Jen I LOVE it!! That's the kind of piece I'd buy and worry later where it would go. It's versatile and could be used in a lot of spaces and it has personality. About the price - here's the thing.... I'd be willing to pay that because it's the kind of piece I'd have forever but I also love to get a bargain. If I saw it at a garage sale I'd immediately offer a bit less - maybe 175 but if they said no I'd whip out 200. CL is different because you don't know if they've gotten a lot of responses but if you go see it and offer a bit less you can always pay up if they hold firm to their price (assuming you love it enough).

Jen, I'm sure you can see me standing behind Deb and nodding my agreement with what she said............I know you can see me because I'm a full head taller than her. And by the way, her roots are grey!

Red

I really like it, too.

I'd ask about the history and type of wood in determining the price to offer. If $200 is no big deal to you, then be willing to pay full price.

Heck I'd pay 250 LOL Geeze if you can't use it I'll take it LOL I have to move to the lower 48...we never see stuff like this!

Thanks for confirming what I've been thinking ever since I saw the piece this morning ... it's cool. I want it. $200 actually isn't chump change for me (especially since I have to shell out $1,400 tomorrow for periodontal surgery - lovely), but I'm thinking along the lines of what Deb said about it being something that would be a "forever" piece.

I'm running home on my lunch break today and will be walking around the house with the tape measure. If I were to get it, I'm thinking I'd have to do some pretty major rearranging of my present furniture configuration in whichever room I'd use it in. Also, picking it up could be problematic as the vehicle that we ordinarily use to pick up larger items is on the blink right now. ::sigh::

Still ... it's just such a neat looking piece. If I can possibly find even a potential spot to use it, I'll contact the seller immediately to find out more about it.

um, Red - bite me ;-)

OK ... I've found only one spot where I could possibly use this piece, but it's a perfect fit in the space. I know it sounds odd, but it's in between my washer and dryer, which are smack-dab on either side of the window in my breakfast room. However, I'm just not sure if this piece is "right" for there. I currently have a little vintage chest (that I painted in a colorful manner) in that spot, and I've never thought about replacing it. It's ok -- it's solid wood and functional, and I like the colorful touch it provides, but it's not high quality. In fact, I think the way it's painted is the only thing special about it.

(Sorry for the dark photos and the messiness -- I snapped these in a hurry on my lunch break today.)

There is already a buffet on the other side of the room that I'm not going to get rid of or switch out. I like it. Would introducing the antique buffet between the W&D be just "too much"? That would make a lot of woodsy pieces of furniture in this room. I just don't know ...

The seller says the piece is still available, and asked me if I cared to make an offer. I need help deciding!

It would be woodsy. I think I like the painted piece there. It might not bring a huge price on the auction block but it seems to add a "lilt" at just the perfect place and time. And remember, "every room needs a piece of painted furniture..." I absolutely ADORE your home. It is one of the bright spots on GW. It just puts a spirited cadence into my day when I see it. It is what I would do if I did not have constraints from DH, Dear sons, dear garden friends, dear church members, dear people who already think I lean a little .... "why she decorates like a gay man..." (I think it is a compliment), but then you know, if go too far, I could be decorating like an ethnic transvestite.." ;-) LOLOLOL Please, no lectures. It is what my friends say about me and all is said in very good humor and tongue in cheek.

LOL! Thank you so much, Patricia! Now that I've arrived back at work (the whole 3.9 miles it took me to drive here, I was talking myself more and more into the CL piece) and looking at my pics again ... I just really do like that crummy little painted piece there. I like the way it draws the blues from the painting across the room.

Then again (I'm sure somebody will throw rotten tomatoes at me for any daring to suggest this) -- how difficult would it be to "tart up" that CL piece by painting it funky colors? :-/

Oh, and for the sake of ease - here's a photo of the CL piece:
{{!gwi}}

I think very easy. I did not want to say it because I know there are the purists among us of the "don't paint that wood." I say "get kirnking the tartens.." Or whatever it is the Scots say. LOLOL

I think it goes with "my" dinningroom set!!!! But....yeah...I like it with "your" dinningroom set also! :0) It's a really nice piece. Offer $100....you may be pleasantly surprised......or get a counter offer of $150.

Really? Oh wowzers, now I'm envisioning the piece painted turquoise and cobalt and yellow and/or red ... maybe with fiery orange knobs. I have no idea how to go about that though ... would I have to strip it first?

And do you think it would be too "leggy" in my room? What you can't see in my pics is that I have a center island in the adjoining kitchen, that looks like this (except that mine is all in the pine finish, not painted like this one is): {{!gwi}}

Grrrrrr ... what I get for expressing a strong interest in the piece is a seller who, despite asking me if I cared to make an offer, and despite specifying "OBO" in the ad, is now saying that they really would "like to get full price."

Jeez. I guess next time I'll just act like I think the thing is a piece of crap, and am doing them a favor by taking it off their hands! LOL!

OK, seriously - I'll pay the full price if need be, I guess. Looks like I am going to go ahead and get it. I hope I'm not sorry ... this seems pretty spontaneous on my part.

It is such a beautiful piece that I would hate to see it painted. Of course I am not seeing it in person. I also think that the blue piece fits your space better. What about using it in your bedroom or elsewhere? I love painted pieces and have them all over, but I can't bring myself to paint a piece that is pretty wood. It has to be beat up.
Diane

Jen - do it - I don't think you'll be sorry and you know what they say about spontaneity ...... I was also seeing it painted or even bleached. It's great the way it is but it has potential in numerous directions. As long as it's not held together with chewing gum and is sturdy/stable you won't regret it.

patricia - ***an ethnic transvestite*** I've always wanted one of those!!! ;-)

Thanks! The seller says, "The piece is in great shape and stands firm. There are no major flaws, maybe some marks but nothing that destroys the piece in any shape or form."

This isn't exactly how I'd paint it, but does give a feel for what a piece like this looks like, "all funked up."
;-)

Oh, I love the funked-up piece. That's what I'm saying. That's the look!!!!

LOL, Deb. Me too.

Hmm, I see a Kendall Jackson Chardonnay bird. One of my favorite looks. That's what I'm talking about.

Patricia, "decorates like a gay man." I should be so lucky. LOL

Aunt Jen, I can't add any more than you already know.

Wow.

Just ... wow.

This whole thing has managed to snowball into an argument between DH and me, who, despite cheerfully telling me earlier, "Do what you want!" is now ticked off at the fact that I'm bringing home another piece of furniture that he feels we don't need.

::sigh:: He is saying (now, after a rather heated discussion) that he's fine with me getting it. He just doesn't grasp the concept of falling in love with a piece of furniture and wanting to "update." No, I didn't wake up this morning planning to buy a little old buffet. But it's happened, so that's that. ;-) Anyway, at this point he's more or less insisting that I get it. I think he doesn't want me to be upset if I were to not get it. And honestly, I think I might be.

I just hope that once I get it home and in place, DH won't kick it everytime he walks by it. He'll probably be seething at it for quite some time to come, although he's more or less playing "nice" with me right now.

We just never argue. I feel bummed that my cute little CL find has steamrolled into something like this.

And my posting about it is TMI too, I'm sure.

I am so sorry. Maybe it was not meant to be. Some things do that. Some things that should make us happy turn into less than what we wanted. Do what your heart tells you and if it tells you it is not yours, allow it to fly away. But you are not the only one. It happens at my house, even after all these years.

((((((Jen))))))))

Thanks, ladies. :-)

I was all set to email the seller, had typed out a long note of apology, telling him that my DH decided we shouldn't buy this and that I needed to honor his wishes -- but then DH and I talked via phone, and again he insisted that he wanted me to get the piece if I wanted it. He promised he wouldn't hold a grudge, and said he didn't want the fact that we argued earlier affect bringing the piece home. I told him I just didn't think I could proceed without my heart being fully in it, and he said the right things that made me feel better about the whole thing.

Y'know, it's funny how sometimes, seemingly out of absolutely nowhere, something happens that sparks ignition of an issue. I'm going to be extra sweet to DH this evening. I know that his heart is in the right place; it's just that sometimes on very rare occasions we communicate from two very different places. We'll have to keep working on that. ;-)

Do you think the new buffet will hold all the items that are in the pretty blue dresser right now?

I'm looking at from a truly "storage" point of view.

I haven't had a chance to update this til now (had periodontal surgery on Friday, and have been pretty much out of it since then) - but did want to say that we got the CL piece, it's in place, and I really like it! Since we didn't have anywhere else to use, or even store, the old painted piece, we put it at the curb Friday evening (a bit reluctantly on my part -- after all, it was one of the first things I "created" when we moved into this house about six years ago). But it was picked up within about an hour, so I hope that it's making somebody else happy now. :-)

DH doesn't want me to paint this piece, but I keep envisioning it in some kind of stain -- maybe a turquoise or red -- that would give it some color while still allowing it to look like a wooden stained piece. I'm not even sure if such a treatment exists, but I'm thinking it probably does -- I just don't know what to call it!

Anyway, here are new pics. Oh, and it holds a lot of stuff too. With the exception of a couple of pair of presently unused 2" blinds, which were stored in the old piece, the new piece holds everything that I had stored in the other chest. I do wish it didn't have to be sandwiched in by the washer and dryer, but my hands are pretty much tied in that regard. ;-)

(Must apologize for dark pictures again! I dunno what I'm doing wrong with the camera ...)

Now this is a wacky question --

But Jen, have you ever considered painting your washer and dryer?
Since they're in such a visible location and all...
Either wild and funky folk painting by hand (like the little chest) or a great fun color by an auto-body shop --

Sweeby, they're older so probably not worth the effort/expense. But when they croak, I'm gonna try and convince DH that we "need" a new pair that are already finished in a bright, fun color! :-)

I think the piece looks great as-is. But to answer your question, there are indeed stains / wood tints out there in colors. I've linked below to a product we're using. let me know if you want any more info on it and I'll share what I know. I'd also suggest you check over in the woodworking forum.

Have you considered a fabric front for your washer and dryer? I think that would be fun. Also, I think if you could figure out a way to tone down the stark whiteness of them, the beautiful buffet would look great as-is. (I do agree with your husband on this point.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Check out these

Thank you, pbrisjar! That blue transtint dye is gorgeous! How does something like that work? Could it go over existing stain, or would I have to strip the piece first?
{{!gwi}}

I've tossed around the idea of having some sort of fabric covers made for the W&D, but since DH is the one who does laundry around our house, I'm not sure he'd be happy with anything that would require any "moving aside" and "smoothing back into place" in order to get the wash done.

Ohhhh! That would look great stained turquoise or blue! Congrats on your wonderful CL find, auntjen. Hope it makes periodontal recovery easier.

Well, at minimum you wouldn't get the color to be the same if you didn't strip first. The wood color is so dark you might just get a hint of color (which actually might be a really good look). What I'd do is clean a hidden section really well and give it a shot. My inclination would be to use a tint / finish mixture.

Hubby has done a couple of projects with this product. For our floor, we're using Cordovan with a thinner. He used alcohol for the first try and decided that an alcohol/water blend worked best. It goes on fairly easily.

He also did another full test project, restoring a carving board for me. For that project, he used TransTint mixed with Land Ark's wood finish (don't remember which color). A couple of coats of the colored mix, then another 3 or 4 coats of just the Land Ark applied with a wet sanding technique. It looks great and has held up well.

Here it is when it was just completed:
{{!gwi}}From BoardBiancoRomano

The color did fade/mellow a little bit but not much.

Here is a link that might be useful: The official info sheet

We found something interesting totally by accident...

We were painting our wood island red, and didn't know you were supposed to use a dark-colored primer under all red paint since reds have such transluscence. So we blithely painted over a piece of wood trim that had previously been stained, and OMG -- it was GORGEOUS! One coat of bright red paint over stained wood. It looked like the richest red stain you could ever imagine. Even after two coats of red paint, the previously-stained wood still looked stained rather than painted. Believe it or not, it took SIX coats of paint before the red looked like the paint card. And we learned our lesson.

But if you think you might go for a really red, it would be worth trying. And I bet if you went to a really good paint store, you could have them mix up some other colors in highly-transluscent formulas. I don't know how - but they might.