Does it have casters? It's a little hard to tell in the pic, but, it looks like it might be worth restoring - looks like it was a nice piece of furniture.

Yes it has casters- but skeptical of the wood quality because it can't weigh more than 40lbs

If you like it and have a place for it, it's worth it. It's a beautiful piece that could be stunning restored.

Ditto above - if you like it and have a place for it and if you like doing it and want to take the time...

Looks like circa 1925-35 and in current condition worth about $10-25 if you get lucky. That's why it was left behind. Only you can be the judge if its worth it to you to refinish. If you do want to try refinishing, I'd strip and sand it and start over. Keep the existing hardware. You might end up with an interesting conversation piece.

This is one time when I say paint. I am usually pretty resistant and like refinishing, but I think this is a piece that would be FUN to paint!!! Figure out where you want it and the purpose it will have there and then the color will be easier to determine. Please post a final pic if you go ahead with this. You may have a diamond in the rough here!!!

Paint and glaze are the less complicated than stripping, sanding, neutralizing stripper, staining, and finishing.

This is definitely a candidate for paint.

If you like refinishing, this piece would be fun to work on. In the photo the desk looks like it has some interesting grain to the wood front. It could be used as a decorative piece or an occasional desk in a guest room.

I have used cece caldwell paint with good results. Easy to use, no sanding, cleans up with water. Here is an idea link...... http://shizzle-design.com

If you feel like it's too much work, I would be more than willing to take it off your hands - seriuosly - where do you live? You can pm me on FB (JanMcFadden) or email me through here (janmac). Please let me know where you are located :-)

Wow, that looks a lot like my great grandmother's furniture which I have in my guest bedroom. But hers is much more sturdy and larger.

When my elderly next door neighbor passed away and her son was clearing out the garage, he put out a similar piece on the curb. I couldn't get there fast enough to bring it in my garage, fix the areas that were weakened by age, and use it in my home. It's a sturdier piece though. I was able to repair the front & sides, the top was hopeless, so I put old fashioned crocheted doilies on it, with a piece of glass to fit over that. It now has our flatscreen tv on it in the family room. The dvd's fit in the drawer.

I would probably agree with the others, refinishing something that weighs so little probably means everything is a veneer on top of lesser quality wood. I've refinished things, but that would be a perfect candidate for some chalk paint, as mommaskitchen mentions above. If you don't know anyone who would want to tackle that to make a great colorful or distressed piece (tv stand, bathroom vanity, desk, console table), then sell it to janmac, LOL.

You can paint this with any brand of paint if you prep it correctly. The lasting beauty comes from prep work not from the type of paint you buy.

Remove loose and useless wood. Then stain ( like walnut) then rub tung oil on it. No reason to give up on it-if there is wood under the damaged surface.

I would not waste time refinishing, however I would paint it, sand any varnish off and remove hardware and use a good spray, yes spray paint, no brush strokes and even coverage and use a satin finish, use sweeping strokes so you won't get drips , then use the piece in a child's room , as it looks small, or sell .

This would look fabulous painted. Keep the hardware. you'll have a great vintage modern piece.

Actually a piece this old I feel looks better brushed. the hand work and sanding between every coats actually adds character to the piece.

Just because it's light doesn't mean anything. Particle board is fairly heavy so don't put too much into furniture by the pound. Top of my head I can tell you it's probably birch lumber core with walnut veneer. It has machine made decorative applique on the front. Handles are original. I can tell you if it's worth refinishing but I will need 3 photos. 1. If there is any part of the wood that has clear grain, take a fairly close up shot. 2. Look on the underside of drawers and in the back of the piece for any maker's marks and, if you find any, take a photo of that. 3. Take a picture of the drawer joinery (shoot the joint that attaches the front to the side). Dollars to donuts, it's dovetail, but I'm mostly interested to see if it's half blind dovetail. For what it's worth, it would look amazing with a white, sprayed paint job. Whether it's truly worth refinishing is up to your aesthetics. If it was REALLY valuable, refinishing it would only kill its value.