Furniture – Daryle Lambert's Antiques and Collectibles Blog – I don't often do furniture

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Over the years, I have told you that if something is larger than a bread box it usually isn't for me. This is especially true for furniture. There are, however, exceptions. I am going to tell you about a piece of furniture that is always in demand and you don't have to worry about its size.

Can you guess what I'm talking about? I will give you a clue. It comes in many pieces. Give up? Well, it is a set of lawyer bookcases. The surprising thing to me is how many different types of them there are. Yes, I know they can come in stacks as high as 8 or 10. There are also several companies that produced them and it seems people collect certain ones by different companies.

These bookcases can have legs or bottoms that hold drawers and that makes a difference in their price. What is the same about stacked bookcases is that they can be separated into sections. First there is a top and bottom, which I understand represents a unit, and then each section counts as one unit. This makes them very easy to transport and that is why they are an exception to my rule on furniture.

I purchased a set of 5 and a set of 4 but they are entirely different from one another. In fact, I am going to be at the warehouse tomorrow looking at their labels and styles because I listed them on Craig's List. The reason for that is I don't wish to ship them and by listing in the Chicago area they can be picked up.

These bookcases are something that you should be able to at least double you money on if they are purchased right. I have found that the cheapest set of 5 units will bring $500 and up, depending on the set. There are many of these sets that will bring $200 a unit, so you are talking about $1000. If the glass is covered by metal with a leaded glass design, your price might go to $1500 or $2000.

The next exception to my don't buy furniture rule is miniatures or salesman samples. These pieces were designed by the best craftsmen of the day. Depending on its quality, a miniature desk or chest might bring upwards of $5000 or more. They are usually exact copies of the original full scale piece. The dovetailing and inlay is often amazing and the woods used were often the most expensive available.

As you can see these exceptions can really make you money so keep an eye out for them.

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