Sofa Table in Waiting

I just bought this sofa table yesterday and was so excited about it that I jumped right in! I thought I knew what I was going to do but now I'm questioning myself.

I had imagined it re-stained on the top and...





painted on the bottom with antiquing around the carved wood to accentuate it. Isn't it pretty?





Nice details with the little punch holes around the darker stain.





Even on the trestle!





Clearly, it needed to be sanded.





The sanding took the darker stain off so I re-punched the hole markings and I guess I'll try to re-stain inside that area again. I'm sorta new at this :)





I'll have to repair some veneer damage on the end but I think I've got that covered.





Looking good.





Interesting wood I uncovered on the edges? Two toned.





Here's what I can't decide! I really see this piece painted on the bottom but sure hate to cover up the detail. On the other hand, it would be a lot of work to recover the rest of the table and I actually prefer the look of paint on the bottom. Any thoughts on this?? I bought it to up-cycle but fell in love with it : )
I should mention I bought it to up-cycle and sell but then fell in love with it. Still deciding if I'll hang on to it as I'm not sure where I'll put it!






Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/11283997/sofa-table-in-waiting site