painting a black lacquer bedroom set

I have a black lacquer bedroom set that I would like to turn into less of an eye sore. This the kind that is trimmed in that tacky brass stripping, I am not sure of the material they used (wood?) but the drawers seem to be of a wood like material and most definately what I have heard referred to as partical board
I would like to be able to utilize it in the guest room.
My question is would I treat this furniture the same way as told to one of the other postings regarding a laminated bedroom set?
I wanted to give the set either a crackle finish or an aged patina, I realize that if I just applied the paint it would drip off.
I would like to remove the brass stripping which seems to be held on with some type of sticky adhesive.
Any information would be greatly appreciated, much thanks in advance.

 

G:

Before you can do anything with the bedroom set it must be sanded. Nothing is going to adhere to a lacquer finish without proper prep work, which includes sanding and priming.

Use BIN or KILZ to prime with - two coats, sanding lightly after each to remove any irregularities. From there, you can do anything you like, paint, antique, whatever.

PS - if you sand those brass pieces you can paint them too.