That would make an awesome bedside table, and a great price. Is it a dry sink?

If you stain it, you've got to do a really good job or it will look too country. Painting it will make it more shabby chic. Either way, I wouldn't worry about the split.

This post was edited by newhomebuilder on Mon, Aug 12, 13 at 15:46

I wouldn't worry about the split...it adds character. With a good cleaning and treatment I think it'll look great as is.

Try posting on the woodworking forum and ask how to attack the top.
It'll need stripping, sanding, etc., but they should be helpful on how to go about bringing it back to life.

In case you didn't know.....you now own a cute Wash Stand.

ML

Is that what it is? With the door for the chamber pot? Perhaps that's why the dog was giving it a good sniff-over although I have to say that it smells "good."

Since it's solid wood, a good sanding on the top should clean it all up and be ready for stain or paint. They make a wood filler that you can put in the crack, sand smooth when dry and paint. I don't think you'd want to stain over the crack if you use the filler, or as others suggested, just leave it.

I would guess maple.

It looks like maple and the drawer front looks like birds eye maple which is really nice.

The top should sand easily and you can refinish that with a nice urethane that will stand up to whatever you put on it.

I would see about removing the panel from the door, regluing and then reinstalling it...it is a large crack but it should be fixable.

While I typically like glass knobs, I don't like them on this piece, and they don't look original...note the mark behind the knob on the drawer is larger. I may be wrong, but I think of wooden knobs when I think of old maple furniture. But I can see metal knobs can look really nice too.

Good buy!

Nice find. The glass knobs are not original to this piece. If you look really closely at the drawer (even in the picture you show) you'll see that it looks like someone filled in the other hole for the metal hanging pulls that would have matched the ones on the smaller drawers. I may be wrong but you should be able to tell from inside the drawer. Yes, it is a wash stand and would have had a hanging towel bar that attached to the back. Mine has about a 3/4" lip where the bar would have been. I'm really lousy at posting pictures here or I would show you similar pulls for the age of this piece.

If that were mine, I'd give it a good cleaning, refinish the top (strip, lightly sand to leave some of that patina intact, varnish) and replace the hardware with something old and brass. I'd leave the crack alone, as I think it's been there long enough that "fixing" it would make it looked...fixed. You could also just leave the top alone and cover it with a runner.

It's a really charming piece!

I would try to fix the crack, if you can get the insert out of the door frame; that's just me - it would bug me.

If you can show us the room and bed it's going next to, it may spur more suggestions.

Another option for the top, if you have the painting bug and perhaps something on the top doesn't come off with sanding, would be to clean it and sand it smooth and do something like a faux marble paint job on it. It's really very easy. This was my first (and only so far) on the top of a small pine desk/table. I did it with acrylic craft paints.

It doesn't show here, but it had a stain on the top from some very red colored stain that just wouldn't come off.

Check out some of these pictures of maple washstands. I am not seeing glass knobs on any but several have curved handles.

My3dogs, that's a fantastic change!

Here is a link that might be useful: washstands

quickly carried it inside before DH notices it
Hee, hee, hee... What? This? we've had it for awhile (if you consider 3 pm yesterday awhile).

DH actually noticed it way earlier than I expected, but it's ok because "it is REAL wood!"
Anyways, thank you for all the feedback. I've been cleaning and sanding it lightly. It doesn't look like I can take the split door out easily, nor do I think my painting skills are even remotely close to a marbleized top.
Now to the next question: Where do I get suitable hardware? It looks like the top drawer only had knobs, no handles.

I have always had good luck finding vintage/antique hardware on ebay. For the pulls, you need to measure the width from the center of each hole to get the right size. You may not find a complete "set" of pulls and knobs, but I think if they're a similar style and the same metal, it shouldn't matter.

Also, check the thrift stores or a Restore near you, you can sometimes find old hardware there.

I would expect a wash stand to have pull outs to hang a towel, and a mirror. From the picture I cannot see a shadow indicating a mirror once stood on top. You might want to investigate some more before assuming you have a "wash stand". Nasty stains can be removed with a wood bleach. I am sure if you are open to stain color you will be able to make the top look new again. The marble top idea is so much more practical for a 'wash stand'. Wood and water never mix well, hence the stains? The wood worker form is a good suggestion.