david weaver
RTA furniture would do those things for less than the cost of materials for us.

If that doesn't suit, auctions are full of old stuff that needs only a little attention to be good to go for another 100 years.

I've got three pieces of RTA furniture in my house that I'd like to replace. I have to admit, they work just fine for what they are, and my wife is chief in charge of policing so that nothing ever gets a dent in our house (nothing would fare so well if I was to police that).

One of the pieces was $200 (it is, of course, utilitarian at best), and my wife would like me to replace it with something similar made of walnut. It's going to cost me at least a thousand dollars for the wood.