Antique Buffet At Last
It has been almost two months since my last update and there is a lot to catch up on. But one of the most exciting developments is also the most recent: I finally found a buffet for the dining room.
Whether there was originally a built-in buffet in the dining room, I haven’t been able to determine for sure. But I’ve felt for a long time that there ought to be a buffet on the dining room wall between the doors to the kitchen and upstairs. Now that space is filled.
I found this antique oak buffet on Craigslist, and picked it up just a few miles south of the city. It isn’t in perfect condition, but the finish looks original and it is a great match for the house. The price was very reasonable, too– an absolute necessity considering how hard my kids have been on the furniture lately.
A Craigslist Tip
Did you know that you can subscribe to your favorite Craigslist searches in your blog feed reader? That’s how I found my buffet.
Just enter your search criteria in Craigslist, then scroll down to the bottom of the results page. In the lower right corner you will find an RSS link. Right-click the link and then select “copy link address” from the pop-up menu. Then open your feed reader (I use Google Reader) and paste that link address as a new subscription.
Now, whenever new items matching your search are added to your local Craigslist site, you’ll get notified in your feed reader.
I find that this technique saves me time by showing me only the content I want to see, and it helps me respond quickly after items are listed.
Happy hunting!
Tags: antique, craigslist, Dining Room
14 Responses to “Antique Buffet At Last”
That buffet is superb! And I love the rss feed on craigslist – though it gets me into trouble!
Gorgeous! What a perfect piece for your bungalow. I wish we had room for a buffet like that in ours; I’ve always wanted one.
@Sarah- You’re right about the trouble with Craigslist. I nearly bought a vintage stove this summer before I realized that the last thing I needed was another project in my garage.
@Denise- Thanks! The people I bought the buffet from decided they didn’t have space for it in their dining room either.
Early this year we were looking for a craftsman style dresser… I went bonkers with the craigslist RSS feeds and put in all types of variables from up to 500 miles away. I spent more time craigslisting for the dresser than I did working! We ended up not buying anything. Here in Los Angeles 99% of the items are gone within minutes of calling unfortunately. Although, I did find something spectacular recently on CL that I will start blogging about. A major renovation that started with an important craigslist find. I lucked out to say the least.
It looks Great! It looks like it belongs there. I love great finds, and I especially love Craigslist.
Dang! To quote, “I DID NOT KNOW THAT.” You’ve just made my life easier ten fold! Awesome! Now I can stop trolling Craigslist all day & let my Reader do all the work.
Oh your my hero. I tell my husband every single, why can’t I save my searches on craigslist… ??
and yet you solved it. Glad I found you through the true value blogger thinga-ma-bob…
bookmarking your great spot here.
And just lovely lovely buffet.. really really.
@KK & Leslie- Happy to help! Now just don’t get yourselves into trouble when all those irresistible Craigslist finds start delivering themselves to your feed reader.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words about the buffet. After having it nearly a month, it is like Domesticated said: it feels like the buffet truly belongs here.
That is PERFECT for the space. Thanks for the Craigslist tip, by the way. The good pieces always go fast.
Kelly
http://tearinguphouses.blogspot.com
We found our buffet through Craigslist in the same way! All ours needed was a little repair to hold the backing and some deep cleaning.
Don’t know if you’ve covered this in other areas, but we’ve found these products useful (we did furiture restoration for years in the apartment before graduating big time to home restoration):
- Murphy’s Oil Soap: It does a good job cleaning deep stains, but will take out the finish if you keep rubbing too long.
- Howard Feed-N-Wax: Orange Oil + Beeswax = awesome! The orange oil dissolves the wax, penetrates deep, and when it evaporates over time leaves the beeswax behind. It can tint some wood a little orange. Ace Hardware and Antique Malls.
- Kramer’s Best Antique Improver… Found in antique malls, this pricey stuff is reserved for the hardest of finish improvements, but it does the job. I really wish I knew the formula to make it on my own.
- I use the regular Johnson’s floor wax on my hand tools to keep them from rusting… seems to do a great job.
- In rare instances I have used a cotton swab with different stains to re-stain deep scratches back to match the finish of some old pieces…
Thanks for the product recommendations, Michael. I’m still learning proper care of antique furniture, so your experience is very helpful.
Can I seriously ask you how much you paid for this piece. I know of one very similar and want to know what I might expect to pay for it.
I have one almost like it. Mine has the original plastic and wood wheels. It has been in my family for alot of years. I don’t know nothing about them except that it is beautiful and heavy..
Dwayne, sorry I missed your comment until now. If you’re still checking this post, prices for these furniture pieces varies wildly from a couple hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on manufacturer, condition, and location. My buffet is off-brand with some flaws including a big split in the wood top that was priced at the bottom of that range.