Now this is one wood I can live with painting. Helping you choose the color would be easier could we see more of the room it's in.

But that would mean cleaning off the table...lol

Good idea. I'll get my camera.

By the way, I've put off painting the little secretary. Those dove tailed drawers are speaking to me. But I have ordered new hardware for it.

That was a great deal on that cabinet--I agree, need to see more of you area to help you out with colors for painting...

Here's the room...
The chairs are destined to be black or a very dark purple. The sofa table 'buffet' has no other home at the moment. I'm open to any and all kinds of suggestions. :0)

Watch out for those pine knots. I had a similar cabinet that I painted white. Never could completely get rid of the knots bleeding through.

Black, or so deep a purple that you're not sure that it's not black. If you prime w/ Kilz or something similar, it will cover the knot holes, but not the dog scratches. Any kind of wood filler should work for those. Are you going to use milk paint or regular paint? Milk paint is kind of fun to work with.

It's very cute and a great find. I would think about just taking the doors off, b/c I'm wondering if there's enough frame there to remove the panels w/out it becoming weakish.

It really is a nice piece.... Have fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: Real Milk Paint (lots of options)

Druidclark, I see what you are saying about the frames not being beefy enough to support the doors with the middles taken out. If the smaller doors were on top....

I have primer ready and waiting to apply.

I love the thoughts and ideas everyone is tossing out...

what about a very dark green/black like Valspar Olive Suede?

Here is a link that might be useful: Olive Suede

I would not hesitate to cut the panels out of those doors. If they seem weak, just install some L-braces.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_315659-1277-MPB117_0?productId=3168395&Ntt=corner%20brace&Ntk=i_products&Ns=p_product_price:1&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0_s?newSearch=true$Ntt=corner%20brace$y=0$x=0

What kind of dishware do you plan to display? That might make a difference. One thing you could try is to shirr some fabric onto dowels or cafe rods behind the shelves, assuming the shelves are moveable. If the shelves can't be removed, you could always try some wallpaper--I'm thinking toile :)

Here is a link that might be useful: toile bookcase inspiration

Dark to match the chairs, with sunflowers! Don't remove the doors.

I'm a big sunflower fan too. I have a plate with sunflowers on it and have been using it for my inspiraton.
I'm thinking a very pale turquoise would be very pretty. Here's a picture of the plate so you can see what I'm talking about:

Unfortunately the colors didn't translate as well as hoped, in person, the blues have a little more green in them. But I'm thinking one of the pale shades of blue like in this plate would look really pretty with the yellows that you have in the room. I have a white farmers table I'm thinking of doing that with too. I love that cabinet and think you already have some great ideas. Whatever you end up doing will look fantastic.

About the knots...we had our knotty pine paneling painted in our previous house. The painters sanded lightly, and then covered each knot individually with two quick coats of Bin white-pigmented shellac before priming the whole thing, and then painting with two coats of oil-based semi-gloss paint. We lived in the house for 16 years, and never had to repaint that room, and never saw a sign of a knot bleeding through.
The white-pigmented shellac dries in about five minutes, and because of its chemistry, it seals the pitch rather than dissolving it like some primers do. I wouldn't use anything else.
Here's the room:

OMGoodness, the toile wallpaper is very cool and taking the doors entirely would solve any door issues you might have. Though I have to say that it might look better white.. I also like the idea of light turquoise, like in the sunflower plate.

wow, it's hard to believe that was knotty pine, it looks fantastic!

Thanks for cleaning off the table for me. I do appreciate it. LOL.
If the chairs will be black or almost black/purple, I'd go with a deep sunflower yellow antiqued with brown for the cabinet otherwise the table, chairs and cabinet will all be one dark blob. Leave the doors on and instead of replacing the panels with something I'd paint the inside of them (the top two anyway) with chalk board paint. Leave the doors open and have fun with notes, saying or drawings with colorful chalk.

Wow! Thanks!

But, I must admit, y'all were no help at all.....I now have even MORE great ideas to consider....olive, turquoise, dark purple, and sunny yellow. I can see each one of them...

Thanks. Thanks a LOT!

well, I wish the lighter colors would come through better then they do...but they don't so I was afraid to post them. However, here are some darker shades to help with a visual. All are BM colors.

Mayflower red:

Guacamole Green:

Crasco Bay

Cabernet:

If I missed some others or you want to see a different color, let me know!

Lukkiirish--THANK YOU! Wow, that's so fun to see the different colors. Wow, wow, wow...must learn to play with photoshop! The green is great, the turquoise bold, and the purple makes we wish I had a popsicle. lol

This morning I re-watched the Sarah's House where she redid the farmhouse kitchen. (DVRs are great, aren't they?) Now, I'm thinking that soft yellow-ochre color she used might be good. I'm going to look up her colors and see what I think from there. I was also musing on painting my walls white again and going full bore for the cottage look. Indecision is my middle name.

It's a day of lawn-mowing, gardening (Yay!), and work later this afternoon. No painting today. Sigh.

I don't know how I missed that the table was dark. I wouldn't paint the chairs dark too then. How about the Crasco Bay for the cabinet and chairs (with hand-painted or decoupage sunflowers on the cabinet)?

I'm voting for creamy white or soft, very light yellow, with wallpaper or a strong color inside. I think something paler and simpler will please you more, since the space is not really large, and you already have a lot of pretty things in there.

Might you be able to use something smaller where the black table is? I think it argues with the nice simple cottage feeling of the cabinet. Perhaps a shelf and simple brackets mounted directly onto the wall, to keep the floor space clear, but still give you the surface?

And if you are thinking of painting the walls, I'd consider a very very pale whisper of sky blue with a little green in it to open the space, make it fresh and airy, and give a good background to your sunflowers and pale yellow cabinet. When I think of sunflowers, I always think of them outside, stuffed into white pitchers on a picnic table, or of the fields of golden flowers that you see in Italy, against a summer sky.

Well I'm glad it helped. The turquoise looks nothing like what I was trying to convey...so I found a website with better samples. My thoughts are something like this which is what I'm going to do with my white farm table and looks amazing with sunflowers. To me, it's different and unexpected. I've provided a link to the blog just in case anyone is interested. She has some amazing pieces there that have been painted with different techniques. :c)

Here is a link that might be useful: everything turquoise blog

I guess I would consider what I want to be the focus in that room. Painting the cabinet a bold color will draw attention to it; of course, if that is the point of painting it then I would choose something bold. The risk is that it could make the room too busy. I think it is a charming piece and I would like it displayed with the doors opened, providing there is room.

If you really want to bring attention to it, check out this site too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/madteapartyfurniture/page2/
Diane

Here is a link that might be useful: Maine Cottage

I actually like the pine wood color. Sorry.