apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you are up for a little woodworking you may be able to take off the feet and replace with something else. Same goes for the molding around the bottom of the piece and under the top.

That sideboard is beautiful as is. It would be crazy to paint it. Sell it on Craigslist to someone (me :-) who will appreciate it.

to clean up the lines, you could attach a thin board (masonite?) to the doors...covering the shapes. not sure if the attached pieces would stick out too much. then, you could do the stripes like in the photo.

your sideboard needs some chrome legs and a darker stain. it's beautiful as it tho.

i know we're not supposed to look at the pink and brown explosion, but whoa...that is one ugly lamp!

I think that the stain and pulls date this piece, but it's 100% worth saving.
If it were mine, I'd paint it a medium-high gloss, solid white, and give it some new pulls - possibly glass? I think it could look really lovely. Especially if you ordered a glass top for it to really dress it up.

I fear that I'd never be able to get my paint lines so even. :(

I'm inclined to say that you should paint the sideboard one solid color, with the top surface and the drawer in a contrasting shade. And yes, definitely new handles and pulls!

I think it would be fun to paint the insets and the feet a bold bright color and the rest of it a neutral [white, off white, brown, or charcoal?] to work with the rest the room.

I'd paint that sideboard either a solid black or white, and do the insides of the drawers and cabinet a vivid Chinese Red or Orange...

Well depends on the style you like but if you switch out the pulls and knobs and paint it in any color that fits your home and then distressing the piece. Be sure to paint a nice coat or two of whatever color you want revealed. That would be a nice cottage look.

Otherwise switching the feet, gluing a thin piece of wood that to the doors, and sanding and staining a nice dark tone would be a more modern take.

paint it an accent color and get glass knobs

If you like brocade home type look paint it one solid colour. I took a blah pine dresser this summer and painted the top and sides and greyish white, and the front a very very very pale pink, I love the two tone, and the fact I did it myself.

Glass pulls would be nice. If you were feeling adventurous you could paint the outline of the 'head' you refer to in a contrast, and do the same on the edge of the raised area on the drawers, I think it could look awesome, kind of like the pop of mouldings. My project cost me about $100, took 3 days of sanding, priming, drying, sanding, priming, drying, sanding and finally painting. the only thing i wish I had done was either added a glass top, or sealed it somehow, as lot of things get picked up and put down on it.

I mean that the existing feet painted will kind of look brocade home-y if that didnt make sense....

try changing the hardware first before you paint, to get an idea if you'd still like it with just a little boost. if you still think it's not you even if you paint it.. craigslist it. otherwise, try some bold, bright color.. turquoise or something.. make it pop

The grain on this is lovely. If it were already painted, or the finish was in bad shape, I'd say paint paint paint!

But first, see if the piece has any value. If it's worth more than $500, I'd sell it and buy something that's already in need of a refinishing job.

I had an oak serpentine front dresser that I stripped and repainted two years ago. It was already painted before I got to it, though (it was a hand-me-down, and my aunt, as a teenager, decided it would look better painted a hideous enamel blue and white). I did some research, and if the piece had never been painted, and had the original finish intact, it was worth $500-800. But, as it was, it wasn't worth much, so I stripped and repainted with a clear conscience.

I ended up going with a dove grey and antique glass black drawer pulls. It looks *amazing*, and the detail on it is not all that different from what you have above.

If you are serious about getting a good result, and not just looking for a diy project to spend some time on, have the piece painted in gloss paint in a professional spray booth. Check your local auto body places to see if they will do it for you.

A well executed finish is imperative if you don't want ruin the piece. Oh, and no stripes. The sideboard had way too much going on already.

I would strip it and paint it high-gloss cream with some sort of cool, mellow, seafoamy green on the outlines, as Clairepetrol suggested. That would give it some depth and texture. Agree with the no stripes. I think it would clash with the curvolinear head things.