sawdust and tomatoes

i have a tendency to pick up pieces of furniture off the side of the road in which i see potential. it could be for any reason - be it its lines, the design, the form, the texture or color, etc.... i promise that i will give it new life.... one day.

somewhere - i think its been over 2 years now - i picked up this rickety beat up table and it had been sitting in my friends barn ever since. i've been planning on painting it and using it as my folding table in the laundry room.

today i finally got it out and started sanding it down - and i discovered that the top is made from solid cherry - very cool. now i am torn whether i want to sand it all the way down and keep the natural cherry - or still paint it......

i have not made up my mind about the top yet. it has quite a few gashes which i am not sure will come out without leaving unevenness behind. i also could embrace the gashes as part of its history when leaving natural... oh decisions. what do you all think?

all i know is that the base is definitely going to get painted. i am trying to new "driftwood" colored milk paint i just scored a few days back.