on me! Very frustrating!

Valinsv, I'm on a Mac both places, and 2 different computers too. Only has done it here.

I think the hutch would work in several places - den, DR, kitchen, larger foyer, hallway. Hope you'll post pictures when it get it home!

Allison that is a new piece made to look old. I bought it at your favorite antique shop Hannah's.

....Jane

This Welch cabinet was at auction a few weeks ago and I thought it was so good looking. But I didn't go, darn it. After looking at the picture it doesn't look old to me.
What do ya'll think?

{{!gwi}}

I like it...enjoy it....bask in the thrill that you have a new piece that you picked out for your new home because YOU liked it! It appears to be a versatile piece..you will know where it belongs when you move in. I think it would even make a nice piece for a library/study type room, if the shelves are deep enough for books.

Just a friendly word of advice - do some research on the rugs that will be auctioned. I recently stopped by a mid-priced furniture store in Lexington that was going out of business. It was an older, well established store that I had been in many times. They had always carried rugs - again, average price - not top of the line orientals. Seems like I remember $1500-$2000 rugs.

Well, they had a huge section of the half-liquidated store full of oriental rugs, marked up to $6-7,000 dollars - selling them at the "close-out" price of 60-70% off.

Enjoy your new piece.

Tuesday

Tuesday

I have to agree with Tuesday that you really have to know what you are buying when you are buying rugs at an "auction". The rugs are always marked up ridiculously high just so you can feel good at the "discount" you got. If you seriously want to buy a good oriental, find a reputable dealer in your area, one that won't be long gone when you realize you were taken.

I really love the furniture piece you bought but I just hope that you did some shopping around first. That price seems very high to me for what it is. But then, as many of said, if you really love it, and money is no object, then go for it and enjoy.

Thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions. They are both educational and helpful to this newcomer!

We are in the process of building a new home and I feel like I have spent the last 3 years reading/researching/visiting showrooms and lurking on GW to get opinions and ideas. It is very unlike me to make an "impulse buy" and I guess I know why- too much second guessing this way- but like I said in an earlier post, I do love the buffet & know that I will find a perfect place for it in our new home.

Regarding rugs, I am definitely nervous about the auction but have spent considerable time researching different types of rugs and prices so feel a little more comfortable. Regardless, it is doubtful that I will make a purchase this weekend- unless I really fall in love & the price seems too good to beat.
The fact that I am unsure about the size I need makes it even more unlikely that I will buy something but time will tell.
I will be sure to post pictures if I do though :)

Thanks again.

Where I am in CT there are rug auctions every month, so don't worry about missing the PERFECT rug. Wait until you know exactly what size you need because nothing looks worse to me than a rug that is too small for its space - IMHO.