Oo-la-la! What an awesome find!! I am so excited for you!! It looks like it's in beautiful shape except for that one chair... :)

Congratulations!! Keep us posted one what you and your interior designer end up doing with that room before Thanksgiving!!

Love the furniture and since you got it for such a good price I think I would see how much a professional would charge to repair the chair. Good find!

Beautiful!

Don't have it refinished just for a few surface scratches - goodness, you might as well set fire to several hundred dollars, since it's in excellent condition. Get yourself a bottle of Old English Scratch Cover and apply as directed to the dings. Stuff works miracles! Don't use Pledge or anything similar that contains silicones on it. In fact, most of the time you don't even need stuff like that, a soft cloth is plenty the majority of the time. A couple of times a year, a wax-free, silicone-free furniture polish like Guardsman Furniture Polish is plenty. Take the broken chair to a furniture restorer; a good restorer will make that repair very nearly invisible. It'll cost more than a neighbor who'll just glue it together (and potentially use the wrong glue for it), but for one thing people are going to pick up and pull in armchairs by those arms and you want that thing to really stay together.

I hate looking at myself while I eat, too, so I'm much more in favor of a beautiful painting over the sideboard than of a mirror. If you have to have something glittery in the room, get a crystal chandelier, silver candlesticks, etc.

Val
CONGRATS
So happy for you - glad you kept on the hunt.... what a beautiful set -

It does not look like it needs refinishing - I would get a minwax stain pain and fill in the scratches - if the finish is intact no reason to have it refinished. I contacted furniture people near me and they gave me step by step on how to rehab my set. Not too hard, just need time so I'll give you that if you are interested.

The set is stunning in your room

I would check out JCPenney for silk drapes - I purchased mine through them and had them professionally installed - very pleased with the results. I prefer solid color, pinch pleats in that setting - Take some samples home to decide on the color - we'll vote;)

As far as accessories - Check out your inventory first... any silver pieces? crystal, urns - candlestick lamps,pretty china/porcelain, candles - It's pretty formal so I would keep the accessories formal

Rug ? that is difficult - not knowing budget/taste
but here
http://www5.jcpenney.com/jcp/ProductsHOM.aspx?ItemID=12b450c&ItemTyp=G&GrpTyp=SIZ&ShowMenu=T&ShopBy=0&SearchString=rug&RefPage=SearchDepartment.aspx&CmCatId=SearchResults&Search1Prod=True&S4Filter=N%7c519%7cNtt%7crug%7cNtk%7csearch_all%7cNao%7c36%7cNty%7c1%7csid%7c1160C855A4F9%7cNtx%7cmode%2bmatchallpartial%7cNtpr%7c1%7cNtpc%7c1%7cFN519%7c%24400.00+-+%24499.99

Here is my fav place to rug search

http://www.safavieh.com/rug_collections.php

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: lascala silk drapes

Gorgeous, and I agree w/johnmari re refinishing--just say NO! Old English instead, and strategic placement of decorations :)

But seriously, that's just a gorgeous set. Congratulations on your find :)

absolutely beautiful!!

That's beautiful! What a great find and you'll enjoy it for years to come. And yes, a good restorer will be able to fix your chair.

Funny, we bought a "used" DR set as newlyweds a long, long, long time ago thinking it would hold us over "for a few years" until we could afford a new set. Guess what we're still using?

Its beautiful. What fun you are going to have working with that . Please post pics when you are ready to start.

What a find!! Just in time for the holidays too! Please post pics when it is all done.

What a wonderful find - you must be thrilled! Enjoy it!

Beautiful and timeless - great find!

Gorgeous -- what a wonderful heirloom for years and generations to come!! Well done indeed!!! :)

For the buffet -- a couple of lamps would be perfect!! And consider a tall thinner mirror with a couple of plates hung at each side -- I don't think it would reflect the diners eating!!! :)

For the table -- look for a low-and-long centerpiece OR even a couple of matching silver vases to fill with flowers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Inspiration photos

I love it and would be thrilled to find something like that myself! The sideboard is very similar to the one I bought and had re-made for a sink in the bathroom. Love the drawers and roomy cabinets. You Needed a sideboard--Yes you did!!

Red

I LOVE that set! What a fabulous investment. The detail in the chairs is just gorgeous.

I agree with Johnmari's suggestion that you have the armchair repaired by a professional furniture restoration expert. It will be well worth it. A bad repair can be difficult to undo.

In addition to Olde English scratch remover, I would also recommend Howard's Restore-A-Finish. I used it on a mahogany sideboard I purchased. It comes in a variety of colors. Evened out the finish (it doesn't strip) and covered all scratches.

You must grin from ear to ear everytime you walk in that dining room!

This is a fantastic buy! You will never regret it. Yes, by all means have the repair made. It will increase the value of it 10-fold.

WOW, and WOW again! Nice!!

Ditto what Mari said re: repairs and scratches.
You can also check out Restore-A-Finish (Sears Hardware carries best selection), I've used it to fix a few nicks/scratches/occasional gouge here and there on vintage/antique pieces I've gotten, no harm done. ;)

I don't like to watch myself eating either, but you may find that when you hang a mirror over the sideboard it will be at a height higher than your seated guests' heads.
Love the furniture! It's gorgeous and sounds like you got a good deal.
I second Mari's advice. Don't refinish it, just try the products she suggested.

Your new dining room furniture looks wonderful. I have a vertical mirror over my sideboard, and Monablair is correct, sitting at the table you can't see yorself in the mirror. I like the mirror because it reflects the chandelier. I also second the idea of tall lamps on the sideboard. What fun!

Thank you everyone and yes, I am grinning from ear-to-ear. Even though I did one new kitchen and two baths, somehow this does it for me in a way they never did. My 14-year-old DS who helped us pick it up and load it, got it right away. This set has HISTORY. It will definitely be an heirloom set. Sad part was that it belonged to a woman with early onset Alzeheimers and her daughter who is only 24 and doesn't have room for it, sold it. Wanted to get rid of it quick and because I had been looking at antique stores I recognized right away this was a find. I even offered her extra to hold it for me, but she declined as it was taking space in her dad's house where she was to move back (mom and dad divorced). Lucky, my DH also knew it was a find after seeing the stuff in the antique stores and was able to take off work and treak up 70 mins. to check it out. So, last night I said a prayer for the previous owner and her daughter.

As for the chair, I will look into having it professionally restored. Until then, it's on the side and we won't use it.

The only reason I was debating refinishing it, is because I do want to reupholster/recover the chairs. I much prefer to keep the finish as is as we have kids and so I know anything I get will develop it's own patina. However, I've made a note of all the products johnmari and jejvtr have suggested and will work on that after the holidays. I want to take my time and not do anything rushed. In the meantime, I'll just polish it woth the Guardman. jejvtr, yes I would like the detailed instructions. There is a small gouge on the table (maybe 1/20" deep)--would probably need to be filled, but I'm OK leaving it, it shows it's an antique as my DS said. One more item is the leaves are all darker because they were stored away which I understand is common. One also looks to have some water damage to it--though I don't even have room to extend to it's full length so not too concerned. I was wondering if I were to put the leaves in the sun, would they lighten (like reverse of cherry)?

I am also in need of advice on how to do the chairs. Is this a DIY job or should I also have it done professionally? The chairs don't have too much padding in the seats. Is it possible to make them thicker or would that interfere with the backs?

I like all the ideals for the sideboard. I'm wondering if a nice large antique china tureen wouldn't look good there in the center since it curves out slightly. Still not sure about what to put on the wall, but I am going to take my time and let the room evolve piece by piece now that the bones are there--perhaps look for some more vintage items--like old botanical prints?

Most pressing will be the floor rug since my flooring is new and don't want the chairs to scratch. I was thinking of some type of Oriental rug similar to the rug posted by jejvtr--though will see what the Ethan Allan designer comes up with. I do want to pull in some color here in there--bronze and accents of burgundy. I haven't told her about the dining set yet, but she did tell me most likely she would not be able to get me my wood items by Christmas, though I could get the sofa/chairs/drapes so hopefully she'll still help me out. With all the money I've saved here, I feel like I can splurge on the drapes as I like the ones I saw in the Ethan Allan store better than JCP.

The drapes will match the living room and what she suggested is to do silk roman shades (3 in the bay window, 3 for 8' wide window in living room). Then tall silk panels 96" long) hung on rods to either side that would "kiss the floor". We were thinking of doing the roman shades in a solid and the panels in a stripe. If I were to go custom, the panels could be hung with rosettes; but due to budgetary reasons, other option she recommended was a reverse pinch pleat which I could buy in stock. She recommending doing a long rod across the width of the window, but I'm leaning towards two narrow rods to frame the windows since the panels will be decorative. Or is that look too "trendy"? I did like the rosettes, though, will see what she quotes me; but seems excessive to do custom just to hang with rosettes.