1/26/09

Decorating Dilemma- HELP!

I found a great dresser today at lunch in a thrift store. I love Mid-Century Modern (MCM) furniture but have a hard time finding any- and there it was at the thrift store. The dresser is only $100 with a head board (we have the money on hand thanks to generous grandparents who give cash for Christmas).

My only hesitation is that it is not a true vintage piece. Although it may have been made 50 years ago, the dresser is not solid wood but a veneer. I also think I detected plastic parts -ick! Now, if this was a better made dresser it would likely be 5-7x more expensive - so I can get the look but for less. However, I still hesitate if it is worth it. The furniture we have now is fine - it works - yes it's IKEA, but it works. Do I buy this piece now or do I hold out for a few years until we can afford a quality piece? If I truly had my way I would have a fantastic, well made, dove and tail jointed, solid wood, TRUE antique dresser. Something from the Chippendale era or maybe Georgian - kind of like this-

Not exactly like this but similar, something so amazing I couldn't even find a picture of it online. I would pair it with an upholstered tufted head board. I like a little softer and romantic lines for the master bedroom in general. (We actually found two dream pieces a few months ago down in the arts district but didn't have the 2 grand on hand to purchase them- still sad.) I also think Jeff would prefer something a little more traditional around the house. Right now we are very modern and sleek, he prefers hand carved, sturdy, and timeless.

So my question is, do I buy the cheaper imitation right now that is a great bargain or should we wait and get something more substantial and grand down the road? Another option would be to buy now and buy later. The thrift store dresser could be passed down to a child or a guest room down the road.

Also to note- I most likely will never have the grand house that would pull off a great antique piece of furniture. We live in Las Vegas after all- the most antique thing you can buy here that fits it's geographic location is Mid-Century. Something from the 1800-1920's might look out of place.

7 comments:

Sandy :) said...

I say go for the cheaper piece now--it looks fine. I think anything over 40 years old is considered vintage-- You can stain it, etc. It looks like the dresser of a bedroom set my parents bought in 1958~ They had the set cherry stained, it looks great. Gor for it. My friend loves mid-century design and her sister decorates in that time period. I can connect you with them, if need be. Sandy:)

PS Love the blog, Amber--I just started one as well.

Shane Hood said...

I say go for it as well, most vintage pieces you find are going to be veneered, which I don't think is a bad word. It may not be a name piece but it is definitely still mid-century modern, true vintage. Very few pieces made in the 50's and 60's were by names or made of solid wood. The majority were like this piece, probably not a big name, but still modern.

-shane
www.lortondale.blogspot.com

Lushpad said...

If you like it, then it doesn't matter if it's not solid wood. I have a beautiful rosewood credenza that has veneer on the doors, but I still love it because looking at it makes me happy!

Check out some credenza's on lushpad.com - You might find some others you like there too.

Jacob and Emily said...

buy now and if you find something better later - sell the first piece on criagslist! It's a win win situation!

Anonymous said...

go for the bargain furniture, it doesn't matter if it immitation of the class product, it same just the branded furniture,. you can save money for that.

The Bames said...

Thanks for the advice.

We ended up buying it yesterday afternoon. It was $100, I figured how much can I really be risking? The more I looked at it in our house last night the more I knew we made the right decision.

Plus we sold our current IKEA bed frame on Craigslist this morning for $120- double score!!Big box style slowing leaving, personal style slowing coming:)

Sarah said...

Great choice. I agree with the others. We have been slowly adding stuff that fits our style to our house too.