Posted 7 years ago
MrsMac33
(1 item)
Found this walnut veneer desk yesterday at an antique store's sidewalk flea market. I bought it for $88, and plan to use it in our home office after a little TLC. It's nicely made and very little damage. I'm trying to figure out if I should refinish it nicely, or just shabby chic it. If it was made in the 1980's, as my hubby thinks, I won't feel bad about painting it. If it's any earlier than that, I'd consider putting a lot more time into stripping/repairing nicks/staining. I don't know much about furniture, and what I'm finding online is for dating serious antiques from the 1800s,etc. Any age input would be highly appreciated!
Well older than 1980's. If you get stripper on the veneer you will ruin it.
Agree with fhrjr2-- older than 1980s. I think it is from the second quarter, 20th century. Dovetails are machined.
Also, I don't think it is a desk-- it appears to be a buffet.
I don't see a lot of damage-- looks like some minor touch up work would do the trick.
scott
Guess my perspective was off. I see it next to a chair in the first photo now-- much shorter than I first thought?
scott
I think it is a desk. I would just use some oil on it. The scratches could be covered with an oil walnut scratch remover that you could buy at walmart. They made some of these desks as workhorses, made to withstand time.
I knew I forgot something, to list the dimensions! The piece is 48" wide, 20.5" deep, & 31.5" tall.
Interesting thought that it might be a buffet! Even if that wasn't its originally intended use, it could certainly be used for one!
The veneer does scare me… I've done some projects in my time that required lots of sanding, but I've never used a liquid stripper, so I figured a lot more how-to research would be in order. The veneer is chipped in a few places, so I can certainly see how thin it is.
There is a lot of "build-up" of what I assume is years of funky furniture polish. Any recommendations for a product that will help remove the gunk without ruining the wood and veneer?
I sincerely appreciate all this input.
31.5 makes it a desk or possibly a bedroom piece. Any signs of where a mirror may have been mounted on the back? The knee hole looks like it has had a filler added for storage shelf at some point.
Sorry, when I blew it up I realized there wasn't a filler shelf. It was the floor below. Bad background.
Yep, I didn't get too fussy, I just took pictures of it where it stood in the middle of my living room. But I think you may be onto something with a possible mirror attachment at some point. There's no damage on the top of the piece, but there are some small nail holes on the back that could indicate a couple of brackets for a mirror. Funny, most old vanities I've seen are shorter, but vanities do tend to have fancy trim around the knee hole, like this one.
Well, I have a vanity that belonged to my late mother in law that is 30" high. She would be over 100 years old now but the vanity is pre WWII. I took the mirror off to preserve it. You need to consider and look at all options when you do research.