I have this old desk/hutch that's been around for about

>>1041986
MDF swells only once, after that it's garbage.
You can try to sand high spots and lay new vinyl, but IMO it's not worth it.

cover it with a plate of aluminium

>>1041986
Once water gets into chipboard or mdf then it's pretty much fucked, you could sand it down a glue a veneer over it but it will not look good unless you really know what you are doing, if you are especially bothered about how it looks then you can try that just to get a few more years out of it, personally I've stopped buying new furniture, I buy old/antique stuff that doesn't loose a ton of value the moment you take it out the store, I just sold a leather armchair for more than paid for it three years ago, try doing that with shitty Ikea furniture.

>>1042060
>>1041988

I'll probably junk it next time I move. I dont mind looking at it but I was curious if anything could be done

File: Edge Trim.jpg (3KB, 225x188px) Image search: [Google]

3KB, 225x188px

>>1042234
Cover it with melamine coated hardboard, then spray paint the melamine to desired color, cover edges with "L" shaped trim to hide shitty hardboard edge, time spent making the corners of the edge trim will pay off in the end making the whole piece look better, shitty mitres at the corners are always the dead give away of an amateur job.

>>1042234
Furniture devaluation is a crazy thing, I used to buy Ikea stuff all the time until I got a job at a furniture auction place for a couple of years, MDF/Chipboard furniture is basically junk that is designed to fail the first time you move it, this is why it has almost no resale value, buying old furniture is better because it won't lose much resale value and it will often increase in value with time and a little care.

Quick tip :- if you have to buy new MDF/Chipboard self assembly furniture then glue as many of the joints as you can when assembling it, this will really help it to hang together as best it can.

>>1042409
this goes for a lot of things. outside corners catch the eye in tile and trim. with tile you can hide tiny gaps on the inside corners, but make sure the outside corners look perfect.

if you waste your money on another MDF desk, get a slab of tempered glass for it so this doesnt happen.

>>1041986
What about removing the top entirely, replacing it with a real wood panel, staining to match, and calling it a day?

>>1042542
This is not a terrible idea OP, probably not as cheap as hardboard and edging but more of a perm/long term fix for sure.