The desk is a lovely wood color that goes with your walls. I'd refinish it. I had my father's beat-up, old desk refinished and it was so beautiful when it was done, I cried.

that's mahogany. it can be refinished but it takes some work and know how. I've done many old wood desks.

what kind of finish do you want to see? glossy? more vintage looking? milk paint finish?

I redid this desk w/turquoise milk paint (the real stuff) of course it comes all colors, you wouldn't have to go this bright.

milk paint works best on raw, older wood. I refinished the mahogany top (sanded, stained, top coat)

for yours I'd fill in the nail holes (unless you can find the same size hole spread on something new) and get new hardware.

you could paint the sides and body, refinish the drawer fronts and top

this one was a real beaut but wood is very forgiving

I used General finishes Milk Paint (it's really an acrylic) in Lampblack on this one. it's good for painting furniture.

This one was BM Advance paint.

Another option is chalk paint. much easier to use. if you sand between coats, you can get a smooth finish w/waxing.

I don't like SW paint for furniture (and I've used every product you can think of ). use the GF milk paint, The Real Milk paint company milk paint (it's in a powder form you mix w/water), any good brand chalk paint, or BM Advance. SW Pro Classic is OK, but I think the others are much better.

Look at some of the colors of those other products (and with chalk paint and the milk paint, you can mix colors to make your own color) If you wanted a sage green shade, Try this Basil shade.

wnat the real stuff?

try this Blue Spruce color

or mix up a few greens and grays

https://www.realmilkpaint.com/shop/colors/42-blue-spruce/

but, you'll need to break out the sandpaper and go all over that desk, especially the feet. smooth all the rough edges, corners, every thing. 100-150-220 grits. go by hand. on the top, use an orbital, be careful around the edges. that's a veneer and very thin. if you burn through it, you're toast. on the rounded edging, do it by hand. sand off all of the peeling top coat and underlying stain. you'll know when you get to fresh, raw wood. make sure the entire top is down to raw (otherwise you'll have a blotchy finish)

Raw looks like this when wiped down w/min. spirits.

those drawer fronts will sand out nicely. take it down to raw wood, and use the 220 to smooth it out. wipe w/mineral spirits. if you want to keep the wood, get a lighter wood stain in the warmer tones, apply one coat. when dry, coat w/GF urethane top coat. it's a wipe on.

the rest of the wood, when finished w/your sanding. wipe clean w/mineral spirits. Mahogany bleeds. if you use any light color, you must seal the wood w/a shellac. comes in a spray can. spray it, dry, give a very light 320 sanding to knock down any grain. (or if going white, use an oil based primer)

I agree that wood tones go very good with your walls.

Wow~ thank you so much for the very helpful comments. Very much appreciated!!! Once I get it going & then finished, I'll post. I am not sure what to use...

-Is chalk paint easy to clean? I suppose you have to put a sealer on it? And if so, would you have to reseal all the time? (what about if hubby puts his soda can on it?)

-I want low maintenance (it'll be our office use desk so shouldn't get hard usage)

-want it to be a nice looking piece but not look like a giant in the small room, which is why I am pondering color. Maybe a shade darker than the Escape Gray color? Or would the room's trim color (Alabaster) look okay for such a large piece?

-For the wood top, I don't really want glossy, but it needs to stand up to use.

-I've attached a few photos below of one color scheme I like...