To paint or not to paint

Am I the only one who has this ongoing debate with herself concerning whether to paint furniture or not? Black or White the two sides seem to go back and forth. I look at my favorite pieces and struggle to decide between painting them black or white.
Here is my library card catalog. So any thoughts? I am leaning towards painting it black and keeping the hardware silver.

What about this entertainment center? My walls are currently dark green in our family room so I'm concerned that black would not be enough of a contrast.

I really prefer plain wood for most of my pieces. Am I just afraid to commit to paint? Our downstairs rooms are what I refer to as fall colors, dark green in the family room, darker yellow in the kitchen, and a merlot in the dining room. I'm not sure if a "heritage white" or a black painted furniture would look better. Is there another choice that I'm "missing"?