Linda C; My niece in Colorado bought a table and chairs from an estate and asked me tell them if they made a good buy. Maybe similar to the question the OP asked about the value of their furniture. I'll tell you what I did so you can learn something and it might be useful to you in the furture. I ask my niece if there was a manufacturers name on the bottom of the table. She found one and told me the name. I googled the name and lo and behold, there were about ten sites that were selling and buying this particular furniture. I found the year it was made and the price the furniture was selling for. This was not a well known factory. I believe this is the information the OP was asking for. Apparently you have never done this, so you might try it some time. I believe this might be better than a guess; or not Someone

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon whether you are selling or buying, furniture goes through a long period of time where it is nothing but "used furniture". It used to be about as long as until it became antique, but the time frame is getting shorter. Some pretty ordinary 30-40 year old furniture is going up in price, because Disco-deco is being used by designers. I think eBay has also raised prices rather than lowered, because of increased exposure. The real exception to this is bench made or studio furniture, although even that is subject to market whim. A lot of the owners of George Nakashima furniture are dying or moving to nursing facilities so the market is getting saturated. You got a great deal. The equivalent of $300 when the set was new would not have bought a single chair probably.

Thank you for your replies. kew 2006: I moved the living room furniture in front of the wall unit in several different configurations. Unfortunately, it just looks awful. It is way too crowded and impractical with furniture blocking the wall unit. So I guess the issue is function vs. aesthetics. If I get the DR set, the wall unit has got to go. But since I need the storage space, I would probably buy a wall of Ikea bookcases and put them in a bedroom. Is the new DR worth the trouble?

Hi! I'm so glad I found this forum!! I just stumbled upon a gorgeous Henredon dining set at the local church thrift store and couldn't resist grabbing it up at the price of $250!!! It's a large dining table with 3 oversized leafs, 8 chairs (one of the arm chairs and one of the armless chairs have a little damage to the cane backs), and all pads (including the cloth bags to store them in). The whole set is in great condition with the exception of the cane back damage on the two chairs. The wood is patterned and is of a medium tone, the two "leg/pedestal" sections are a lighter painted wood. The chairs are done in the lighter painted wood too, with cane backs. I know the painted part is done by Henredon (and not aftermarket) as my parents had a VERY similar set from Drexel Heritage years ago and it was the exact same coloring/style (also the main reason I jumped on this set...nostalgia!). Speaking of which, does anyone know the relationship (if any) between Drexel Heritage and Henredon?? Anyway, I'll be posting pictures shortly, but was hoping someone on here could help me ID the name/pattern of the set. There are two sets of numbers on the bottom "20-5301-51" and "543 L19". Any help would be greatly appreciated! We're not sure if we are going to keep the set or re-sell it, as it may just be too large for our dining room. Either way, I'd like to know the name.