I would not dream of painting a piece of mahogany or oak or cherry furniture. That makes it look just like an unfinished cheap piece that you painted.
Some 40 years ago people were painting and glazing all sorts of furniture, I painted a few oak pieces I sure wished I hadn't....but the unfinished pine chest was fine. It's still fine, it holds cleaning rags in the basement!
Linda C

If it were me I'd resell the mahogany piece to someone who wants it for what it is and find something else to paint.
Once a nice piece is painted it's pretty much lost any value it had. The old look of it is lost if it's stripped of it's paint at some later date.
Since you have a blank slate hold off on painting the piece for awhile. Collect some other pieces and see if where you think you want to go is really where you are going.
Lots of times ya start a decorating project you have a vision of where you think you are going only to find out about half way thru your taste aren't really in that direction.
As for antiquing pieces to make them look old. There's lots of different ways to do it. Every decorator seems to have their favorite way. I'd start with a small piece, something from a thrift store, junk shop or maybe even your basement that is all wood and play with it. Try out some of the things you've read about. It's the very best way to learn how to do it and if you ruin a cheap piece you aren't going to feel too bad about putting it out to the curb with a free sign for someone else to use.

I have mixed feelings on this. There is a lot of mahogany junk out there. Before we were married, my husband bought quite a few pieces that are 20th c. pieces. The lines are okay, but the wood is just not all that pretty. It may be the finish, but I just don't like it. If we refinished them, they would lose any value they might have. I prefer the 19th c. pieces we have. However, even the antique pieces we have inherited are not, for the most part, ones I am crazy about and I actually gave most of them to my sister despite the fact that the mahogany is a much higher grade than much you see around now. I would never paint cherry or walnut. I also like pine and poplar which a lot of people don't, but oak or mahogany are two I wouldn't hesitate to paint if the piece is not a truly valuable piece to start with.

I find the key to any painting is the prep.

Sand lightly to remove the gloss.

Wipe down to remove all the sanding dust.

Prime with a good primer like Bin or Kilz.

Paint. Dry. Recoat.

I have some pieces I would never paint-EVER! And then I have some pieces I painted in a heartbeat and keep painting as my whim changes. I also have no qualms passing them along or putting them in a lawn sale.

I like Glidden Bone White for a cream.
BM Cloud White for a soft white.
Any black.

Nothing is wrong with painting furniture, just be sure. If you are looking to darken check out gel stains-Minwax or General Finishes. General Finishes especially has a deep dark Java stain that would turn that mahogany a stunning espresso color!

Try cleaning the piece well first. It may be lighter once you do. You could also gently see if lightly stripping and refinishing would work for you. What you may not like could be just a stain on it.

If you don't think it is a quality piece, then paint away. If it is a collectible, then sell it and get one you like better.

If you do paint, be sure to use either spray paint, oil-based wall paint, or acrylic latex wall paint. Same goes for the primer--oil-based.

(I don't know which brand it is but) there's a spray paint in a color called "Heirloom White" and it's a nice neutral off-white (not too pink or yellow like some.)

Don't use regular latex wall paint or placed objects will "stick" to the surface for eternity :)

And I second the comment about General Finishes "Java" gel stain...we just finished staining our interior doors with it and it worked flawlessly. (Then used wipe-on polyurethane for the finish and it made the whole process so much easier--it works well for furniture also.)

A product called liquid sandpaper could be applied to the furniture piece before staining and it will allow you to skip sanding it. We used it to "refinish" the kitchen cabinets in our previous house--works like a charm (as long as you are going darker).

Though this piece has great storage I can't see if fitting your vision if painted. It sounds as though you want our MCM home to be decorate using the same era's furniture. This piece, even after being painted, would stick out like a sore thumb in my opinion. You right in being concerned that once painted it would be pretty much impossible to restore it to it's original beauty. I know. I purchases a wonderfully shaped corner MCM table that had one been painted avocado and then stripped. The avocado could not be removed completely from the grain in the wood. I'm still going to stain it again, but it lost not only it's value, but it's original beauty once it was painted.

Thank you all for responding. I'm going to take carol from ny's advice and hold off on doing anything until I'm sure of what direction I'm going with my house(don't you love being given permission to procrastinate? lol). My initial, knee jerk reaction was that the cabinet looked like something out of my great-aunt's parlor, but I've taken a second look at the piece and I think it has potential just as it is. It has some interesting variations in the wood, so it's not all dark and formal looking.

Although I fully intend to collect Danish Modern for my house, that doesn't mean I can't find a corner for a nice, dark piece of furniture. It's tall, it has a locking front cabinet door, two drawers, three shelves and it's really just a neat(and functional) piece of furniture. And not too deep either, which is very important when you're trying to furnish a ranch house with small rooms. If I style it in a modern way, I think I can modernize it without painting or staining it. Thanks also for the gel stain suggestions. I've got an old, dark desk that was a graduation present that I had intended to paint white(definitely not an heirloom quality piece here) but y'all've gotten me thinking I should try the gel stain idea first to see if that will give it new life. Thanks again!

You've got me very curious how this piece looks. Can you share pictures please? I'm guessing I envisioned it totally different than what it looks like.