heidi, I've done tons of these vintage pieces.

let me show you an example and see if it's something you'd like to do.

you have a nice solid wood top on that. I'd strip it down (if you want the wood top and not a painted top) with SoyGel stripper. What's great about soy gel is it's mostly natural and cleans up w/plain water. the other strippers need a chemical wash.

You can guy it on amazon. it's a little more money, but since you don't need a chemical wash to rinse it, it's worth it. No odor either. (Amazon)

Once you get the top down to bare wood, you can decide if you want to darken it w/stain.

This is a walnut piece I did a while back. this was from the 30's. cost me a whole $15! lol

This was a 2nd one I did. (I just want to show you how forgiving wood is)

Here's the first and the second one once redone.

The wood on this one was too far gone, so I used a pale blue/gray chalk paint, I think. You could use General Finishes chalk paint, or one of the other brands.

On this one I use General Finishes LampBlack Milk Paint for the body, and a walnut stain for the wood parts.

Finish the wood top w/a nice water based poly. I like this one and I think Home Depot carries it. That is what I used on top of the first desk.

the second one got GF ArmrSeal topcoat. it's an oil base wipe on.

Now, if you really want an authentic, distressed chippy type of look, strip off all of the paint and get it all down to bare wood. Then use a real milk paint

A real milk paint goes directly on bare wood and gives an old, period-look type of distressing. On this one I used a turquoise color from The Real Milk Paint Company. they have some great colors. It comes in a powder that you mix w/water and brush on (usually 2-3 coats). then you give it an easy sand, and coat it with a tung oil.

what's cool about milk paint is you never really know how much chipping or distressing it will do. it just depends on the wood and how you apply it. this one below got a lot of chipping. I didn't do any of that. the paint sticks where it wants to stick!

this was a teal color milk paint. I had stripped the oak top, applied a clear coat, and then used the milk paint on the rest of the piece.