I wholeheartedly agree. A proper paint job with decals is quite expensive, and for good reason. Still, the bike would need to be special to its owner or financially feasible if meant for sale. I am glad powder coating exists as it can give a great look along with great durability, at 1/3 the cost of wet paint. Granted these powder coat endeavors are not on bespoke Colnagos or anything, but they have their place. Normally, I will completely disassemble a bike to the frame and fork, clean it, compound the paint, wax the paint, and then apply touch up. All my bikes are 'riders' even if they are really pretty. They were meant to ride!

And while I do enjoy a repaint (which I've done to a few of my bikes over the years) or re-decal'ing after a powder coat job, there is a certain...legitimacy...to having original paint and decals. That was how it was created. I may be putting the same decals on it, but I am not the (original) creator of the bike and of the name (yet I am naming it again!), and often my color and decal of choice aren't original. Therefore the 'authority' of the bike/frameset is somehow lessened in some way in my mind. It's weird, and perhaps hard to understand, but by and large, if I can keep it original then all the better. As for components? Anything. I am almost always going to upgrade/modernize the frameset, so I'm usually in the resto-mod club.

So to answer the OP's question, I prefer to refurbish and upgrade. Restoration takes more time and money, and if I don't need to or want to do it, all the better. Ultimately, the goal is to redeem the bike and get it back on the road, happy, quick, and safe!