I found a plain solid wood cabinet with doors that I would like to use as a small buffet type table in my dining room. Currently, it's painted white. My DR has a mixture of antiques, all medium toned woods. The fabric/ rug colors are navy and a berry color. Room is a painted vanilla with lots of white mouldings and trim in this room. I would love to repurpose this piece (extra storage and extra serving possibilities) How can I make this odd piece fit in with traditional wood antiques? Paint?(what color) decoupage? Ideas???

Pickup the colors in the rug - navyblue or berry. Paint it either color and then distress so it looks like old painted furniture. You don't want it to be matchy-matchy with your other furniture. It may also be a relief from all the woodtones.

You may also think of a crackle finish if you lean towards country,
Wooden decorative appliques could also be used to give it character.

You could also make it whimsical ala MacKenzie-Childs style. Lattice work, stripes, checks, etc. Using complimentary colors(or not) picked up from you room.

Maybe buy a piece of stone for the top - marble?

In the Jan 06 issue of Better Homes and Garden, they're featuring a bedroom update in which the homeowner
painted a traditional chest of drawers and mirror, turquoise. She distressed the pieces and now it looks fresh!

I'd paint it black!! Any peice of furniture looks more high class black!!

thanks for your ideas - great! I'm more interested in the navy color and distressing the finish. How do you do that? Love the idea of stone for the top, too...thank you! (black is a nice finish, but there's so much white wood in the trim and mouldings)

If this is a repeat sorry.
Common distressing methods include:

Burnishing: The furniture is burned in places to leave dark marks in the wood, then finished or painted.
Cow Tailing: A cow-tail-like paint brush is dipped in paint or stain and flicked down on the furniture to create a heavy streak pattern.
Crackle Finish: A crackle finish is just what is sounds like -- a finish which cracks as it dries. Sometimes this type of finish is applied directly to the wood so you see the natural wood color through the cracks. Sometimes it is applied over an already stained or painted piece so that you see the original color through the cracks.
Fly Specking: Tiny dots of a dark colored paint randomly seen throughout a finish, making it appear as though a fly landed in paint/stain and then walked across the piece of furniture.
Rasping: A rasp (think metal sandpaper) is taken to the edges of the furniture, wearing down areas that would normally receive the most wear during normal use. Sometimes this is done in addition to Rubbing.
Rubbing (Hand Rubbed): While the finish is drying, random areas are rubbed with a different color or completely taken off to create a worn look.
White Pumice: A piece of pumice is rubbed along the edges of the furniture leaving behind a white residue.
Worm Holes: A nail is heated and then hammered into the wood to cause tiny darkened holes or trails that mimic the patterns made by worms. This is done in the direction of the grain since worms typically go into the tree with the grain, not against the grain.

I had the same problem only with an old army trunk. My dad gave me his old military surplus trunk. I painted it a taupe color, then crackle finish, then overlay with off white semi gloss paint. It's really pretty and everyone who sees it loves it. I use it in my dining room to store tablecloths and napkins, etc.

I repurposed a dresser that I got from the thrift store for $40. I painted it...and I still may paint on it some more. But I use it to store silver and linens. Lots of storage space! Here's a pic of what it looks like now...I'm looking for some scandinavian designs to copy on the left-hand drawers.

IMG_1577.jpg (93 Kb, 160 downloads) dresser turned sideboard

Spicy Contessa: what a gorgeous paint job. I love the colors!

luvs: Navy paint will make it look rich... but with the white and blue, you still might think about black. I know it sounds harsh, but black just looks fantastic and designers always recommend using black in a room to ground it.

To give a worn look to the paint (either blue or black) Think about the areas that would be worn on this furniture. Around handles and edges.

Paint these areas a medium brown. (just these areas..you'll get the point in a second)
When dry... use a candle or some vaseline to rub over the brown areas.
Now paint the furniture with you color choice..cautious over the wax area.

When all is dry...the wax or vaseline will peal up with a little rubbing or sanding to give a worn look to these areas.

The brown underpaint will show through instead of the white. This will look like wood showing through.

Hope this helps a little.

Painter Lady, thank you very much for such a good description of your ideas. I do like them very much! Before I read your post, I painted the piece a burgundy color (another accent color in the room) and rubbed some darker stain over it. It looks just a bit too country-cute, so the idea of black with rubbed areas seems to be more sophisticated. I think I will try it! It's only paint, right? thank you so much