bright orange?

Orange or blue.

Spicy orange if you want to go bold, grey with silver or pewter glaze if you like it more subtle. Depends on the style you're going for:)

Orange?
Red?
Purple?
Pink?

Teal?

Cool piece! A light whitewash with done of the wood peeking through would look great. You could do a few boldly colored designs on it if you wanted to add color, and maybe some crystal fixtures. Have fun and best wishes!

adult room, kid room, bedroom, office?

Adult bedroom. I've attached the headboard which were designing the room around.

Try Annie Sloan Chaulk paint. It is available in a large variery of colors and can be mixed to create your own color and look. Many local craft stores have seminars on ideas and how-tos. Look on the Annie Sloan website to see if a store near you carries it. Otherwise you can order it. :)

Terracotta, a sunny yellow, or black laquer. Have fun!

Niki, isn't that a dresser from the late 1930's?

acroteria I think so. I just purchased it, and am picking it up this weekend. I haven't actually been able to inspect it.

I'm sorry this is such a crude example:

I think a mustard yellow would look gorgeous with the colors you have listed. Here is an idea for knobs:
http://www.deciture.com/shop/decor/9/antique-brass-bird-knobs-set-2/

Painting it a mustard yellow or white would look great!

If you want a pop of color go with oranges and yellows. You might even want to apply a mirror to the top for added light refraction. Changing out the hardware would also vastly update the piece. However! This piece looks quite old you may just want to wet sand this gorgeous piece and apply new stain and varnish. It is so lovely.

what color is the room? the curtains? the rug? the bedding? If you want energy in the room, I'd pick a color that is in the current stuff but NOT prominent and use that color on the cabinet (although I agree it is really pretty wood but I'm going with your painting question). If you want the room to be calm and soothing, choose something that is a MORE prominent color and repeat it in a different tone, or even choose a lighter version of your headboard.

The cabinet has some water damage on the bottom. If I can save it I'll just keep it natural. I'm thinking mustard if the damage is too prominent.

I would do Fire Engine Red! Is it for a boy? Or an Adult? Or turquoise! Paint it one color, then another. Sand it a little.

The water damage appears to be on the drawers, so maybe you could just paint them & leave the rest natural. I also like the dresser with floral drawers & sides.

My choice would be gloss black.

happyasaclam, Can you explain a little about the Annie Sloan Chaulk paint? I have seen that suggested on discussions several times & kept wondering why people would paint their furniture with chalk board paint. From your pictures, apparently I have misunderstood & its not chalk board paint. I like the weathered look on those pieces. I want a similar look with white paint on a headboard we are going to make out of old doors.

See the above pictures posted by happyasaclam. Annie Sloan paint supposedly can be used on most any surface. It's finish is semi-flat, "chalky" finish.... and is sealed with a special wax for durability. Also - many users like to use one color over another for an antique or aged look, or just to give some surface visual interest and depth to a furniture piece. Google it. Also check out the Miss Mustard Seed line of similar look "milk" paint.

Here are three youtube videos about the Annie Sloan paint.

Another neat idea

She has a website you can go to to find a craft store that sells her paints and has seminars. What I like about it is you don't have to sand off the finish or degloss the piece you are going to paint.

Thanks. I will check out the videos.

I would choose a cool toned shiny white and add crystal pulls for a glamour look. Make sure the white tone works with your grey headboard and blue. You could then carry the crystal into lamps or accent pieces. If you keep the piece neutral it will live with you for a long time. Hotel fluffy white duvet would be smashing for the bedding. Find accent pillows to pull the room together.

This would be perfect in your room with a red color, darker antique glaze applied!

Don't paint. Use a little paste wax and a slow speed buffer to make it shine like the day it was finished.

How about starting with a dark true marigold orange at the bottom and adding a little white paint as you go up a drawer. The top drawer could be just a hint of orange and the top could be covered with white gold. It's a shame you can't just restore the lovely original wood

I like the color of it now for contrast. Blue and gray can be cold colors so a warm helps balance it. Maybe try some kind of wood wax or oil to richen color....???maybe????

Good eye by the way. It has great curves. The drop pulls are awesome and the castor wheels are to die for. The piece could be used as is. Just shine it up

It's a beautiful piece that needs some TLC. I would not paint it.

Personally I would not paint it, but maybe a whitewash or a silvery (not metallic) grey may look nice.

Dove grey with a soft antique white on some of the detail trim

I had a similar old dresser. We painted it white and bought some fun hardware. It looks great.

I'm so glad you were able to save the wood. Even though there are so many pretty options with paint, I always prefer the wood stained, preferably a dark color. Looking forward to seeing the pics.