Campaign Furniture 201

Now that we're all on board with the awesomeness that is campaign furniture, I need your help. I found this beautiful, 7ft long dresser the day we moved from DC to Nova about a year ago...thank goodness we had the Uhaul, because this baby is massive. D and my dad were a bit skeptical before we went, but for $20, they humored me. Here's the seller's photo:

Is it in good shape? Hell no. Like any good parent, I love it just the same.

He's big and bossy and in charge of the room, commanding attention and respect with his sturdy form and shabby regal-ness. I figured he was feeling lonely, so I set up some dates with Craigslist sellers and stumbled upon this beauty for $50 just last week:

Good condition, great bones, pretty sturdy. Brass needs some serious polishing (I find that homemade recipes of lime and baking soda and fairy dust don't do a lot for me...good 'ol brasso is what I use). Here is the seller's photo, to get a look at what I saw when searching:

So here's the problem. The wood colors on the dresser and desk are similar, but not the same. This is an issue. If they are the same, they play nice. If they're dramatically different, they are respectful and keep their distance. But, if the are just similar, they can't be in the same room together. Period.

So, I'm thinking the desk will get a glossy coat of oil paint, mainly because it's smaller (aka easier and cheaper to paint) and in better condition (aka less sanding).

So, the topic of discussion is color. Keep in mind our walls are this color, our rug is a natural jute and our bedspread is the rosette quilt from Lazybones. Pretty neutral for the big stuff. Color comes from our suzanis and green couch, so really we have a lot of color options. Regardless, I'm still frozen in indecision. Advice? What color do you think would work??