Like everone else is saying......your best source to find a person who can do this type of work and do it well is by word of mouth. Going to a dealer would be the way I'd handle it as well. Here's the issue the way I see it, however. If it's a 75 year old table, it's going to be depression era. I love furniture from that era, but it's still relatively common, not really antique, and priced far less than what it's often worth. You may end up putting more into the repair than the value of the table, especially if a lot of refinishing is involved. If it's cherry, it's probably been a good set and as you said, it has sentimental value, and it's hard to put a price on that. There are a lot of people in my area who do repairs and restorations, and as moonshadow said, they aren't big outfits, or even have advertising and listed business numbers. Their prices for identical work are also all over the board. You may have to get several estimates, and you need to decide in advance, the level of skill involved in your repair. IOW make it sound and the splits not too evident, or make it look perfect, not including the top refinished completely. I'm so sorry this happened to a piece you love. Many folks don't really understand the concept of irreplaceable or that older things are valuable, as opposed to just old. I suspect your husband feels bad enough already about what happened.

Hey Plum, I think that depends on how many you are replacing or adding as the case may be. I am replacing everything..regular Fridge, DOven, DW, downdraft cooktop, Disposer but replacing with Built In fridge, DW, SO and Convection MW (instead of DO), range top (I think) with telescopic downdraft, disposer, and adding a WD. I had hoped to spend 10k but it looks more like it will closer to $14-$15. I blew a bunch of it on the fridge even though I got a great deal. My Project manager had told me the most expensive thing is cabinets, then appliances, then rock. If you ask me, it's him that is the most expensive 'cause he has great taste. Me, I have champagne taste and a beer budget! Of course, there is a ton of variation in cost of all those things....I cook a lot (2 of my children have severe food allergies) so unlike one of my friends, I actually use my oven... not use it for cereal storage. I like some of the high end stuff, too...sigh.....

I get both framing the art to suit the art only, and framing it all "alike". Personally, I frame all of my art to suit the art, but it also has to suit my home as a whole and possibly go anywhere in that home. Thus it's all "Gallery Framed". And so while I might have a small hint of color in the bottom mat of a double or triple matted piece, the top mat is always going to be some shade of cream, or tan. That top mat might be fabric, or wallpaper, or just about anything really, but it's going to be some ivory/white shade. The mat is there to provide a neutral backdrop to the art, no matter which room I place it in. And all of my frames are either black or gold. I have some pieces, like my Persian tapestry and an original watercolor, in larger more ornate moldings, as it suits them, but those frames will still be black or gold. It's the same with the thin "poster" frame molding that is on some of the more contemporary pieces or an old poster of a WWII plane. They will all be black or gold and have some form of cream as the top matte as well. But, my sister has a fine arts degree and her own frame shop, so I get the family discount. I can't imagine paying full retail for framing something these days! She did a museum mount piece for a customer recently that was over 1K! And that's why I'd like to gently suggest that you at least measure the frames for the pieces and see if they are standard off the shelf sizes. Those are pretty easy to change out DIY, and you can always apply the kraft paper dust sheeting to the back yourself as well. I've also painted frames black when I found garage sale pieces that worked for me. I have a couple of $1 garage sale poster finds right next to an original fine art photograph, and it all works because of the gallery look. I could give a rat's behind that one might be considered "art" but not the others. It all speaks to me about form or line or color, so it's all art to me. :)

I can't spare you some of the agonizing, but it might help you to separate out one type of concern from another and so maybe whittle down to the real priorities. Since it sounds like you are buying the piano to really play it, and you have the ability to detect differences in pianos and what you like and don't, I would first focus on that--the piano you would most like to play ( that fits in your house, of course!). Holding value (monetary value) has some importance but maybe less for pianos than for cars, say, since most people go through several cars for themselves, kids, etc. and get future benefits from a good trade-in. You might not end up buying the piano that you most love to play if it in fact is so expensive it would hurt your finances in some way. Everyone has some price that is too high--though the number of OO's might vary a lot! Or you might determine that you simply don't VALUE the very best piano. I bought a guitar a while back and I knew I did not need or want the "best" guitar and did not need to impress anybody with how cool my guitar was. Also I am a beginner and knew I might not become a real expert. I did buy a better guitar than I expected, and maybe I should have bought one much cheaper until I learned more, but the price was okay for my finances so I made a "match". If I were actually a good guitar player, I would not hesitate to buy a much better one than I did but again, I think the focus would be on what played the best, felt the best, that I myself got the best sound from, and that might be different for me than for another musician. I am sure that must be true of pianos to some extent. So if there is one single piano you keep going back to because you love how it sounds/plays and you "can" afford it, buy that one. If there are a couple that are sort of equally good but in different ways--and I mean in terms of musical quality, not prestige or later value ( I had that dilemma with guitars) , that is where I would get some feedback from another musician/piano expert. The car price comparison is fine as long as you look at in the right way--you don't value European sedans (neither do I) so you drive something cheaper and buy pianos. For other people it is the opposite and that is perfectly fine. You might enjoy reading some things by Amy Dacyzn (The Tightwad Gazette). She is or has been an extreme saver and re-user and most people would not want to do as much of that as she does. But that was not her main point or her greatest strength. Her mantra was, save on everything that you can that really has no value or benefit to you if you were to spend more; don't let your money just slip away on this and that. Don't buy things just because other people do if you really want something else. Decide what is really important and don't whine that you can't afford it, because it is likely that if you really focus and avoid daily spending traps you can afford a lot of really nice things--just not EVERYTHING. Her deal was empowerment to be in control of spending. Several posters above gave good examples of that. Typical examples that have been used in some budget/happiness books is a person who wistfully says they would love to take a trip to Europe,it's their heart's desire, but just can't afford it--said while sitting on their new sofa that cost $2000. So your situation is an extension of that--there are people who have your same income who actually cannot afford a major piano purchase because they have a huge mortgage and have bought cars, and furniture, and jewelry instead. Which is perfectly fine unless all they really want is a piano!