When I painted the dining room ceiling a few weeks ago, eagle-eyed readers might’ve noticed the new buffet in the corner under the plastic dropcloth. I haven’t shown that corner of the dining room often, so it may have been overlooked entirely. I recently acquired the beautiful antique Empire buffet from a local consignment shop after hunting for just the right piece for that corner for over a year.
And here it is! Isn’t it a beauty? I spotted this handsome antique Empire buffet when I stopped in a local secondhand store on a whim just to see what they had. It’s a well-kept shop with a nice rotation of inventory, but the prices can be all over the place. Some really nice pieces are a bargain and others are more expensive than I would expect, but I’ve learned from buying and selling that pricing is always subjective when selling secondhand. Worth lies in the eyes of the person tagging the items.
Anyway, I spotted this buffet and loved it right away. I thought it would be perfect for that corner of the dining room. It had just been brought in and wasn’t priced yet, so I would have to come back another day if I was interested in purchasing it.
I stopped back by the following week and it was still there and had a price tag. Happily, this was one of the pieces that was fairly priced ($425) and I snapped it up. Not only is it a lovely antique, but it’s in excellent condition for its age. All of the drawers and doors work perfectly and all of the original hardware and bone escutcheon are intact. The grain and warmth of the wood are so pretty and those chunky curved legs, which are a trademark of Empire-style furniture, have always been a favorite.
It took a little bit of problem-solving to fit it in the van, but we were able to make it work after a few attempts.
This was the piece I was replacing. It’s a lovely little cabinet, but I originally bought it to use as a shoe cabinet by the side door. It was displaced during our kitchen renovation, so I moved it into the dining room as a placeholder. While I like the cabinet, it didn’t feel right with the other pieces of furniture in the room, so I kept an eye out for something with more presence.
This antique Empire buffet was the perfect size, scale, and style for the room and just what I was looking for. I moved the cabinet down to the basement to use for storing games and puzzles.
My table linens were in a few different cabinets, so I moved them all into this one…
As soon as I opened the door to photograph the interior, the cats were right there to check it out. If you know, you know.
It’s another piece to move the dining room closer to being finished before the holiday season.
The bowl on top is a huge antique bowl my mom gave me. It was in my great-grandmother’s house before it went to my Oma & Opa and then my mom. My mom thinks it was found in an old home in Petersburg, VA, but she wasn’t completely sure of its origins. I know that it is old and big and heavy!
I filled it with antique wooden croquet and bocce balls, but it might get filled with shells at some point. I am running out of display space for my beachcombing finds!
In other dining room news, I painted and caulked the window frame (since that’s going to be white) and took measurements for the trim. We have had over a week of rain and wet weather, so I haven’t been able to get the saw out to start on the picture frame molding. I’m watching rain fall even as I type this. We’re supposed to have sunny skies the remainder of the week along with fall temperatures, so I’m already planning to take advantage of it and get some projects done.
PS – The rabbit painting is sold. I just hung it on some existing nails to enjoy it a little bit before sending it to its new home.
25 Responses
This may be the most beautiful piece of furniture I have ever seen. Everything in the photos is gorgeous. Thank you for sharing.
You have the best eye, sugar. I love that piece more than most pieces. It is perfect and a fair price.
I am excited for your next project and love your home. The kitties have to approve, y’know.
Did you make that garland? Do you have a close up?
It certainly is a beautiful piece! I also like the piece that you originally put in that spot. Is there any place special you could place it?
Absolutely gorgeous! I’m so glad that you found it!
What a stunning piece of furniture! Love all the detail…new furniture can’t, in my humble opinion ,hold a candle to good, old stuff.
Glad to see it got the “kitty seal of approval” because they know good stuff when they see it!
I recently donated the china cabinet of my grandmother’s dining set to a “Fur Kids” thrift store. It sat there for 3-4 weeks until one day it was GONE. I hope and pray that whoever bought it will love their new piece as much as you love yours, and I loved it when I had a use for it. (Not to worry, I still have the buffet, table and chairs.) Enjoy your beautiful new piece!
Haha, yes, I know!
GORGEOUS!!!! Love your new piece. It will fit right in with all the rest in the room. If I saw that at the store, I would be crying that I didn’t have room for it. I love all the pieces I do have and can’t part with them to make room. The “family” bowl is awesome too.
Of course, the kitties had to check out all the good smells that come with a new piece!!!!
The new buffet is beautiful. I could never leave the tassel on the key hanging. My cats would have it pulled off and destroyed in no time.
I think the old cabinet should have been moved to my home. I really love it.
The new cabinet is a stunner and perfect for the rest of the flavor of the room. I’m glad you were able to find it before the holidays.
I love curious kitties. Mine crawled into the refrigerator while I was looking the other way the other night. Glad he didn’t fit all the way in!
Just a thought about your beach treasures; you could re-home some. Sharpie a symbol on them, and see if any of your readers find one. Wouldn’t that be a hoot.
What a find!! I love the bowl and the way you’ve styled it! My question is: are those clay pots with topiaries and are you using china saucers as a base for them? If so, I love that idea too! I get so many cool ideas from your posts!
Your new buffet is absolutely gorgeous! The cats are a real hoot! Thanks for sharing.
It is gorgeous and they cats well… they are cats❤️❤️❤️
Nice to see the rabbit picture hanging before it is gone!
Love love love if I didn’t have a place for it I would sell something to make room for it. Enjoy it. It’s beautiful.
A gorgeous piece. I’m looking forward to seeing your dining room at the holidays.
The buffet is beautiful. My eyes went right to the blue-and-white bowl, though. I love that piece! As usual, your photography and staging is just wonderful, Marian. It’s one of the reasons you’re my favorite blogger!
Your newest piece is beautiful. I am new to your website and use your posts (and book) to motivate and spur me into decorating action. I found a high-end highboy that I love, love, love. I’m still basking in that find. Still trying to get the “old person” smell out (which, I’m sure, was reason for its discounted price) but it’s coming along. Multiple Vodka rinses! Until your website, I was stuck in the “suit” of furniture mode. I love mixing and matching, I love your posts, and I especially love the kitty photo bombs. Precious!
It is an absolutely stunning piece and so perfect there. And I laughed out loud at those adorable curious kitties. Too funny. Well done with that piece, Marian and what a great price, too.
As a chinoiserie lover, my eyes went right to the blue and white Asian motif large bowl as well. With that being said, your new Empire style buffet with its gorgeous grain wood and detailing looks beautiful in its new home. I love how curious your kitties are as they inspect the new piece.
Gorgeous piece of furniture. I love all the details and those chunky legs! Getting excited to see what comes next! Lots of fat heart eyes for those bunnies.
Yes indeed, that buffet looks great.
I do have a question though about all of the old wood furniture pieces that you have. I wonder, how do they SMELL? I ask this because every old piece of wood furniture that I have ever come across, either the ones I inherited (and subsequently sold) or ones I see in stores and yard sales today, they have always got embedded smells in them that are strong and/or cannot be removed. I find this is the case even if the pieces were well taken care of and were not in moldy houses, etc.
Smoke of course is a very prominent smell, I have pieces that are more than 100 years old that still smell of smoke from long ago. But smoke is at least a dead smell, vs. anything moldy that will come to life and regrow with any change in humidity. Do your pieces have noticeable odors? It is such a shame that I see so many gorgeous pieces that just reek and are a big NO.
I have had good results with this method. Thorough cleaning with murphy’s oil soap, let dry and then seal with tung oil or any sealing oil. This keeps the odor sealed so you don’t smell it. Might be worth a try.
Kim, I have found Dixie Belle’s BOSS product to work amazingly well for blocking smells and preventing bleed thru. It also comes in clear or white. My only complaint is that it wasn’t around 15 years ago.
Haha! Regarding cats…. I KNOW!