You all have great ideas. I am an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint devotee, buti think I will leave this alone for now. I am certainly nowhere near B and R Construction at furniture painting! Sure wish I was :)

Sorry - B and C Construction

strip and stain the top in a dark wood (cherry? espresso?) to provide contrast and add a modern touch. Lamp is fine but consider replacing shade. Also, the wreath on the wall is not helping the scene. Consider mirrors in geometric (interesting) shapes.

It looks like the top is marble or faux marble.

First of all, it's a lovely piece of furniture. Now, because I am from the South, I can see this piece being used as a sideboard. The drawers would be great for napkins, placemats, silverware and below the storage for plates for the dining table. Place your serving dishes with food on top and serve away.....Convenient and easy to dish up second servings. YUM!

The cabinet is terrific and very much in style! Handpainted furniture is back! Change the knobs, ditch the lamp and the accessories, and replace with more contemporary pieces to bring the look into the 22nd century.

How much color do you have in the room now? It looks like the walls are beige??? I would paint it turquoise or the "aqua" color you were speaking of, and antique it from there! Sand it down, paint it and use steel wool or an antiquing kit you can find at your local hardware store! http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-boeO0CfACuQ/UW11Zi3aEdI/AAAAAAAAFBw/xl7b_c0F5Zo/s1600/turquoise+heavily+distressed+chest+logo+015.jpg

I wouldn't sand too much of it down because when you "antique" it, the original character of the piece will be able to show through!

Leave it as is...Beautiful piece!

That piece looks very familiar. I am thinking that it is about 15 to 20 years old and is either Lexington Furniture (from when they still made their furniture in the US) or Penn House or Baker? My mother has a piece very similar to that and it is Lexington Furniture from their Artcetra(?) collection which was all hand painted by artists in the US. If I remember correctly the discounted retail on that piece was $1200 to $1500. If that is the collection I think that it is, I would NOT recommend painting over that. Those pieces were very well made and you could probably sell it for the original price plus some today. While it isn't your style, I am sure that it would be a great find for someone. Check the drawers or the back for a marking. I am pretty sure you will find one.

I like the suggestion of living with it for a while before deciding to repaint. If it doesn't work, also consider repurposing it in another room, such as a vanity (with new top) in a bathroom, or as a dresser in a guest room. Depending on the height, this could make a sweet changing table for a baby's room.

I am not at the lake house now, so I can't check for markings. I would not be surprised if it was expensive as a new piece. All the furniture the previous owners left was very high quality. The top is wood and painted the same as the front.

Well, since you all hate my wreath...how about a suggestion for that space? The lamp must go...

I love this piece! Think how it would work if it were placed against a blue/green/grey wall.

I think the Ebbets or Escher b&w or any good b&w would look great above it. It would make for an interesting contrast.

Any ideas what i can do with this pelmet, trying to find a local company to replace it but not having much luck

Lucidos, love the one on the right. I also really love black and hire photos. I will look it up. Thx.

I don't mind it - why not ditch the wreath and replace it with a mirror (frame painted aqua) and if you insist on doing something with the dresser - keep the color neutral, and distress it slightly - it has wonderful lines. I would even consider a crackle finish with a cream colored topcoat, followed by clear wax as first coat and light dark wax as 2nd coat to settle in cracks.
Good luck!

Paint it a fun color with Annie Sloan chalk paint no priming sanding necessary it'll only take an afternoon to transform it!

I see what you mean...the center spray of flowers is just a little too sweet for me, too. We had a similar quandary for a cabinet at our lake house. I painted right over the too-sweet scene on my furniture and turned it into a lake scene with water and trees. I just kept painting water and trees until I had covered everything I didn't like (since the paint on the rest of the piece was perfect). One side is a sunny daytime lake scene gradually getting a little darker until the other side was a night scene with a moon. It makes our guests stop and look! Good luck!

I see what you mean...the center spray of flowers is just a little too sweet for me, too. We had a similar quandary for a cabinet at our lake house. I painted right over the too-sweet scene on my furniture and turned it into a lake scene with water and trees. I just kept painting water and trees until I had covered everything I didn't like (since the paint on the rest of the piece was perfect). One side is a sunny daytime lake scene gradually getting a little darker until the other side was a night scene with a moon. It makes our guests stop and look! Good luck!

Paint it with Annie Sloan chalk paint.

I agree with you in that you should get rid of the painted flowers. Instead, paint it light aqua, put some interesting glass knobs on it.....Anthropologie has many to pick from and I like the idea of having glass cut to fit the top. It is a nice and useful piece, and by updating it, you will have made it more valuable. Set the top with bar accessories, and it will look lovely.

it is so beautiful keep it as is

If you decide to leave it painted to retain value, you could give it extra punch by having a piece of stone cut to fit the top. Something, such as a granite or marble, that would pull a dominant color would bring the eye to the counter surface. Plus it might work well if you decide to use it as a serving bar for the liquor below

I saw this chest awhile back and loved it... It would be a pretty design for your piece!

Lelia Goehring Kim, I absolutely LOVE it! The design is perfect for the lake house. And there are instructions in one of Annie Sloan's books that would make it easy, I think. I'm not sure I will do it on this piece, but I am definitely using it somewhere . Thanks!

I feel it is an adorable piece as it is but if you still feel you want to change it then I think, you should paint it in a color, which would go well with both the color of the walls and also other pieces of furniture in your house or in fact in the vicinity of the cabinet.You could also just sell the piece as it is, instead of changing the color and look for a replacement.

Is a nice cabinet. Certainly will serve for so many purposes. I will also distressed it. Maybe paint some thin tree branches on top of the distress look. ( removing the flowers)

This is a lovely piece that shouts "I am lovely, I am unique". Please don't paint it. I'd leave it as it is but if you have decided to paint it, watch this video .
Where she gives a facelift to an old dresser by painting it to white and aqua green and changing its hardware. Hope that gives you an idea.

I would clear off the top and add a piece of modern art, for a nice new/old contrast. It would look best in gold, if you want to preserve the gentle, ancient look of the dresser. Also, you could remove the knobs and cover up the holes to make it seem more like an art piece in itself. :)

Since you don't like it as is, move it around the house to see where it will be the most useful. THEN consider painting it to complement that room. I think it's a great bar, but it also looks like it could be very useful in a bedroom.

Don't rush. If you own it and don't like it as is, feel free to paint it. Other people on Houzz that "love it" aren't its owners! You are!

I would leave it the way it is, give it a wash with sugar soap and give it a couple of coats of lacquer to give it depth.

Anne sloan is not the only manufacturer of chalk type paints. Check out Cottage Paints, which are limestone based and used the same way but made in US. i found them at my local Ben Moore paint dealer AND, unlike Sloan paints, the dealer uses the base with ANY B Moore color, so you don't have to hand mix to obtain your tints.

Thanks, Crowe, but I have a connection to Sherwin Wms so going into a BM store is off the table for me :)

David Haigh - I am not familiar with sugar soap - will check that out. Thx!

whatever you decide for a finish, consider glass cabinet knobs and pulls. They are available in many colors and styles and add a custom look to any furniture or cabinet.
Check these out www.TorchLakeGlass.com

Those are beautiful - I'm heading to your website now!

thanks!

Sugar soap is a combination of Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Phosphate and Sodium Silicate, when mixed together it as an appearance of sugar, hence the name. When diluted with water 3:1 ratio ( 1 part mix to 3 parts water) this cleaning solution is great for preparing any surface prior to painting or adding finishes like varnish or lacquer.

Really i adore these thing , you should enhance the color and not change it and then you can use it in a bedroom or family room with walls that have flowery wall paper on 2side and a light color on the other walls with a furniture that have some country side pattern

Strip it and paint it soft gray.

Leave it as is...maybe paint the top 1-2 shades darker...but put it in a place where there are no other frillies around as painted on the front...and wow, it will be the subtle but charming centerpiece. Would make a nice powder room cabinet with a sink in the middle...

Hi there, that is a darling chest, and what a great idea to use it as a bar. You mentioned the colour it is now suits the room, so you could just match the same colour and paint over the artwork and then change the knobs to freshen it up. Another route, if you want to make a statement, would be to paint it aqua. I did alittle searching and found some great knobs from Anthropologie (I'm not sure if they are all from there, but they do have a wonderful assortment of very different knobs and handles). I also found a old dresser repainted aqua, for you to check out. The last pic. was amazing, redoing something with abit of paint. We hope this is helpful, and we are sure whatever you decide, that sweet chest will look amazing. Best of luck, we hope you post a picture when you are finished.

Aaron, those suggestions are all wonderful! What would you think if I would paint the inside of the cabinet aqua and leave the doors open? My concern is that the top of the floral spray painted on the front of the cabinet will still show with the doors left open. There is plenty of room for the doors to be open. I have purchased a large black lacquer tray for the top of the cabinet to hold barware and I have a small (3bottle) black wine holder. Then I am going to put a large framed black and white photo above the cabinet. Yes? No? I'm excited about changing the hardware!

Hi Jen, we were glad you liked our suggestions, thanks. The black tray and wine rack sound great, every room could use a touch of black, it's kind of unexpected, which is always fun. The picture sounds perfect, maybe you can find one with a touch of aqua, if not black and white will work. We suggest you put the picture above one side of the chest, above whichever is the lowest on the chest, hope that makes sense. We are not sure what you meant about the doors being left open and painting the inside? Are you not painting the whole chest? After taking another look at your picture of the chest, we feel the flowers look dated and refinishing it will still keep the integrity of the chest, but with a mix of modern to it. If you meant you were going to paint the inside and out, great. We would perhaps go abit lighter aqua on the inside, then the outside, which would give you some contrast and a airy feel. Let me know what you meant, thanks Aaron

Decoupage the drawer and door fronts with a paper pattern that compliments the rest of your room. Leave the body of the cabinet off-white if that color works in your room.

Well, Aaron, I had kind of decided to leave the chest alone, since so many Houzzers thought that was the way to go. So I was thinking of leaving the outside the way it is and painting the inside and keeping the doors open and folded back. Does that make any sense at all?

Oh, and I did find a black and white picture with a touch of aqua! Thanks for the suggestion of hanging it to one side. Would that be to balance.a lamp? (Not the lamp in the photo!)

Hi Jen, glad you have decided what you want to do. As far as the picture, it sounds great, and you said you had a tray to put whatnots on and a wine rack, so whatever is the lower of the two, is the side the pic. should be, to balance everything. I hope when you have it all put together you will post a picture.

I will post a pic when it's finished . I will not be at the lake house for a couple of weeks, so I'm anxious to begin. I am going to look at other posts you've done, Aaron. I think I can glean some decorating help from you.

It's certainly a nice piece of furniture. You can paint it, or, you can decide to sand it all back and then apply a dark glossy varnish over the top. Maybe you can use a dark black glossy paint/varnish? :-)

Paint it using Annie Sloan chalk paint in any of the colors. Good Luck!