yet another question

[xitsmylifex.livejournal.com]

My mom's friend gave me some furniture, I have a somewhat long coffeetable with drawers in it and an end table, but not very large, which may be a problem in a big loft. Both pieces are kinda beat up, and my mom previously had the idea to crackle it and give it an old/country look, but I'm not really into that. I want my place done in reds, tans (both lights and darks) and black, and I really really really want black leather furniture (or at least pleather) but I dont know what to do with the tables. They've been up in our barn for months so I've not looked at them to see if maybe I could strip them and re-stain them, but I'm thinking - if I remember correctly - that it might be too beat up to strip, sand, and stain. What should I do to it??? Should I paint it black? Maybe try taking the top off and putting glass in it? detail it in silver or gold?

Help!!!!! I need an idea of what to do with it.... Considering the size of my loft and the size of the pieces, I'm not even sure where I'd use them because generally lofts have large furniture, and these seem just too small to put in such a big place.... I've thought about maybe putting taller legs on them if possible to make them seem bigger, and maybe trying to make the top part of it a bit bigger, but I'm afraid that I'd be better off buying the furniture I want instead of taking so much trouble to paint it....