Paint or Patina?

I'm currently hunting for the perfect little something

to deter the kids from climing on the coffee table.

It's a large heavy piece with a beautifully smooth top,

just right for jumping on to avoid the alligators

that apparently swarm around the carpet in our sitting room,

and the perfect height

for jumping off of while dueling with light sabors.

As always,

I started my hunt in my favorite vintage shops,

(that's a pretty way of saying - goodwills)

There are several in the city, and they are virtual treasure troves of

things I never knew I needed

(and some I did)

I did not get lucky yesterday, they were fresh out of coffe table security systems,

but I found this wonderful and enormous picnic basket.

I snatched it up, thrilled to have beat the other wandering stuff-hunters to it!

It's a bit worn, and has some water staining at the bottom,

but has a beautiful hinged lid and is large enough to hold almost anything.

My intent was to paint it black and sit it next to the man-chair as

a sort of side table.

(That would be the man-chair with my favorite man)

I carried it in and plopped it down on the windowsill for the time being,

and today I happened to catch it looking very happy there, supporting the kids' birdhouse project.

Now I'm not sure if I want to paint it after all...

What do you think?