armoire redo

I have recently inherited a gorgeous armoire; however, it doesn't quite fit my personal style.  I would love, love, love to take a hand at refinishing it, but two things holding me back. 

1) I really don't want to mess it up and ruin a beautiful piece of furniture (I have never refinished furniture before)

2)  I come from a family where it is an abomination to paint wood (even though I totally disagree with that!)

I also thought my husband would be on board with my armoire redo and he, surprisingly, wants to keep it the way it is.

Ok so here is the piece as it is right now.

And here is a little lay out of some ideas of changes I would like to make.

 

I would like to paint the body a beautiful soft gray.  I am leaning toward the 2nd paint color "Crushed Ice" by Sherwin Williams.  Then for the insets on all four doors I am leaning toward a nice textured wallpaper.  I will also need to replace the knobs.  Here are some ideas of knobs I like and think would accent the piece very well.

Any ideas, advice, encouragement are appreciated!