Nnosoccermom wrote "Just not sure how much work it is to remove all the veneer and possible glue, and what the top will look like. " Veneer removal albeit labor intensive (see lazygardens' suggestion) is possible and glue is even worse. The results after staining will be less than mediorce at best. Time better spent on something with better potential. "Did they use particle board in the 1920s?" No. It wasn't invented until decades later. You repeat the same questions after hearing our responses,so in the interest of making some progress which seems to be eluding us , may I ask? Are you at all interested in alternates to removing the veneer? What are your minium expectations as far as appearance after going through the process? Are you optomistic the table will look better after removing veneer than it does now? Other than breadboards on each end,are those lighter colored sections midway across the top solid or veneer? Are you concurned about the fact solid wood sections will be higher than those where veneer was removed? What if anything will you do about that? The "only" value I see resulting from removal of the veneer is education. The reward might be great for some if they sucessfuly repalced or repaired the damage where others might make a half hearted effort and count it as just another failure. There is no silver bullet if that is what you are looking for. The result will only equal effort.

If you want the absolute MAXIMUM amount of money in the SOONEST amount of time: I think you should list and sell the pieces individually (4 ads: table, sideboard, chairs and china) but mention in each ad that you have the matched set available. Include links to each ad in your craigslist posting (ask for help on what the html would be if needed). Do offer a discount for purchasing more than one item. Remove all the items on, around or under each piece. Clean each item thoroughly and clean the area around each item so the photos are spotless. (You can stage a FEW items in the china cabinet for looks only. Do NOT use all items in there currently). Include exact and ALL measurements of each piece in your listing. Take the best pictures you can in the best light. Take FAR more pictures than the 4 CL lets you post (zoom out, top, bottom, details, front, back, etc....). State in your listing that you can email additional photos if requested. Include all known info about items before posting.

To steal another poster's word, I don't think the entry is "comically" large -- but it is large in comparison to the other rooms. Thinking about the whole-house plan on the other page, I hadn't realized the rooms were this small. I agree that the dining room is minimal in width. You might consider a built-in banquette on one side instead of chairs. This isn't ideal for such a long room, but those things are massive space savers! Another off-beat idea: Instead of one huge table, how about multiple small tables? I'm thinking of perhaps 3-4 small rectangular tables . . . and for every day you could have just one . . . but for parties you could bring out just two, allowing space in between for movement . . . or you could bring out all of them for the set-up you're discussing right now. You'd need table cloths, of course. Of course, the real issue isn't whether you can seat people in this space -- you can. The real issue is whether those people are comfortable in the process of being seated. Are the first people to be seated "stuck" because of the chairs around them? I also agree with the poster who asked about HOW you'll serve food. For example, I'd say that in my current kitchen (which is not optimal) we always do self-serve buffets: I put out the main dishes on my peninsula, place drinks on another spot in the kitchen, and use the breakfast table for desserts. A better set-up for serving is one of our future kitchen goals. Regardless of how you plan to serve guests, you ought to think through where you'll place things -- and don't forget dirty dishes. You mentioned serving "family style" from the middle of the table. Eh, that's easier with a round table than a long, rectangular table. Things I'd consider: Could you incorporate some type of multi-purpose furniture in the living room /formal parlor . . . furniture that could double as perhaps a place for desserts or drinks during parties? The first thing that comes to my mind is a drop-leaf table, which could sit behind a sofa everyday . . . but could fold out to serve for parties. I do like the butler's pantry concept. For example, it could allow you to plate salads . . . and then they're ready to pass down the table. Well, I thought I had more ideas than two. I guess I didn't. Another vote against the fluorescent light. We had one in a rental house in which I lived years ago, and -- yeah -- it puts out some serious light, but it was very ugly and today would be considered outdated. Your kitchen will be visible from your very-important dining room. Your choices aren't fluorescent lights or pot lights -- other options do exist. Most importantly, consider the function of that light: You're going to be standing in the kitchen facing the wall . . . and if your main light is a big ceiling light behind you, your shadow is falling on your work. In this kitchen, undercabinet lighting is essential. You can also use pendants...

Thank you so much for the links! nycbluedevil - here is the link to your threads. Your kitchen and bathroom are beautiful. It looks like you used stained walnut for your kitchen and stained rift cut oak for your bath. Beautiful! http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1011163919891.html http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bath/msg0622101018782.html detroit_burb - those links are great! I am really torn. We are stuck with clear coat, plain sawn red oak floors which are pretty grainy. We are going for a more updated clean line contemporary look with our ranch style house. My concern with the walnut cabinets is that the grain will compete with the grain of the floor hence the interest in rift cut oak as an alternative. But I really like the color of natural walnut - nice too that it's a little easier on the budget because we would just clear coat it rather than stain it. If we go rift cut - we would have to stain it to get the darker contrasting cabinet color that I think the space needs but it's more expensive and I wonder if it's too modern. Ugh. This is the decision I've obsessed about the most. Bathrooms were easy! Lighting easy! It's just these cabinets! Any thoughts greatly appreciated. I just saw this thread too which helped - but still I'm wondering about how it all works with the red oak floors. Following this post too... Here is a link that might be useful: Thread on rift cut oak, mid century and other options