So you have taken the plunge and purchased a piece of bare wood furniture. Congratulations! It's an excellent value for the money, and with appropriate care, can last for generations.
Optimistically, before you made the investment, you already had a clear idea what you desired to do with the piece, but if not, then before you pick up the first tool and start to work, it's time to plan! A bit investment in time now will save you a great number of headaches down the road.
Where bare wood furniture is concerned, you essentially have 3 alternatives for finishing the piece, and they're:
Leave the wood "naked"
Paint it
Stain it
Each of these alternatives demands a bit of work on your part to protect your investment and increase the beauty and performance of the piece.
The simplest thing you can do is just "finish" your new piece of bare wood furniture is to let it stay in its normal condition. If you choose this option, you'll probably desire to protect the wood by coating it in some form of wood protecting oil (linseed oil is normally used on a wide variety of bare wood), but there are other products available as well. Always, always, always try out first by applying a small quantity of the oil you chose to an unseen corner of the wood to ensure that it will not cause any discoloration or other reaction in the wood. Once assured of this, you can safely apply your selected protective oil to the entire piece.
If you decide to paint your bare wood furniture, you've quite many to think about, other than color choosing. Form of paint, for example. If a piece is to be positioned in a bathing room, you will probably want to gravitate toward a glossy paint, as these stand up well to the high moisture environment. For high traffic/heavily used pieces, semi-gloss paints provide a good balance of good looks and durability, and if the piece is planned for a lower traffic/lower intensity environment, then flat or satin finishes will help you fine.
Now's also the time to think about whether or not you'll have any form of border or scrollwork on your bare wood furniture. If you're not specifically artistically inclined, there are a variety of attractive stencils you can use, readily available at home shops (Lowe's, Home Depot), arts and craft shops (Michael's), and generally at chain retail outlets (Wal-Mart, Target), so you have got lots of options. Of course, if you are artistically inclined or know someone who is, a hand painted border is a good way to really personalize the piece!
Finally, you might decide to stain your new piece of furniture. This is my personal favorite system of finishing pieces, even though it takes the longest, and if this is the direction you intend to go, again, you have got numerous decisions to make, beginning with the type of stain you will use. Stains come in oil-based, water-based, or gel, and while my own preference runs to oil based, you will want to experiment to find out which works best for you. Surely, you don't wish to experiment directly on your new piece of furniture, so I suggest purchasing an unfinished wood shelf of the same sort of wood from your local home shop and experiment on that. Once you make a firm selection, you can proceed with confidence and start working on your bare wood furniture direct.
Make a plan, have fun, and enjoy your new piece of bare wood furniture, regardless of how you choose to finish it!