IMO it will depend on the size of the space and your furniture . I am not sure those coffered ceilings were original since the builtin seems to conflict with them. I love the piece but do understand the problems with it not being centered on the waal but maybe after your furniture is in and a rug added the asymetry will not be as noticeable

You’re right; that was very oddly/awkwardly executed. I can only surmise it was done that way to conceal some other awkward structural element behind it.

It looks like all the woodwork has been painted over. Assuming it’s original to the house, I would leave it ... I really think it does adds character & is a nice focal point. The first thing I’d change is that ceiling fan light fixture ... that needs to go along with the wallpaper.

That’s an original feature, and a very nice one at that, please don’t remove it! Only thing I would change is the white drawer knobs, either a vintage glass knob or black wrought iron.

Looks original to me, the reason it can't go to the ceiling is that it is centered on the wall section not the room overall, and seems designed to also conceal a chimney or chase on the right? Strip it and refinish it, paint it black, or leave it alone. Definitely remove the paper tile ceiling...

It’s the ceiling that’s throwing it off to me. Can’t really tell what’s going on above it and behind it in the corner. I’d be trying to keep it.

I would not try to strip it. It may very well have been intended for paint when it was built. I might build a soffit to the ceiling and run the coffer beams right into it.

Is this a single story home and this room on ground level with a crawl space below it? The buffet may well be hiding plumbing pipes or heat/ac duct and/or wiring -- see if you can find out that by looking underneath the floor below it.

The buffet stops short of the ceiling so I doubt the huge side posts are weight bearing supports.

Unless you like it "as is" -- not moving it -- you have at last three options:

Rip out the wall behind it, to see what's there and separate the buffet from the wall from behind.

Take out the drywall on each side of the buffet -- the painted surface behind the huge white painted posts -- the part between posts and wall -- and the dry wall above the buffet and see if you can separate the buffet from the wall from the side.

What is the room behind the buffet? Do you want to keep the mirror or are you open to leaving the buffet but removing the and opening up the buffet at the countertop level to the room behind it? If so, you could begin by knocking out the part of the wall behind the mirror and/or the mirror getting a look at what is "in the wall" behind the buffet that way.

Even if you remove the actual "buffet", you'll probably need to rebuild the side posts and huge top feature as they'll likely need to be taken apart to remove them.

Another option: IF this were mine, and IF I knew with certainty that there was no plumbing or wiring or duct work hidden in those huge vertical posts, and IF I didn't want to replace the wall in the room behind it ... then I'd still seek to remove this oversized outdated buffet with its top heavy top feature and deformed oversized supports looming over and overpowering the room.

I'd first remove all the doors and drawers.

I'd then remove all the drywall from between the two huge side posts and the wall behind them and the dry wall from above the buffet to see if the buffet could be moved away from the wall, as is, without disassembling it.

If it couldn't be, then, carefully and watching for the unexpected -- I'd first remove that huge heavy top feature, using hand tools if possible (and power tools as needed for cutting), with the objective of saving as much of the actual framing for the overhead cabinets between those two huge side posts as possible.

I'd then remove the overhead cabinet that is between the two huge side posts, cutting what I needed to cut in order to do so.

If possible, I'd then remove and save the mirror -- would not be my priority.

Then I'd cut away the mid section of the two posts (beside where the mirror had been), leaving only the base cabinet to separate from the wall and two huge side posts to remove it.

I'd free and save as much of the base cabinet intact as I could, even if it meant vertically cutting the two huge side posts and leaving part of them attached to the base cabinet while it was removed from the wall.

After removing and discarding anything left of the built in, I'd repair the wall as only a wall w/o any built in and then rebuild the buffet, without the massive top and side posts -- and I'd rebuild it in two parts: the base cabinet with a new countertop and a hutch that sets atop it.

Whatever you decide, good luck -- and do post pics of your final solution.

I don't think ALL of it is original. The bottom & top cabinets are correct. I rather suspect someone added the heavy side columns and moldings. These homes were very symmetrical. Perhaps the original was relocated to this wall, or it might have come from another house.

Strip it. Restore it. That goes for all of the painted woodwork. No more remuddling!

@suezbell, this is a 1915 Craftsman. There is no drywall here. It will be lath and plaster. And of course, the china cabinet is outdated: it's a 1915 Craftsman.

Sophie, my neighbor stripped and refinished all her original woodwork. It was beautiful and inspired me to do mine. Imagine my disappointment when I found mine was crappy fir, obviously intended for paint from the day it was built in 1910. My neighbor had gorgeous oak floors. When I ripped up my carpet (which was even in the bathroom, yuck), I found linoleum laid on a fir subfloor. Just because the wood has been painted doesn't mean it's been remuddled.

I would leave it alone, or repaint it. I wouldnt be doing anything else to it, except changing out the knobs. The room looks nice, except, I am not fond of that tile ceiling. I would maybe spend my money, removing that, and if it needs to have anything else done after tile removal, then replace the tile with sheetrock.

If you take the time to strip the woodwork, you could end up with something that looks like this. Good Luck.

I like the cabinet as it is, but if you want it to meet the ceiling, this is a combination of BeverlyFlaDeziner's and groveraxle's pics--add moulding for a plate rail, so that it's not so plain on top.

I'm guessing by the look of it that the room at some point might have been opened up and a wall removed which is why it's not centered on the room. I see signs of other remuddling of the room too like the modern ceiling tiles. But then again, because most of the work then was done by hand, it could just be the design of the room.

Originally that stunning buffet would have been wood and not painted. Do yourself a favor and do some research on craftsman style homes. I agree with Sophie and others who suggested you strip it back to its original beauty.

Removing the buffet will devalue the house as those who want craftsman houses, want them with the original details, even if painted.

I might also suggest you join the facebook groups, American Bungalow and/or The Arts and Crafts Movement and ask there.

There are also a number of books available on Amazon that talk about and show craftsman and bungalow houses. Look for books by Paul Duchscherer or by Robert Winter or by Jane Powell. All three will be very helpful if you're truly interested in restoring the beauty of your house.

IF this were mine, and IF I knew with certainty that there was no plumbing or wiring or duct work hidden in those huge vertical posts, and IF I didn't want to replace the wall in the room behind it ... then I'd still seek to remove this oversized outdated buffet with its top heavy top feature and deformed oversized supports looming over and overpowering the room.

And that's why someone like yourself shouldn't own an old craftsman house and shouldn't be giving advice on it.

Sure everyone, lets just go and destroy every house's history and make them into HGTV wannabe's.

Just because the wood has been painted doesn't mean it's been remuddled.

That is so true but the only way to know is to strip a small section of it to see. And if it was douglas fir, douglas fir was stained and not painted in its day.

Wow, Beverly found excellent photos.

CPARTIST - yes not all stained wood painted is remuddled but I have been on this forum where new homeowners buy an original arts and crafts home with spectacular woodwork and then want to paint it white because the rooms are ‘dark.’ I do think that piece on top of the built in does not look original. I had an office once that had a historic Zuber wallpaper and the prior owner painted the wallpaper because they wanted white walls. Paint in the wrong hands can be devastating.

I would keep plants up to and use it as a bar to hold your stem ware, put a wine rack on the counter and decanters in a tray.

I wonder if it isn't the ceiling and beams that are the later addition? The ceiling looks like tiles-- any chance someone dropped the ceiling and put up fake beams? With a higher ceiling the built-in would be better proportioned.

bellburgmaggie - do you realize that the picture you posted with "that top thing" circled in red is NOT the original picture from the owner, but a photoshopped picture from groveraxle showing his suggestion for a solution (which I agree is not a good idea.)

I would not alter the form of it at all. I would consider stripping it.

The ceiling tiles could be from the 1950s. My grandmother's Edwardian era house had this applied directly to the ceilings in the 1950s, mostly to cover up old ceiling paper and so they would not have to paint the ceilings. But there was no drop.

No Laurie I didn't realize it was photo shopped - no wonder it looked off. That is hysterical. Apologize for missing it.

Thank you everyone specially those who took the time to submit drawings and photos!

The box beam ceiling seems to have been dropped as this ceiling is lower compared to the front living room area.

I went to the neighbors' today and checked out their built in. It does look like the top piece and the heavy beams were not original. At least they were not present in her built in.

I will probably keep the built in as is. The wall paper and ceiling fan are definitely going!

Will update with pictures once things are done.

Thank you again!

It looks very nice. Very crisp and clean.

Love the vintage-style hardware!

That's gorgeous!!!

Looks great! Glad you didn’t remove it. If the asymmetry bothers you over time you could always widen your doorway on the left to centre the buffet.