New Sideboard

So I've put away the sewing machine for awhile (not for too long... I couldn't stay away from Jo-Ann's today, so I can't imagine I'll be able to leave the new fabric untouched for much longer!) and started working on a new project... a very large project...

We found this sideboard online from an estate sale's website and fell in love with it, but knew it'd be WAY too much money since it was so large, but thought we'd check out the sale anyways since they had a lot of other great items... When we got there, we found it in the garage and saw that it was only marked at $65, we had to have it. Then we went to pay and we were told there was a discount on all items that day (score!). In the end, we only paid $48.75... not bad for that large of a piece of furniture.

Then came the next hurdle - getting it home... the sideboard measured 6 ft long and we barely had a vehicle large enough. Once Jacob assured me it would fit, we hauled it out of the garage, went to put it in.... and it didn't fit. Let me rephrase that... it fit, just only the driver was in. But the weirdos that we are, we figured it out and drove home like idiots. I had to drive with my big toe, and Jacob had to sit in the passenger seat with his knees smashed up against the dashboard. Probably not our proudest moment, but luckily we didn't have more than maybe 15 minutes to get back home to drop it off. Luckily it was the first sale of the day, then we were off to find more treasures!

We forgot to take a picture before the stripper was put on... whoops!

There are a few pieces of veneer on the drawers and doors that need minor repair, but I think it'll look okay and maybe at the very least, add to the character. So far, we've only managed to strip the varnish off and that took a lot of work since there were so many detailed pieces. We're still trying to figure out if we should just put a clear coat of polyurethane on it, stain it, or even paint it... Any suggestions? 

Sorry for the bad lighting... it was taken in the garage at night

We never noticed the detail on the top before we cleaned it up

We have no clue when this piece was made, could be the 70s for all we know...