I recently built a large set of pantry shelves out of MDF. I was looking into buying sheets of wood veneer to surface the exterior and shelves but was surprised to find that they cost around $80 for a 4' x 8' sheet! At that price, I might as well have built the shelves out of hardwood in the first place (I can get sheets of hardwood plywood for around $50 a sheet). Is there a lower cost veneer option that I don't know about? If not, what would cause someone to ever use wood veneer instead of sheets of hardwood plywood? From an asthetic standpoint, what are some good options to make the MDF look good? I can put nice 1"x2" hardwood facing on the ends of the shelves, but what should I do for the MDF shelves themselves? Stain? Try to Paint with the same color as the wood stain? -Trying to learn :) Stuart

First I have a cherry coffee table (Broyhill Maison Lenoir, you can see it on their site) and it's around five years old. The molding around the bottom, especially on the side that faces the couch, the finish has been beaten, chipped and scratched. Around the edge of the top, it has done the same thing. None are really deep (no damage to the wood itself) and I'm hoping I can just touch this up, not redo the whole thing. Problem is, I'm not sure what to use and the proper way to do it. Second, I have a cherry dining room table that is around 26 years old. It is need of refinishing, the table top has some deep scratches down into the wood. The legs are beat up as well, but could probably be touched up. How should I approach this? Strip the whole thing (it only has the original finish on it), then sand down smooth? Skip the stripping and just sand down the finish and sand out the scratches in one step? A comination (strip the legs, sand the top)? Or should I just repair the finish on the legs and only redo the top (I would think that would be hard to get the two to match)? I haven't done any furniture refinishing at all, but considering the table is in such bad shape anyway it's not like I can ruin it. I can find information on things like technique, but refinishing instructions seem like they are always for some thing with 10 coats of different finishes and paints. So I don't need detailed instructions, just these few questions on things like materials and approach. Thanks.