What color are the walls? What does the rest of the room look like? There is not enough detail to go off. One thing I will say is painting the interiors on a black pieve white is a very harsh contrasts and rarely looks good.

It's too dark, but she wants to paint it black? Hmmm. I agree with Design Interior South, black and white probably won't look good. I would suggest painting it all one color. Actually, I would suggest a gel stain to take away the redness of this piece. I've never used gel stain, but from what I've seen online it would probably work better on this finish and be easier to do.

Please provide additional photos of the room, colors in the rest of the house? style? There is an interesting video online, I’ll look for it, where someone did the same with an entertainment unit using Annie Sloan chalk paint followed up with a black wax ( didn’t darken it, just made it look like a wood finish ). Might be a lot easier to do. Something OTHER than b & w.

I would need to see the whole room but black would not be a good choice IMO. Definately not black and white for that piece ever . Those monster cabinets are so dated and bulky so all the paint in the world will not make it better. But we do need to see the whole room

I agree with Patricia......the time and effort to paint and have it done correclty is rafely hardly worth the results. Does she need all the decorative storage? I would search out a console cabinet to replace that and just mount the TV on the wall above it.

Thanks all!! You have confirmed my point as well. Just needs to be replaced. It’s a huge space that hasn’t been updated in many many years. It’s just tike

*time

Yes, I agree, however , sister says she would like to keep it , ” it works for her in the room.” It would be nice to get the sister’s perspective/reasoning.

If she can take some more photos of the space so we can see what we are working with I know we can provide more help.

too dark and outdated? Black is even darker.

Without a photo of the whole room to see/feel the whole space, any color would only be a change, not a solution.

What color are the walls? The floor appears to be a builder grade Beige tile... Love the pottery on top. Part of a collection?

She will be sending more pictures but really the only thing she is keeping is the light grey sofa and the coffee table you see. The tile is builder grade tile and the walls are creamy beige. She has always been a single mom so never really decorated. Though has some good pieces that need to be incorporated. Budget is a HUGE factor.

if she loves the wall color and it works with the floor tile, paint it the same color as the wall color for a built in look.

White would work with the coffee table.

https://www.worthingcourtblog.com/old-entertainment-center-makeover/

If replacing it is not an option, I agree that painting it the same color as the walls will work best. It's not a small job. It will require a scuff sanding and a primer like Bin shellac or water based primer for stain blocking or she'll get bleed through from the wood stain. Then a good cabinet paint like BM Advance for durability. Be sure to let it cure for several days before re-styling to let the finish become as hard as possible. It's a lot of work and will take 5 or 6 days to do it properly. Between paint, brushes, sand paper and primer costs and time involved, it may be easier to find something more modern on FB Marketplace.

Yes I’ll suggest FBM. I didn’t even think of that

Agree with katinparadise on how to paint the piece. It’s not that hard really just takes time to do it correctly. The BM Advance paint is really nice to work with.

Without seeing much of the room or other furnishings, I’d maybe say go taupe or off-white

Forgot to add the white version

Make a back for the area behind the tv and paint same color as cabinet so that it’s not the wall showing. It’ll look more finished that way.

Emily, thank you, those are great! Exactly what she was looking for: an idea.
I passed along adding the back and she loved that too!

Whatever colour is decided on---update the hardware or this piece will look " oh you painted over the original stain"

Rho, yes we discussed that. I told her to get a couple of different finishes and see which she likes better Thank you!