Should I???????? OPTION II

After several years of looking at thousands of antique bedroom sets, I fell in love with this set.

 

I like the simplicity with dashes of elaborateness.

 

The carving looks, to me, like it is hand-carved rather than machine made. I think it is very beautiful. And distinctive.

 

The set is $1850 which isn’t too bad. But the shipping would be $1300, which freaks me out.

I have not ruled out the set yet, and the seller knows another shipper who might do better on the price.

Yesterday, Jenine found another set, which is but 2.5 hours away! And only $1250!

 

There does not appear to be a footboard, and it looks like a queen-size mattress is simply placed against the headboard. Which would be fine with me. The carving appears to be machine-made.

 

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This second set looks to be of a bit lower quality than the first set. I like set #2 rather than love it. And that makes me nervous. I have not purchased any furnishings for the house I do not love. I love love love every piece of furniture in the parlor and dining room.

Still, #2 is but $1250 vs. #1 at $3150! And, once the Octagon Room is fully furnished and decorated, I am gonna guess that the bedroom set will not register all that much. Mostly, the set will reinforce the period feeling of the room, which is what I mostly want.

Set #2 is still available. The seller listed the set for a friend, and I am waiting for her to forward the friend’s telephone number.

All this is kinda crazy & compulsive as I am like, at best, a year away from getting the suite finished. But, having a bedroom set in advance will help plan the layout and location of lighting and electrical boxes. So, maybe not totally crazy & compulsive! Plus, it been fun thinking about something other than shingling!

 

 

23 Comments

  1. B.davis on January 28, 2020 at 1:39 pm

    I don’t care for number one. I think because of the yellowish hue and detail as an afterthought.

    I love the option two because the details seem on purpose and a part of the beauty. I also prefer the hue of the wood. I think I would be more impressed staying in a room with option two then one.

    My two cents! Ultimately it is YOUR house, your taste!

  2. Tim B on January 28, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    Be sure and check with uship.com. They bid on your shipment and I saved a lot by choosing one of the bids and they insure too.

  3. Martha on January 28, 2020 at 1:54 pm

    It could be the quality of the photographs, but set number one looks like it is much higher quality. The washstand is rather unique with the double doors on the bottom and what looks like a little center drawer. The other set is nice but kind of ho-hum. Since you have time, maybe wait and see if something crops up at auction or estate sales closer to home.

    • Stewart McLean on January 28, 2020 at 3:13 pm

      Set #1 looks like it has been recently refinished, whereas set #2 looks like it is the same quality with an older finish and, being indoors, the light in the pic is darker giving a totally different look to a comparable set.

  4. Kerri on January 28, 2020 at 2:13 pm

    It is such a huge difference in price. Just think how much plaster and paint you
    could buy with that money or you could buy some other item that you need for the room, like the rug, etc.

    At the very least, it’s close enough that you can go look at it in person.
    Maybe you will fall in love with it once you see it or you can rule it out. And…
    road trip!

  5. Doug on January 28, 2020 at 2:58 pm

    Number 2

  6. Steven Radtke on January 28, 2020 at 2:59 pm

    I don’t know if it is the case with these, but very often (almost always) in this era, raised ornamentation such as you are showing on all three things ( mantel, first set, and second set) is moulded composition ornament that is “grained” while it is still wet to look like carved wood. They take a tool and create the incised graining. They are usually made of sawdust and wood fibre with a binder and colorant, and can be stained like wood.

  7. Joni Austenfeld on January 28, 2020 at 3:09 pm

    #2 especially if it will be used in an Airbnb accommodation with stranger after stranger using it. If it were to be for your personal use forever and ever, the first one might be more worthy of the love love loving it price. They are both lovely.

  8. Ally on January 28, 2020 at 3:25 pm

    Just buy ’em both Ross. You have enough bedrooms to put them both to use!

    • AHodson on January 29, 2020 at 5:39 pm

      Yes Both!! Your house is gonna need more than one bedroom set! But only #1 if you can get the shipping cost reduced.

  9. Linda A. on January 28, 2020 at 3:27 pm

    I am with Martha. I like #1 better. But not the price. I don’t care for #2 and I can’t exactly say why. Though the two sets look like “cousins” to me, the 2nd set screams “country”….too much even for Emporia, Kansas. Like it came from the set of the movie “Oklahoma” (though I love that movie!). Now that all of us “Rossonians” know what you are looking for we can be on the hunt for you and inundate you with oodles of choices!! Oh boy!!!😉

  10. Dan Goodall-Williams on January 28, 2020 at 3:57 pm

    I say #2. Two appears that it has not been refinished yet. They seem style wise very similar. It is closer, cheaper and just as nice.

  11. Amy on January 28, 2020 at 4:25 pm

    When I can’t decide to buy or not to buy I wait. If it is gone before you decide it was not meant to be. I recently found a hall tree listed locally online and made an offer to the seller for what it was worth to me. He countered but I still couldn’t decide (Fritz said to go for it but…). The seller came back to me at my price with no further haggling and we got it. Clearly it I was meant to be mine and in the house I Love It!

  12. Melissa Delaunay on January 28, 2020 at 4:28 pm

    If you buy number 2, and don’t like it, could it be use for the third floor bedrooms, or the carriage house? I’m not an expert, so I can’t help you with that, but you can have something you like until you find something you love with a better price…

  13. Jenine on January 28, 2020 at 6:06 pm

    I’m hoping it’s a nice set but I couldn’t blow the pictures up enough to see details, since I was on my phone. I am sure you can get more pictures taken and more specific information from the seller.

  14. Angelica on January 28, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    Hi Ross
    Do not miss the oportunity to buy #2. You can sell it later when you find another one that you like better.
    I like both options. Both will look amazing in the Cross House

  15. Jenine on January 28, 2020 at 7:33 pm

    I ran across this beauty and thought you might have a place for it?

    https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/879855549138069/

    Also, if it turns out the bedroom set I pointed out doesn’t have a foot board, it might be possible for your genius carpenter to make one that matches the basic design? Foot boards don’t have much if any decoration on them usually.

  16. ArtistSusan on January 28, 2020 at 8:53 pm

    Number 2 is a closer thematic match to your mantle and you won’t feel guilty about refinishing it to match your mantle. I still hope you’ll do some fancy silk drapes behind the headboard though, for drama!

  17. Mike on January 29, 2020 at 7:49 am

    2 cents for number two…only you would know the difference. When the room is furnished with one of these sets, you could delete all of the pictures of the two on this blog and I am sure that most of us would not be able to decide for certain which one you picked. The money saved would go a long way on decorating the room, or purchasing furniture for the rest of the suite.

  18. Jenine on January 29, 2020 at 10:48 am

    I think a period appropriate secretary desk, or ladies desk would be nice in the room. People are going to want someplace to use their laptops and charge phones, etc.

  19. Carolyn on January 29, 2020 at 11:44 am

    I spent years being practical and settling for things instead of getting what I loved. Now that I’m older I made a promise to myself that I would only buy things if I loved them even if it meant having less. I think you should go with set #1.

  20. Beth H. on January 29, 2020 at 1:14 pm

    I wish I had your ‘eye’, Ross – I can’t see how #1 is hand-carved and #2 is machine-carved. That said, I do think both are beautiful, but #1 blows me away. I love the simplicity. The set we have is a bit more like #2 (more frou-frou), but the washstand does have the 2 drawers with double doors underneath, just like #1.

    Another thing that I would take into account is the possibility of damage during shipping… if you go pick up the #2 set yourself, you know it’s going to be handled with kid gloves. Even with great shippers, #1 set is going to be handled with less love. I would hate to see it arrive with scratches or worse.

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