I would love to see it done in silver!

It really depends on the rest of your interior and how bold you want to go. Silver or black or even white could be great. But I tend to be a purist so a dark walnut stain and 3 coats of satin varnish would be the way I would go.

Walnut dark, dark teak could work well. No two tone finish, and this era didn't use black though you can if that is just right for your room. Even then, I'd advise an espresso or warm black with brown undertones.

Great find! There is another post similar to this and she ended up painting it a beautiful color. You should check it out and read some of the suggestions and comments. I believe it was called Trash or treasure.

Where this will end up there is red carpet ( not my choice, but it is what it is for now) Walls are currently white will be painted gray eventually. So I like the idea of silver, but I'm afraid it would blend into the wall.
I guess it's between dark brown and black. Why not the two tone?

Thanks, hanymam, I was pretty happy finding a piece of furniture in solid wood with great lines for $34 - and the radio and record player work too just in case I feel like putting on an old record :-)
I will check out the trash or treasure post.

Thanks everyone!

Love the piece.....hope you are leaving the doors on.......it is going to be great.....I also would do a dark one color...not black

Hello all I am the Trash Lady! love to repurpose finds, my husband is so afraid I am going to take up dumpster diving! ! I started out thinking I was going to go with a bold high gloss paint on my piece, but after some discussions on Houzz I decided to glaze. The glaze worked perfect for my piece, not sure that is the right look for yours. Your piece has so many possibilities, I like the idea of a dark gel stain or even going silver with it, really has a funky vibe. I attached before and afters of mine.

Margaret, I was just reading the posts about your piece. It turned out great!! Truly a treasure. And lots of good ideas in those posts.

My husband will probably like the idea of going with a dark natural look. And as libradesigneye suggested I should perhaps keep it true to its time period so to speak.

I love color and I would love to find some other pieces smaller pieces to be bold with.

If I go with the dark brown, any suggestions on what products to use?

I think one colour would be best and I would opt for ebony, not quite black or brown just in between. It would look great against the already existing white wall and eventual grey.

Oh and yes definitely leaving the sliding doors on!

So glad to hear you are going with the dark stain, I think the piece would be lost in black paint. Minwax is my goto for wood stain, I am not a fan of gel stains or poly mixed products. Biggest lesson I have learned is take it slow, let the stain dry throughly before buffing with fine steel wool, it takes multiple coats and steel wool in between coats to give you an even finish. . I think a dark mahogany would give you some red undertone.

Looking closely at the piece the biggest challenge is going to be avoiding clumps or puddling of stain on the ends of the slats, would definitely lay the piece on its back to stain.

Good advice Margaret, thanks!

Bold is GREAT. The peice in stunning so any color will work. I love your silver Idea.It could look like a metal when your done. Goregous with gray walls and silver has a very nice reflective quality. I can't wait to see what you will chose.

Laqueer black ... Go bold or go home ... It would look stunning

Where are you putting it? That will help to determine the colour. Can we see pics of where it's going?

giving away my age here but I think that style of console is from the early 70's

Seeing that it's a 60's or 70's piece, it leans towards mid-century modern and typically would be a wood stain so, it won't really look right if you paint it any color other than black or white. Those two colors will take it to a modern sleek look. You could always prime it in red and top coat it in black , lightly rubbing back to show red edges, giving it an Asian Chinoiserie vibe. Make sure you prep it well so there are no lumps, bumps or peeling. And if you stain it, you'll have to really strip it of any old peeling varnish or the stain won't penetrate. Although, here are tinted varathanes out there.

Here's an example of red under black or wood under black

Here are some pic of the jumbled mess it is going to replace.
I have never done this before so any and all advice on how to do it right is greatly appreciated. There is still a fair amount of sanding to do. Thanks for the advice Kathleen. I could see doing it with red underneath but I can't see carrying out that Asian vibe through out the room and maybe I am just taking that too far in my imagination.