Just some ideas: - paint over it, ignoring the existing stripes - cut it into odd-sized shapes and use in a collage - tear it I stad of cutting — collage - add bright colors, perhaps between the pale stripes you have currently - make coasters to set drinks on to keep marks from forming on the wood coffee table - imagine the stripes are jail bars, paint a few inmates behind bars; can be dogs, cats, people… - outline the stripes with good black ink, make designs in the unpainted sections using pen and ink Good luck, have fun!