New Dining Set

After months of searching, and a few near misses with other sets, I've finally acquired a beautiful new dining set.

I found it at an antique store my mom and I ended up at when we drove down to Wrentham to check out a different- hugely overpriced and disappointing- antique store.
On our way back home we passed a hand-painted sign that said "My Grandmother Had That...Antiques" with a lovely little, well-used cabinet under it priced at $20. It seemed promising, so we decided to brave the mud and muck in the driveway and check it out.
What a good decision that was!
Buried under about 5 other pieces of furniture was this solid oak table from the 30's, with great carved detail. (It was the legs that got me!) When we asked about it the proprietress informed us that it had 6 matching chairs as well as a matching buffet!

The whole set needed a good cleaning and touch-up.

Murphy, Johnson and Old English to the rescue!

That would be Murphy's Oil Soap, Old English Scratch Cover, and Johnson's Paste Wax (in that order.) Check out what a difference it made on these chairs!

The one on the right has had the full treatment, the one on the left is how I found them (minus the dust...)

And you remember that buffet I was repairing last weekend? Well, it's all fixed now!


The front of the buffet has been cleaned, but not coated and waxed so the color will deepen on that a bit.
Actually, I haven't gotten around to the base of the table either! If you scroll back up to the close up of the legs you can see the difference between the table leg, which hasn't been waxed, and the chair, which has.
But isn't it pretty? And I LOOOOVE the storage room in the buffet! I'm already planning how to set the top...

I call it my Hogwart's set because of the random faux-crest on the chairs and buffet:


The best part? The table practically doubles in length when you pull the leaves out!

I can seat 10 people! Without bringing in another table! Christmas is going to be so much more comfortable this year... (assuming I buy 4 more chairs by then...)

The second best part? I got the whole set for under $1,000!

Inside the top drawer there is this copper plaque:

It says "Quality Lincoln Furniture" and has a picture of Lincoln on it, just like a penny. I haven't been able to find any information out about that, but it'll be something interesting to keep an eye out for! That's one of the things I love about antiques, the story!

And you remember that lovely, well-used $20 cabinet? That went home with Mom!