Agree wiuth Barbara and anyone thinking iof putting a paint-loaded brush or roller anywhere near a vintage timber piece of furniture..."it would be a... SIN! Seems the compulsion of the mass renovcators is to paint everything....and its the easiest solution. Don't think happy renovators and DIY-ers have changed much over the years either. I have just finished stripping five coats of enamel from the most beautiful set of silky oak french doors with etched frosted glass...how many SINS there!!! Silky oak is an open grain timber so the last coats had to be done by the funny little man out in his bush shack restoration shed...and Oh what a beautiful job! I am over the moon and do not care what it cost...although it was not a lot compared to what I'd have paid in Sydney. Here a tip for any appreciators...(.if there are any left) of fine timbers. All you need is an old enamel bath tub and gallons of metholated spirits....just give it a bath and save yourself hours of scraping and fumes and burns. SORRY about the deviatiuon but this is my latest Soap Box...don't paint vintage timber! About your problem Wendi, I think, with Barbara, wait until you have your whole dining set and then stain the piece to fit in with the timber in that...( unless you are going to get a white one...( tongue in cheek). I've seen some really nice dining sets with the best of both ...legs and table frame in a (cringe) painted colour and table top in timber...saw a really desirable inlaid table top at my favourite little man's shed last week..the rest was painted and had a drawer for each place....with old metal handles. Legs were on castors.. The chair seats were upholstered...but needed recovering and the frames were metal...could have been an alloy of sorts. The combination of unpainted- stained timber..especially in inlay, with the painted parts, the metal frames and upholstered chairs just fitted together perfectly...so best of both. You migh be lucky enough to find the perfect table with a natural timber top...( and I wish you to find one with an inlaid design featurting timbers of different hues....) then your lovely little cabinet/sideboard might fit perfectly! There are some lovely timber stains around today...timber can be stained any colour...as long as its a transparent dye. A wonderful product is FEZLAC...that's the base and it is a shellac. To this you add the stain -colour you want. I've used it to put designs (fake inlay) on the backs of some really lovely old chairs...imitating the different natural timber hues in real inlay....So above are a few words, tales and suggestions that I hope will inspire you NOT to paint that cabinet.

I came across your post and I think we have the same house! I was just pondering whether to paint or not. What was your verdict on painting the beams? I was leaning toward preserving the mission brown.

Haha -- I've got you thinking ! Look at the pic you posted today , and the first thing you see is the timber . Its got a golden honey tone , its natural , it looks nice . You've enclosed the beam and thats noticable too . The white door is a couple of steps up from plain , and you notice that too . The house itself is still a grey box IMO . The only good thing you did ( again , just my opinion ) was that darker grey . But imagine if you ( or your builder ) got up and did 3 pieces of 150 wide timber ( varnished / stained ) around that upstairs veranda-y thing that pokes out above the upstairs window . And we've never seen the other side of the front of your place , but see if there is something there that would get a wooden surround -- balance the place a bit , add interest . It isn't even really colour , but it is a pleasant colour , its natural , it adds interest .

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to respond. Your comments, insights, and opinions were welcome. @Lauren Watson you totally get my conflicted feelings! Also, I think the real estate photos I showed make the room look a lot brighter, polished, and light-filled than it really is ;-). I should mention the beams are already painted (not the natural timber). The colour they are painted is not to our taste. And to sand them back is a massive job and something we're not keen to invest in..... I think we have decided to take a slightly different path. After being in the house for a little bit while starting renos we have begun noticing how dark and unwelcoming the room mostly is (see pic below for a more realistic image of the room!) . With that in mind, we've actually decided to do a plywood ceiling (similar to the picture attached), with hopefully some skylights installed to let some more natural light in and make it feel more welcoming. We will be putting the plywood over the beams, so we can install skylights, otherwise, it would look too cluttered as the beams are quite close to each other. If the beams were still natural timber, I'd be retaining them. So I guess it came down to a decision of more natural light and a more welcoming room vs (painted) beams and a more original, characterful room. For me, more natural light wins. I know not everyone will agree, but I really want to feel compelled to use the space, and right now, I don't!