Oooooh, definitely after. I have moved 5 times in 4 years, and I'm beginning to think of myself as a pro. Even when you're very, very careful... things get broken, scratched, or dinged. There's nothing worse than chipping a brand new paint job.

And, honestly, I love your desk in red. If I were to paint it, I would keep it a rich red, and do a darker shade of red on the cubbies. It would be very subtle, but would look very professional. Plus, you might be less likely to tire of the colors!

Don't forget though- if you're going to repaint, get all of the old paint off first, or it will be lumpy and will have odd color variations (like the walls of my rental... *sigh*)

AFTER.

1- Paint it after the move.
2 - Once again - It's kinda tough to choose an appropriate color with out the context of the space it's going to be living in.

Adorable desk! I like the current color as well... the idea of painting the interior would be striking. My vote is for a minty blue-green, or a sunny yellow (unless you keep pens or make-up in there which would dirty it up). Also, getting new knobs for those little drawers would help accent its little details.

I think dark grey. But then I always want to paint things dark grey. I'd say paint it before - I've just been painting furniture on a new floor and have managed to get paint on it even though I tried really hard not to!

My vote's for deeper red or black.

P.S. AFTER!

People, stop asking for color suggestions without a context (and AT stop posting them)! I mean, if 30 people tell you pink and you hate pink, then you've completely wasted your time! I really fail to see how it is helpful to get random colors thrown at you. It is not like there is one out there you aren't aware of.

The wording of your post makes it seem like not a lot of other stuff is going so, assuming you don't have other furniture for the space or know which in which room it is going to live, I would say wait to paint it until you see how the piece fits in your new space and what the lighting is like.

I do like the idea of painting the inside of the cubbies a darker shade.

Hey, that's my desk, so I'll answer your questions (you're right, it's hard to answer this out of context). I'm not really opposed to any color (except pink!) but I'd like to stay away from staining this a wood color or going entirely black/white--I'm hoping to add a dash of color, since my walls will have to stay white (darn rental rules!)

Plenty of other furniture is going...but this is by far the most interesting piece, so hopefully it'll be a feature in either the bedroom or living room area...

if that were my desk and i was painting it, i would paint it dark grey with yellow on the drawers or inside the cubbies.

Or it could look cool with the inside of the cubbies yellow. Drawer fronts grey but the inside of drawer (both literally the inside and the sides of the draer itself that hide when you close it) yellow, so it just pops when you open it.

But hey that's me, i have been gravitating towards yellow and grey a lot lately.

I'd really like that desk a lot too, 24" imac on the top shelf part in the back, and bam. Although i need a lot lot more storage.

I'm all about dressing it up with new (perhaps patterned) lining paper in the back of the cubbies and inside, plus new accessories as well as keliz's idea for new knobs. Do you have a special or matching chair? I think it's great you're attached to a personal piece of furniture. Every time I see a desk in an antique shop I wonder who owned it, etc. Much happiness, Jess.

After. You don't want all that work to get dinged up, and maybe you'll want to live in the space before you decide what color go paint the desk.

always paint after, and don't do two-tone....tacky. but the current color seems great, especially next to that fabric draped on the radiator. seems like the desk & fabric look great together. maybe the desk can go in front of a window and you use that fabric for the curtains? maybe it's the walls in the room you'll put it in that you'd want to paint.

Paint it in your new apartment, and by all means, before you start painting, cover the floors with a huge plastic sheet, let's say at least 3x3m, and put the table in the center of it. Also, When you finish painting, take off your shoes before you step on the unprotected part of flooring, just in case your shoe got a bit of paint on the sole. If the paint does spritz, you can quickly wipe it with a cloth dipped in thinner while it's still wet. Or if it's dry, and there are just a few specks of paint, maybe caaaarefully scrape it with a graphic knife or a scalpel.

Yes, wait until you get there. Meanwhile, be thinking about what you'd want to put on it. Personally I can absolutely picture one of those pretty white Macs on it, and painting it completely white to go with it, but I can be VERY geeky that way.

I painted the inside of my computer armoire black, because my computer is black. And I love it.

Turquoise!

"...and by all means, before you start painting, cover the floors with a huge plastic sheet, let's say at least 3x3m, and put the table in the center of it..."

Um - She's much better off getting a reusable painters canvas...

...they don't cost much more, they last forever, and paint splatters don't sit on top waiting for someone to step into them and track them across the apartment.

leave the cranberry!

After- definitely after! I love the color, but instead of painting a highlight color, I like the idea of lining the cubbies with patterned paper. And were it mine, I'd have to get a couple of sparkly cut glass knobs for the two drawers. What a great little desk!