All of you made very good guesses. There may be more clues but the one giveaway is; the rails are dovetailed into the cabinet. The dovetails are visible when you look at front, on the edges. This is frenquently done by contempary makers to display their craftmanship. The old timers always hid their joints. Some of your other guesses were quite good. The beading is not applied. There are no locks, I couldn't afford that, but the pulls are exactly correct. They come from Ball and Ball who makes authentic replicas and the size is correct although sometimes they are smaller. The finish is lacquer. The sides and top are one single board as would have been done by the old timers, not several joined together. The questions about drawer construction are very good but I didn't show that. The sides of the drawers are also mahagony with hand cut dovetails. The old timers would have used a secondary wood. I have a picture of that I could post if you like. Guess I should have dusted the saw dust off before I took the pictures. Thank you for guessing. You are all pretty good. By the way, there is evidence of plane work. I had to fair the drawers (curve) with a spoke shave. Thanks again.

Sorry, I don't know how that post was repeated 4 times! Overall, I am I guess relieved that it didn't come out looking bad, per se, but I will not ever be using that guy again. He claims that the tops will get smooth over time and the glossiness will fade. From a glance, it's not bad, but it isn't anywhere close to a really fine job, either. I am really distressed at how RED the top of the vanity looks when I turn on the lamps. It almost looks like it has a maroon or oxblood tone, which I did not want AT ALL! Of course I'll probably learn to ignore it over time, but it has me wondering how much it would cost to have a piece of carrara marble cut to put over the top (which would get rid of the rough surface issue at the same time). I could probably find a remnant at a stone yard that wouldn't be too much because it's not a real big top. I did not see this maroon tone at all in his shop and I don't really see it from the front--its only when I turn on a lamp. I've tried different kinds of bulbs and it doesn't help. You can see faint brush strokes and bubbles in the tops. At first glance I guess it looks fine, but it really bothers me that I went to all this trouble and cost for a less than acceptable result. Of course he went on about how "a finish is gonna do what it's gonna do" and it's almost impossible to control how smooth the top is. Interestingly, the dresser top is much smoother than the vanity. Would it have come out better if he would have sprayed the finish on? He admitted lacquer would be smoother, but he doesn't like to use it because it is not as durable. He said I could throw my pieces in a swimming pool and they would survive due to the varnish. Well I really don't plan on ever doing that so I would have preferred something that is better in the environment the furniture will actually be in--a climate controlled home. My luck with tradespeople and so called "professionals" continues to fail. I live in a suburb of New Orleans of close to 100,000 residents. I would think in a town of this size I could find pros, but I guess I'm gonna have to go to the city next time to find somebody really good. I hope these pieces grow on me. As of right now, I'm almost wondering if they should have remained blonde......

Thank you for the feedback! I honestly don't love the bed that came with the set. It's slightly damaged and lower than I like. Though I am intending to use it in a guest bedroom which is too small for a queen sized bed. Thanks, Fun2BHere. I really liked the style, so I'm glad to hear others like it as well. Chibimimi, I'm glad to hear you think they would work well together. I hadn't thought about the slight mismatch making them more interesting, but that would be great if it does. I am extremely excited to get rid of my bed skirt.

lazy_gardens, the house in NJ, Sussex County...a rural area in the uppermost NW corner of the state, about a half hour from either PA or NY borders. It's in Newton, the first town established in this area of NJ in the late 17th/early 18th century, so many of the homes here are 100-200 years old. There are so many of them that quite a few are rentals, and not very appreciated or well maintained. I had a previous apartment in a large victorian house, 2 BR and inexpensive, yet with beautiful woodwork, built-ins, high ceilings, huge windows, marble fireplaces in almost every room, etc. Unfortunately many people around here view these properties as "old-fashioned" or just OLD or outdated (no ss appliances??!!! Lol) whereas I think of them as special. I love living in a home, wondering how the rooms were used or how they were decorated in 1900, the '20's, '50's, etc.