I'm partial to stained wood.

Minwax has a line of stains with colors(non wood ones) that I think would be a good choice. I used a green one for a window seat and the product is very good and a nice alternative to paint at times. I think this might be your best choice. There is a small brochure with all the choices.

Boy, is that ever going to be cute with that sink and vanity in there. Beautiful tile, too. I'm not sure your first choice for paint (mourning dove) is going to be the best. It looks like it is not similar enough or contrasted enough to the wall color or the sink. Is the cabinet oak? If so, I guess it would depend on whether you like stained oak or not. I think any darker wood color would complement what you have installed, but I might pick a contrasting paint color that you like and want to use in the bathroom. If it were mine, I'd do a dark gray or a navy blue because it would go well with the yellow and cream you already have there.

I'd stain it! One thought it's easy to paint a stained piece if you don't like it, but harder to go back to stain after paint.

Always ;-)
Hunzi

Another vote for staining it. With all of those pale colors, a stained vanity will add some contrast, not to mention really highlighting that special sink.

It doesn't look like the wood is really stain quality. I'm afraid the stain would not "take" evenly, and the result would not look good. If you paint, you could pick up one of the colors in the mosaic tile in the back of the niche. Since your walls and tile are light, I'd go for something medium-dark to provide some contrast but not too much. That's just my opinion, of course!

Right, jill thanks for the reality check, I kind of forgot about the fact that I used pretty cheap pine / plywood because I didn't know how it was going to come out and I always planned to paint it. Even if I did wood conditioner I probably wouldn't get a great stain result.

I might try doing the mourning dove with a glazed / distressed finish over it. Something like this:

The pullouts aren't perfect and the drawers are a little wonky so if I don't get the best finish ever it won't be that bad. I'd be a little more hesitant if I had made a better cabinet.

Is the distressed look too cheeseball? Should I still try to stain even though it's a mix of pine, birch ply and ... poplar maybe? I'm not discounting the majority here that is voting for stain, and my wife and I did talk about the fact that we can always just paint over the stain if it comes out blochy and uneven.

What about just staining the top rim section ala this:

(both links from this blog )

This is admittedly subjective, but we vastly prefer staining wood to retain and emphasize its beautiful graining. It would be very hard to ever paint over cabinet/furniture-grade woodworking. However, some man-made material like MDF is obviously designed to be painted over.

If you decide to stain, you may want to consider experimenting by mixing stains to achieve a custom, closer matching tint. I would also encourage applying MagnaMax as a final topcoat for a clear, protective lacquer finish.

Here is a link that might be useful: Master bathroom renovation underway...

Love the sink, how about Milk Paint for the cabinet?

My rule of thumb:

Cheap Wood, Cheap construction - Paint it
Cheap wood, good construction - Stain it, Polyurethane it
Expensive (tropical hardwood) wood, cheap construction - poly it, no stain
Expensive wood, good construction - Waterlox or other multistep finishing (no stain).

I would avoid milk paint. I had it on kitchen cabinets and while it has a lovely look the upkeep is difficult. I would consider it to be a fussy surface. The reason I mentioned the colored Minwax line is because the wood doesn't have to be of stain quality.

A clear top coat on the milk paint would take care of any fussiness, and I think the look of milk paint would go wonderfully with the vintage sink.

Here is a link that might be useful: Milk Paint