APPRAISER: You've gone to a lot of trouble to bring in this, this piece.

Tell us, uh, how you acquired it.

GUEST: Well, actually, it was at an estate sale in, uh, Lake Forest, Illinois, here.

And they couldn't sell it and they couldn't sell it and they couldn't sell it.

And it got down to the last 15 minutes, and the lady was desperate and said, "Will you t, will you buy it for $900?"

So that's what I bought it for.

APPRAISER: $900?

GUEST: Yes, and I just fell in love with it.

I know nothing about it, but I love it.

APPRAISER: How long ago was this?

GUEST: It was only about three months ago, yeah.

The people who had it, though, had owned it, I believe, for about 20 years.

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

Well, it's very interesting, because what you've brought in is a, a wonderful library, uh, cabinet.

And its inspiration comes from the Sheraton style in England.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: And you see these beautiful veneers and, and, uh, high-quality veneers and inlays.

You see this checker stringing, an inlay that goes down the drawers, and yet it also has a Chippendale cornice.

And you see the blind fretwork which goes across the top here.

And it's a style piece, it's an Edwardian piece.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: Uh, so it was made probably between the, uh around the First World War.

And it's copying a very popular style that, of an early-19th-century form.

But some pieces have a tremendous value, uh, even still, uh, because it's so decorative.

And you can see the wonderful, uh, proportions of the arched windows and, uh, the Gothic top.

It really is a wonderful, compact little piece.

And this is the kind of piece that actually is in demand today, so, when you bought that piece for $900, did you think about it as a decorative piece or were you thinking that, uh, it might be a period piece?

GUEST: Well, I just love antiques, and, um, I wanted it so badly, I told my husband I'd forgo my new carpeting if he would let me have it.

(laughing) So I just wanted it.

It just was gorgeous-- I loved the inlay and everything else.

APPRAISER: So you've, you've foregone getting carpeting in order to buy a piece of furniture?

GUEST: Right, for another year, in order to buy this.

(laughing) APPRAISER: Well, let me tell you something.

I think probably you'll be able to get wall-to-wall carpeting and maybe a little bit more.

Because actually, a piece like this, just on its pure decorative value alone, is worth $5,000 to $7,000.

GUEST: Oh, man!

(laughs) (sighs) APPRAISER: And, uh, it, it could even bring more, uh, because it is such a wonderful, usable piece of furniture for people to put their, their books or their, uh, porcelain collection that, um, it could e, it could even go up higher than that, and, and go to $10,000.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh.

(laughs) I'm really surprised.

I thought maybe $2,000, the way they originally wanted that amount for this.

APPRAISER: No, it's a wonderful, wonderful piece, highly decorative.

And I would say you should go to a good, uh, carpet store and start picking out the best, uh, carpeting that you can... GUEST: To go under it.

APPRAISER: And... GUEST: 'Cause I'm keeping it.

(laughing) APPRAISER: Good, well, congratulations.

GUEST: Thank you very much.

APPRAISER: It's a wonderful piece.