Stain or Paint?

[fptahoe]

I am making a make-up tale for my daughter. She wants it black (like some Asian furniture).  I have had good luck with other pieces I have stained black with GF's stain.  I will use either GF High Performance or Arm-R-seal as topcoat.  While I may have to do brush-only applications, I have a sprayer and with temps heading to the 60's at least, I should be able to get out and spray on a sunny, calm day.  Am now having second thoughts on staining and wondering if I should just paint the thing black (instead of stain), and put HP over it and be done.  I am going back and forth on which to use in terms of final appearance, durability, etc.  Any comments would be welcome.  Thanks as always...

[Willyou]

Black lacquer spray cans work well:

[jteneyck]

The ash frames of these cabinets were done with GF's waterbased black stain.  It took two coats because the first coat raised the grain pretty badly, so I had to sand it after it dried.  I applied it with a foam brush.  Easy to use.  The topcoat is GF's Enduro Clear Poly, sprayed on.  



I used this approach because I wanted the grain to show through, though you can't see it in the photo.  If I wanted it to look like what Willyou posted I would have used a closed pore wood like maple and painted it, as he did.  

John