apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Don't remuddle it. It looks beautiful as is.

It's beautiful as is--please don't paint it or otherwise try to make it into something it's not. If you want modern and funky, why not do that by hanging a big bold piece of art right over it, and/or putting some of your favorite modern tchotchkes on it? Some of the best "modern" looking house tours on this site (in my opinion) have been ones where the homeowners embraced antiques into their design to acheive an eclectic, personal, and organic style.

I can't even get past the fact that your dad ripped it out already, bastardizing the poor building it came from (I can't imagine what he's done to the rest of the place), and now you want to destroy it. ugh. So so so sad.

i agree with above. I have a modern place and love to mix in antiques. Clean it up with Murphy's Oil Soap, maybe get a piece of Marble cut for the top, put a modern lamp on it and a piece of Modern art over.

Maybe a big black and white piece.

Done.

New knobs (save the old ones) and please don't paint it. The wood and finish look like they're on good condition, so you may just want to clean and wax it. Does it need a top? It's hard to tell from the photo.

Don't be afraid to paint this piece. If funky is what you want, paint it a high gloss color - something dark that might complement your room. It was free after all. I doubt that it will be heading to the Antiques Road Show any time soon.

I agree with irc and hyzen. I'd give it a good cleaning with a nice wood cleaner and then use it as is. You could try a nice crisp runner on the top and maybe a beautiful modern bowl.

I would swap the knobs out for milk glass and cover the top and inner door panels with come ikat like wallpaper that fit with your rustic/red theme. With a sunburst mirror over it you would be ready to roll. ;)

What a sweet score! Looks like it just needs a touch of polish and maybe some new drawer pulls. It's really lovely, and would add a great contrast to edgier, modern surroundings without a great deal of work from you.

I agree with most posters that this piece is best left alone. I would change the knobs to something interesting and unexpected and put a thick glass top (like 3/4") on the top. That will protect it and add a contemporary element.

i have almost the exact same empire style sideboard in my modern funky house. it works. mine has a mirrored back splash that I painted orange in a funky leaf design. modern accessories go on the side. the paint will scrape right off and not ruin the piece, but is cool and funky for now. if yours needs a top, get a mirror cut! then get some of those fun wall stickers and put it on the mirror (or paint it like i did, in red to match your decor). or maybe you could get a funky fabric and wrap it around the two doors, attach on the inner panel so as to keep the sideboard intact? it is lovely, enjoy!

This is a fantastic piece. Don't paint it: you'll destroy the patina and character. Instead, try changing the knobs to something that emphasizes the straight lines of the piece, like these:

http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1278231&navCount=1

Finally, purchase a block of marble or granite in black or brown or a color that pulls in both the dark brown of the new knobs and the colors in your dining room. Have it polished and cut to size to top the surface. This will offer a more modern take on a very cool sideboard. Then send us the finished picture! Can't wait to see it. (Keep the old knobs: you never know.)

don't do anything permanent, but replace the knobs with these: http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=19201&catalog=room&category=rm_accessories&subcategory=acc_knob_pull

and save the original knobs.

have a piece of dark marble or granite cut (that will hang over by a couple of inches) for the top. use restor-a-finish, in maple-pine (doesn't add much color) to refresh the wood.

and, as suggested above, modern artwork, or a great modern poster or mirror above the sideboard.

The wood is beautiful. Get some beeswax polish and you will be amazed at the richess. Get as modern and funky as you want to be with art and accessories. The contrast will add vitality and originality to your room, but please love that gorgeous sideboard or sell it to someone who will.

I agree... Don't paint it. Clean and polish it. It will look more modern once it has a nice shine (that doesn't come from paint).

It's hard to conceive exactly without knowing what the room looks like, but a piece of stainless steel cut for the top that wraps over the sides of the existing top could be very interesting.

Good grief. It's not a modern sideboard. There is no modern sideboard in that sideboard. If your dad gave you a 1957 Chevy, would you try to turn that into a Honda Civic? Because it was free?

Sell it to somebody with some sense for hundreds of dollars. Then go on a shopping spree for all the modern, cheap, ready-to-assemble sideboards you want. Target might have some great finds for you with their back-to-school sales. They have fuzzy pink ottoman cubes, too. What exactly about this piece says to you "modern sideboard?"

Why does home ownership/multiple property ownership seem to happen to the people who least appreciate it? I can't help but be astonished. I'm going to tell myself the Victorian house it came out of was terribly damaged by fire and flood and therefore they only way to salvage it was in pieces and by IKEAMcCONDOFYING the burnt husk of a structure. Otherwise, wow. Just, wow.

I agree with everyone else about cleaning it up and getting new, contrasting knobs.

I hate when people try to modernize perfectly nice old pieces by painting them in high-gloss paint and sticking loud fabric, decals, silver leaf and all kinds of crap on them. If you fight the essence of the piece too hard when fixing it up, you'll just end up with junk that you'll get tired of soon. Let this sideboard be what it is.

That sideboard is not modern, and nothing you do can ever make it so.

Sell the piece to a salvage shop that specializes in historic interiors. Some owner renovating their Victorian will pay a ton of money for it, leaving you with money to go buy a modern sideboard.

Barter it! It's beautiful and I think you might find a taker -- a dealer maybe? -- who has something that would better suit your tastes. Good luck--

PS-- I think Chester forgot to take his happy pill today ; )

you either go light or dark color. the structure is perfect. and change the hardware. it is gorgeous. wish i had it. send pic when done with it.

Please, please please don't paint it. The wood is so beautiful!
You could carefully place a custom-cut piece of mirrored glass over the top of it if the wood on top is not in good shape. It's so gorgeous -- it would be such a shame to ruin such a beautiful piece by painting it. It will never look as good painted as it does as is.

If you're looking for modern, just leave it alone -- in an uncrowded room with other modern things, it will look unusual.

Yeah, and after you're done with your project, can I come over with a couple of plastic surgeons and turn your father into a labrador retriever? I'm sure it will work if we just shorten his hind legs a bit.

If you want a modern piece, sell this one and buy what you want. There's no excuse for mindless butchery.

A piece like that should be brought back to its former glory. refinish it, yes, modernize it? NO!

I weep at the thought of ruining this piece of gorgeous furniture! I agree with those who suggest selling it and buying something modern.

Chester, I could not have said it better myself. I'm still mad about this poor house the piece came from, I can't stop thinking about it.

I agree that the best thing to do is sell this to someone who will appreciate it for what it is: a gorgeous built in that should have been left where it was. I try to be civil on AT, but this just makes my heart hurt.

Silver leaf the whole piece and put some bold knobs on it. Or do a high gloss black paint on the whole thing, I did this on some old furniture it looks great. Better you use it then it just sits in storage, it's just furniture have fun.

I agree with almost everyone....I wouldn't damage it with paint or even change the knobs, I would just polish it good. The best way to make this fit in a modern space is through accessories. Why ruin a beautiful piece of furniture. There's so many people out there looking for vintage furniture just like this because it's from a time when people built things of quality.

i think chester and michpc need to get a grip. "I'm still mad about this poor house the piece came from, I can't stop thinking about it."... maybe you need to find something that actually involves you to think about?

i am all for painting furniture. i'm in the middle of painting a sideboard right now, actually. it's nothing as special as this one, though, and made out of my least favorite wood, the dreaded white oak. if it were old, i would have maybe found someone to buy it, but it's not. it's just stained, vaguely country-looking oak. i'll like it a lot better when it's done.

now... about THIS sideboard? i'd do one of 2 things - 1. clean it up, give it a good waxing and let it be what it is. things don't have to match, you know. 2. find a dealer of such things and sell it. that way, you could buy something that is modern.

Craigslist it hun. There is someone out there that's looking for it just exactly as it is. Then you have cash to shop for exactly what YOU want. Win-win.

Sell it to someone who actually cares about it, then buy yourself a sideboard-in-a-box.

I think it's perfect. The only think I'd do is put her on 3" casters so you can scoot her around. She's beautiful. Don't change her.

you could sell this for quite a bit of money and then buy yourself three crappy modern sideboards to change out at a whim.

I would kill for that sideboard in my formerly burned-out-husk of a Victorian. I would gladly rip out the "modern" cabinets and kitchen island that serve as place holders until I come across real gems, such as this sideboard, to add original character back to the house.

People like me who are endlessly searching for lost architectural details in an attempt to breathe life back into a forgotten home would snap this piece up in a second.

If it's not your taste, sell it consignment at a salvage place for top dollar. ... or make people like me intoxicatedly happy and Craigslist it.

Wow. Two things.

You can always paint it (I just painted my hate-it-but-can't-afford-another bookshelf high gloss super purple and like it significantly more). Maybe a really bold dark blue?

OR, you can sell it and get something you like more. Apparently AT has a jerk-filter in beta, where all the nice, helpful things people suggest to other people trying to improve their lives through making their spaces more reflect themselves are translated into the bit**iest possible thing. It's yours. There's nothing saying you have to keep it the same if you don't like it. There's also nothing saying you have to change it. You can try it in the room unchanged, and if it stinks, you can try to change it. Or if you think that will be too much of a stretch (sometimes it is with antiques), you can hawk it at... according to ^^^, pretty much anywhere, since the entire world is dying for one.

This piece does look like it's in good condition, but if you hate it, there's no reason to keep it looking like it does (or cleaned up and polished or whatever).

Yowza, people. You guys HAVE noticed this piece of furniture is not actually a golden retriever, right?

It is quite nice, and you may find once you get it in your place that it works for you more than you thought. I would try switching out the knobs to something a little more attention-grabbing and putting on a stone top, as others have suggested. If it still isn't your bag, sell it.

Chester, MichPC, et al have it right - What a shame that this unique piece has been ripped from the place where it's survived the past hundred years for the sake of "Modernism"...
...as if we don't have enough former Victorians with beige stucco siding, aluminum windows, hollowcore doors, IKEA kitchens and bland sheetrock interiors already.

If you don't wish to refurbish it to ermphasize it's natural beauty, please sell it to a place that specializes in original vintage fixtures for old homes such as Omega Salvage so that someone else can appreciate it.

Peace, Jennevieve. Sometimes people in here forget that people are more important than furniture. :)

Having said that, DO NOT PAINT THIS! Sell it on Craigslist, and then take the money and buy what you really want. Free --> $$. Good equation.

If this had been a precious heirloom your father gave you, I'd understand your reluctance to part with it, but seems that neither of you have any emotional ties to it. (And if it were a precious heirloom, I'd still scream, "DO NOT PAINT THIS!")

I was just commenting the other day that some pieces of furniture - like sideboards and china cabinets - were terribly essential in their day, but not much desired nowadays. I can see how hard it would be to find a modern sideboard.

There are all kinds of MCM things at Salvation Army stores all over. They're not Eames, for sure, but a lot of times they're really solid wood pieces, built for the masses in a 1960s-proto-Ikea kind of way. Since they're often scratched and not "fine" to begin with, you can paint them and not worry about the lovely history.

GET WHAT YOU WANT.

Seriously, if you don't want this, think about selling it - even in here, on the classifieds. I'm looking at it and thinking it could make an awesome office organizer. What great tiger oak!

Wow...it would be nice if some people had as much respect for other people as they apparently do for a ....FREAKIN' PIECE OF FURNITURE. Some perspective would be nice. As much as we all like Interior Design, I think that there are some people on here who might need regular therapy, not just Apartment Therapy. I don't want to get in a flaming war, with anyone, so please don't write back that we all get to have an opinion, however strongly voiced. A reader wrote in asking a viable question and some of the vitriol sent her way was frankly, surprising. Nobody on here can really tell what kind of shape the piece is in...I didn't see a picture or description of the back or bottom or inside. Nobody knows why her dad pulled it out of a remodeling job (maybe the owner or Interior designer insisted and his job was to do as he was asked), and just because someone likes Modern/Funky, does not mean they want to sell the piece and buy something "crappy" or at the Back to School Sale at Target. It also doesn't mean that they don't appreciate what they've got. So seriously, it would be nice to take it down a notch and find something better to "weep" about. Opinion is one thing. Disparaging another member (and their FAMILY) of the AT community is another.

Jennevieve - you've obviously been given lots of great ideas from lots of lovely people. At the end of the day, it's your piece of furniture so do what you want to it. Sell it, paint it, polish it, buy a top for it, paint clown faces on it if that makes you happy-- whatever you settle on -- Good Luck to you! Don't let the haters get you down!

If you want a truly modern sideboard, then I agree that you should sell this piece to someone who loves it for what it is. This lovely victorian could probably get you quite a bit towards a lovely danish modern! I am all for repurposing old unwanted furniture with no value, but as you can tell from some of the emotional responses above, this antique will have plenty of value to the right person. Plus, it will only get more valuable as time goes by so long as you try to conserve it or repair it to its original state. Painting a beautiful old piece like that is always a shame.

I know you have your heart set on modern, but I too love a modern house with some antiques thrown in to create an eclectic mix. With the right things on top of and next to it you might find it works!

I wouldn't rule out painting it. But the first thing I'd do is put some legs or feet on it -- it looks awkward sitting flat on the floor, IMO.

Since when does liking modern furniture=back to school furniture from Target?

Sure it's hers to do with as she wishes, but she did ask for advice. And people were (more or less politely) giving her their perspectives on the matter. The majority thinks that the sideboard seems to be in good shape and is never going to look like a mid-century piece, so the advice (leave it alone or sell it) is sound.

I mean, unless you really think an 'update' will improve it. And given some of the 'updates' I've seen featured on this very site, I doubt the sideboard can be 'modernized' without the end result looking cheap and forced.

I think all those people who painted, foiled, mirrored, decoupaged, and otherwise 'updated' perfectly good old pieces of furniture are going to regret it as much as all those people who painted their brick and woodwork back in the '90s.

Your dining room has a rustic table and yet you want a "modern, funky" sideboard? I'm all about the ecelcticism but I don't think this sort of ad hoc approach will work. To juxtapose the modernist and the rustic, you'll need a GENUINE modern piece, not a Victorian sideboard painted gloss black with new knobs on it.

Some of those front panels appear to be veneered. Painting a veneered piece of furniture is a one-way trip: paint strippers will basically wreck the veneer. Unless you're very sure of your skill and taste (and the fact that you've written to AT suggests that you aren't) you're better off to leave it alone.

Polish it up, repair any damage, line the interior with some sexy paper (which will be easy to undo later) if you really must, and enjoy it for what it is.

My god. That's empire tiger oak. Why would you take a 150 year old sideboard and "modernize" it? Yikes. Please, please, leave it be. Collectors spend years digging what's left of these out, and yours is in spectacular condition.

Disagree.

So what if it is in good condition? There are tons of similiar pieces out there for those who want that. For the rest of us - who just find this boring and outdate - some paint will make wonders.

I would go for a shiny, all-white color, but I do not think that would match your room.

No, there are not "tons of similar pieces out there." That's exactly why this frustrates some of us. It would be basically impossible to recreate something like this now, given the rarity and cost of certain woods/veneers and the scarcity of truly gifted woodworkers. There is a finite number of these pieces, and every time some idiot screws one up, there's -1.

The number of pieces of incredible craftsmanship will continue to dwindle as real furniture is replaced with the cardboard IKEA stuff. Hey, I love IKEA, it's what I can afford now, but let's not pretend it's the same as say, this sideboard. There will be fewer and fewer of these pieces, and these pieces, if taken care of, will outlive their owners, as they already have several times. So as vintage and antiques become rarer and rarer, high quality furniture - new or used - will increasingly become only for the rich.

If you look at it that way - never mind whatever artifact value this has historically and culturally - then it seems at the very least a little selfish to go mucking up a rare thing so that no one else will be able to enjoy it, doesn't it? Or should us proles be content to visit the Smithsonian in order to see furniture that wasn't made out of recycled toilet paper in China?

Evergirl, there are not "tons" of these anywhere. This is a rare and valuable piece of furniture and it makes me want to tear my hair out at the thought someone will give it a paint and wallpaper treatment for the sake of a few years' enjoyment of a momentary decorating fad .
It's absolutely abhorrent and disrespectful to the artisan that created this to even consider such a thing (how many of these are moldering in thrift shops in avacado green and eighties-style blue spongepaint?).

fwiw, i dont know what cities you all live in where the victorians are in great shape and would never warrant remodeling, but if you are interested in purchasing a victorian of your own that might not even need that much love, come to pittsburgh. we have tons. some of them are being refurbished and some are still vacant like they have been for 15 years. maybe you can find an old sideboard of your very own to covet and get indignant about.

I'd love to hear back about the final dispensation of the sideboard -- original poster -- what are your plans?