Lily left the valley wrote:James, I'm one to favor patina with rare exceptions as long as it's not badly done fake patina, and thus my answer would be heavily biased. I don't know what else would be in the room that would be complimented or conflicted with either finish.
I can't recall a time when I've "decorated" a place where I've lived, in the current, magazine sense of the word. The photos I've seen of clusters of live plants on mantels, far from a window and with no hope of survival much beyond the photo shoot, or S-M-L twig balls artfully arranged on a low coffee table do nothing for me beyond eliciting an eye-roll. Harmony, of course. I suppose that's why I'm asking about this. (Thank you all for your forbearance through this exercise.) The surroundings, walls in particular, will indeed make the difference.
Most recently, for the house, I've scheduled installation of a palm tree (Sabal palmetto) in my side yard. On the Gulf Coast, winter is the time of year to do this, allowing the palm to slowly develop roots and come out of dormancy with the arrival of spring. Also, an employee of the gas company who moonlights doing heating installations, has agreed to take on assembly of my hastily-disassembled 1940s Bengal stove (similar to the one pictured below) and to set it up in the kitchen, on a dolly, for easy disconnection and removal during kitchen renovations. The gas-on-gas designation means it contains a heater (at left - mine isn't rusty); this one is powerful enough to warm up the adjoining room as well. In this way, I can focus on my window restoration, fueled by "Bengal" coffee.
Bengal Stove - similar by James McInnis, on Flickr
look from my family the first time they laid eyes on it.