http://www.lanefurniture.com/AboutUs/

Gorgeous! I'd go with a less is more approach and maybe lightly sand the damaged area and apply a closely matching gel stain to the top and perhaps the rest of the cabinet? I'd definitely leave the inset in the doors alone-- too good to cover!

So jealous of this find-- I wish I could find more of this era in Northern Ireland! Everything is victorian-inspired :(

How about this:
http://www.designsponge.com/2010/10/before-and-afater-basics-refreshing-wood.html

In the 1950s and 1960s, Lane was a hugely popular and successful company. Then even gave out little "hope chests" to high school senior girls, in the expectation that they would furnish their eventual homes with Lane furniture. It was good quality, aspirational furniture.

I recently restored an old barrister cabinet using tips from the blog The Brick House. It came out great - link is below:

http://www.the-brick-house.com/2010/09/refreshing-vintage-wood/

(This was my first try at restoring any type of old furniture, also, so no expertise required!)

I would sand the front and give it a coat of something, but most important...I'd get a marble slab for the top.

Make sure we get to see that after!

Nice find! Check out these links to The White Attic in Chicago - they restore furniture just like this all the time, lots of photos of similar credenzas that might be inspiring. Like others have said, Lane made great quality furniture, so it's definitely worth saving!

The White Attic FB page

The White Attic Website

It depends on if the cabinet was solid wood or laminated wood (wood veneer). Laminated wood was pretty popular during the MCM period - you need to be very careful about sanding and stripping laminated wood.

But it looks could look amazing after it is refinished.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kinzco/6965526725/

I have a vintage Lane coffee table which I've sanded down to remove old varnish and scratches, in preparation for a tung oil finish. So far so good, and it's working out well.

Holy crap! We have the same credenza!! It really is a great looking piece when it's all shined up. Looks like we bought ours in better condition than yours. But then, we paid quite a bit more than $40. Good score.

Howards restor-a-finish

No sanding.

Comes in different colors so pick the one that matches.

They sell it at Home Depot, Amazon, etc.

To me this looks like late 60s, maybe even early 70s Lane.

I second Essesq's suggestion for a marble top (or some kind of stone) but I'd be very careful that the weight can be supported by the existing piece first, particularly if there turns out to be a lot of particle board in this piece.

I think you got a good deal on a piece to mess around and refurbish! Have fun!

And my first instinct was: PAINT IT.

(Waiting for the mob to show up with their torches and pitchforks...)

i would lighten the piece except for the latticework which i would make dark chocolate brown...then use bowling alley wax and rub, rub, rub...

Take a look at the handsome two-tone job this blogger did to highlight her wood piece:
http://www.turnstylevogue.com/2012/08/furniture-debut-the-willett/
If you're feeling ambitious, you might try something similar with oak and walnut stains, per description in Duane Hill's link above to your Lane credenza.

It's great! Nice score at that price. Lane definitely used particle board in some of its pieces. I really like the scale and design of their furniture, even if it's not tip top of the furniture world. We have a dresser with particle board and veneer - it's 50++ years old and the drawers work perfectly, and the veneer looks great. If you can put yours back to its original wood glory, go for it. But if not, the lines are fabulous - paint it!

I have 1950s furniture that belonged to my grandmother; it's hardwood on the outside, but particle board on the hidden bits inside drawers.

By the way a mix of half alcohol and half veneer thinner is rumored to be very good for cleaning stained wood.

Cool, I have a pair of matching chairs! (MCM styling, with the basket weave for the backs and lightly upholstered seats... which I just recovered in a misty blue fabric...) I was planning on steel-wool, Murphy's oil soap, and stain/polyurethane combo. Maybe oil instead?

I second the recommendation for Restor-a-Finish, especially if you do not do a lot of woodworking. I have used this on both solid and veneered pieces several times and it is a miracle worker.

Just lightly sand the affected areas, wipe the whole piece down, and apply Restor-a-Finish over the whole piece. Then make sure you wax the whole piece with a beeswax like Feed and Wax. It does wonders to smooth and even out an older finish with light cosmetic damage, especially on scratches and water rings.

You do NOT want to remove the old finish and restain it! With those doors, it will be a pain in the butt and unless you are meticulous it will not turn out well.

I've had great luck with Formby's Furniture Restorer:

http://www.formbys.com/products/refinisher/

You use fine steel wool to apply it - it dissolves the old finish and redistributes it, so it's a little less drastic than sanding it down and restaining etc. It leaves a beautiful finish. I've used it several times and it has worked like a miracle every time. I get it at an old-fashioned local hardware store, but maybe Home Depot would have it.

Maybe consider spending a little to have it professionally restored. It really is a beautiful piece, I think it would be worthwhile.

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/kinzco/tags/wormlely/

This one in good condition was marked $575 in Chicago:

http://gatyoretro.blogspot.com/2011/11/lane-perception-mid-century-modern.html

>>> THIS IS EASY, I DO IT OFTEN.

First give a thorough sanding to the top surface starting with 80 grit sandpaper and work your way up to 220 or 240. Lightly sand the drawer fronts and other major surfaces. I would not be too concerned about sanding the woven looking door inserts. The idea is to remove any buildup of wax or other debris and also to give the existing surface some tooth. Choose a dark walnut stain and put a couple light coats on the top surface, giving adequate time between cotes to thoroughly dry. Sometimes I find that using a couple rags is easier to manage than a brush (wear gloves). The rest of the cabinet should only need one cote of stain. Use the rag to rub it into any scratches, scuffs or chips. Apply more stain to the top surface if necessary until it closely matches the rest of the dresser. It's ok to leave some stain on the wood, the goal is to make the top match the body. Let everything dry over night or for 24 hours if possible. Finally use a semi-gloss or satin clear coat on the entire piece. LIGHTLY sand between cotes with 220 sandpaper, especially on the top. It shouldn't take more than 2-3 coats and it will be smooth and silky.

It's not as difficult or complicated as it sounds. Lane made and still makes great heirloom quality furnishings, great find. Certainly do not paint this great dresser.

Good luck! Please let us know how it turns out!

Also, The back of the dresser can be stained as well but you'll probably never see it. If you like, you can purchase a new back panel. A similar material is available at any major home improvement center. Personally, I would just reattach it with simple brad nails

Okay. I perused the comments and have to chime in that @garimi has the best plan. I have used howard's restore-a-finish and it does not work well on very badly damaged finishes. I had really bad drink "rings" on a similar mid-century walnut table and it left the rings darker than the original finish because the damaged parts absorbed the products differently from the undamaged parts.

Even though my piece was veneer, I sanded off the finish slowly and carefully with a palm sander. Then restained the top. I had no trouble at all matching my refinished table top to the rest of the piece's original finish. After several attempts at fixing it, I did exactly what @garimi describes and it turned out perfectly.

I third the suggestion for a marble top.

Whatever you do, if you love it don't get rid of it. I had an English rosewood credenza that I traded down for a thing from Target and I've been kicking myself for 2 years. I will probably always kick myself when I think of that credenza. Moral of the story:

If you love a piece of furniture, don't throw it out. At least if you sell it you can imagine it is living happily ever after at someone else's house.

@Dave Barnes.

I think thats a bit out of turn. If its structurally sound, which it sounds like it is, there is nothing wrong with an owner to choose to put in some time and elbow grease to get something they like to be pretty again in their eyes. Heck, some may choose to keep it shabby chic, and it even may work in the right setting. This is not the place to be judgemental.

Take your trolling and snobby ways elsewhere.

I recently got something like this (though solid wood) at the Goodwill for 20 bucks with my only real idea about it being that I needed some low-profile storage to replace the towering black dresser that previously loomed over my bedroom, and didn't want to spend a lot. It also would have to serve as my nightstand, since my room isn't big enough for both and it would be the right height, anyway. I thought about painting it, which seemed a waste as I /loved/ the wood color, so that was a no-go. I thought about refinishing it, which seemed like a hhhhhuge amount of effort and not something I was confident at all in my skills to achieve, so I just wasn't comfortable taking on that task. Since I am moderately into shabby-chic anyway, I also realized I was fine with it still looking like a well-loved old piece of furniture, as long as it didn't look like garbage.

What I ended up doing was just cleaning it up as best I could with cleaner and restorers that didn't require sanding or effort or knowledge (yep, that's me), then tried to think of how I would cover up the fact that someone had just brutalized the top surface in a way it was beyond my skill to fix (not just a square foot of worn-off finish, but a little area where someone had let red plastic melt and dry permanently onto the surface). I thought about getting some beautiful silkscreened paper, or a nice fabric to lay on top, with a custom-cut piece of plexiglass to cover it (about $60 total for that option, which still may happen some day). I ended up putting it in my room, filling it up and leaving it while I thought about it. Soon I noticed this piece of spare fabric my roommate had left laying around our apartment for the last year. She let me have it, so I just tossed it on and ended up loving the way it looked. It ended up making it look a lot more cozy than I had envisioned, which ended up being great, since it is in my small room and is also my nightstand. It did sort of murder the MCM aesthetic, it certainly isn't slim and chic, but I totally love it. Here is a picture from when I was still figuring out exactly what I wanted to do with it, forgive some of the peripheral mess.

This probably isn't the route most people would want to go; it worked great for my style, my skill level, time investment, and my space, though, so it was surprisingly perfect. If you do go the traditional refinishing route, you are a braver man than I and good luck to you. But if you're a huge pussy like I am, keep in mind that there might be other ways to get what you want out of this piece without killing yourself over it.