What would you do?

The hardest part for me, when it comes to painting a piece of furniture, is deciding how to do it. This can take years and with some of our furniture it often does. Colours, techniques, styles all have to be seriously mulled over before I can take the plunge. I only want to do it once. I have to get it right.

Now, a few years ago I picked up this baby on ebay.

I thought it looked like a bedside table in the photo so I snapped it up for £30 as I thought it would match my french bed. When it arrived, it was HUGE! The measurements had been on the listing but I hadn't checked. This is a metre tall! Oops! ( Could be worse! I nearly bought dolls house furniture accidentally once!)
This is the ONLY thing I have ever had that I am frightened to paint.

It's old. It has a patina that can't be faked.

It's carved. These are not stuck on!

It's oak. And it has cute feet. ( My photo was too blurry).

But, (and this is probably why it was £30) some plonker has SCREWED the top onto the base!

Mmm, 4 whacking great screws in the top!

So what do I do? Does the fact that someone has already ruined this mean I should paint it? Or should I countersink the screws and fill the holes? (Will that look okay or like 4 brown blobs?) At the moment this is in the corner of the living room with a strategically placed lamp and coasters hiding the screws! The light was too poor to capture the detail so I dragged it into the garden as you do. (The neighbours must think I'm mad, frequently dragging furniture outside for photos!)

I like painted furniture with a wooden top but I don't fancy wooden furniture with a painted top.

I could mosaic it?

What would you do with it?