apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm about to embark on a furniture refinishing project for my son's nursery. The piece is traditional-looking and I would like to paint it to coordinate with his new room. I've stripped the old finish and want to paint it a chocolate brown. Any suggestions on what type of paint to use? Latex, oil-based, enamel, flat, etc.. Help!

i'm looking to create a "mail station" in the house. my husband brings in the mail, and puts it wherever...stairs, diningroom table, etc. there isn't a lot of space, but maybe wall mounted? to section my mail, his mail, catalogues/magazines, bills, etc....any suggestions or articles on other's mail station areas?

My "mail station" is the trash can....seriously though, we are finally getting in the habit of walking straight to the kitchen trash can with the mail pile, dumping all of the junk (including all of the extra junk in bill envelopes), and then sticking the rest in a small vertical file sorter (the metal mesh kind sold at office stores) right there next to the garbage (on top of our kitchen cart). We had a spot for mail right inside the door, but it would build up because we'd forget about it.

If you want a mail station right inside the door, I'd highly recommend getting a skinny cabinet or table, the size of the ones that fit behind a sofa. We love our hall cabinet, because it gave us more storage.

I "second" the trash can! We do the same.

Anyone have a Britax Verve Stroller? Any thoughts on it? Thanks!
Charlie

I third the recycling bin. We have a bathroom right near the entry and the trash can is rarely used. We use it as a defacto recycling bin for the mail.

I read the mail over the bin, throw away almost everything, place the magazines in the rack (we receive many), place bills in my purse (paid during lunch at work), and any personal cards on my husband's computer chair (so that he can read and then throw away). About half the time I stop by the shredder next to his chair as well.

Works well.

I stripped back and repainted an old pine tallboy and change table for my daughters room mid last year. We used an oil-based enamel paint in high gloss. It's holding up well and we've had no chipping in the paint. I'd recommend it, but it does depend if you would like the glossy finish or not. It's more obvious on the drawers than the change table.

Photo links below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbenn/2234842193/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbenn/2234841741/

Caroline