Gumtree cabinet, some water damage

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My wife purchased this on gumtree this week with an eye to having it grace our living room. She would like us to do what we can to restore it.

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There is some swelling, and damage to the surface layer, at the rear corners of the horizontal surface.

I believe that the larger surfaces are a laminate finish, rather than veneer, but would be very happy to hear that I am incorrect.

The doors, drawers, hinges and handles are in decent nick. The moulding around the base is fluted vertically and also somewhat damaged.

Is it salvageable? Any suggestions? Lug to the dump?

Welcome to the forum.

The close-ups look like it is veneered with timber but the timber veneer then has a very thick layer of varnish on it. However, your real problem is that it is made of rubbish board - fabricated reconstituted fibre board of some nature and, once that gets wet it swells. Then, because the stuff is made with urea formaldehyde glue thickened with wheat or other flour it is very prone to rot. Very difficult to fix. I restore Australian antiques so have to admit that I know ssa about restoring this stuff.

However, a starting point could be to stabilise the wet fibreboard with an epoxy timber preservative/hardener (nasty smelly stuff). Once it is hard you can sand it flat (beware nasty dust - protection essential) and maybe patch it with some dark paint?

OR, (this bit is tongue-in-cheek) if it was me your last option would be my first option (after I 'accidentally deleted a certain Gumtree account). Then, on my way back from the dump I'd cruise around the streets from Indooroopilly to Moggill - it is large item cleanup time and I've seen better stuff than this on the streets - even solid timber TV units.

Hard to tell from the photos -but might be veneer? Any swelling or soft parts of the MDF would have to be scraped out and filled with bog (polyester filler , builders bog or car bog ,don't think there is much difference ,at least with the cheap car bogs) Will be hard to level as the layer come loose is in the way for sanding etc. Sharp blade & patience -maybe. Otherwise paint/stain finish as best can be managed. Still probably look best from a distance-further the better.
Another thought -if these are only on the ends-some sort of decorative capping? large enough to hide affected areas?
In any case don't throw too much money or time into this as this is the sort of thing that is often free on gumtree or roadsides.
Tell your wife not to buy MDF/chipboard crap in the future unless immaculate. I allow such things into the house only as temporary solutions or for shed storage where I don't care how it looks.