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If it is pressboard and veneer, then sanding and varnishing are not a great idea. There is just not enough veneer to sand, you'll hit pressboard. Plus, the veneer is simply paper with a thin layer of plastic on top of it -- it will not take the varnish.

A better bet would be to sand it lightly, apply a high adhesion primer (tinted would be best) and then paint it a happy colour.

Are you on drugs? Do you have no clue what veneer is? Of course you can't sand or poly it! Your only options are to paint it, as Carder mentions, although that will probably look crappy. Or peel the veneer off and apply new veneer.

But really, you just shouldn't have bought such a shitty table in the first place if you wanted to keep it for more than a year without scratches.

wow - ass. ^

I've had very good luck painting veneered IKEA furniture (the stuff with real wood veneer, not plastic laminate) using the method Carder describes -- sand lightly, wipe well with a tack cloth, prime (Zinnser 1-2-3 works very well), and paint.

FWIW, the top on the IKEA table pictured above (Antnas) is solid wood with steel legs. Are you sure your table is pressboard with veneer?

By the way, I just wanted to say that I really hope you won't let comments like Vagary's get you down. I know what it's like to be stuck with a piece of furniture that isn't everything you'd hoped for while you save up for something better. Who knows? You might wind up turning this table into something you love!

Oh, and I should have mentioned that painting wood veneer works best if you first patch an scratches/chips with a wood filler (I like Zinnser Ready Patch, it's super easy to sand but dries hard) before sanding. Don't skip the tack cloth! And use a foam roller to apply the primer and paint. Good luck!

A trick I used is priming a veneer top with gesso (which you can pick up at any art store) before painting. Its normally a primer for canvas, but it worked perfectly when I used it.

Another option would be to find a cool piece of wood to replace the top you already have on it. But, as a commenter said above: this table (unless they have different options) is a solid wood top. Refinishing it would probably be the simplest way to go.

This website is supposed to be about 'advice' - constructive advice. The comments by Vagary and the tone used were totally inappropriate and downright nasty (hate to know you). If you have nothing constructive to say then don't comment.... ever heard the adage 'if you having nothing nice to say, then don't say anything' same goes for posting.

I apologize for 'venting' here but I have read many a comment in which 'personalities' are needless imposed.

I think we can all agree that vagary is a jerk and the comments were nasty. Don't let that one get to you. We've all been through times where furniture has to last a little longer than expected. I really hate that some people think that all IKEA furniture is crap. Sure, some of it is, but there's a lot of great stuff there. This blog/website is not purely for the rich and snobby.

That being said, there's a lot you can do for a table like that. Carder's suggestion is great and should work. I also saw this on ikeahacker the other day and if you're artsy, this might be a great solution: http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2007/10/turn-ugly-old-tables-into-work-of-art.html

And push come to shove, you can always cover it with a table cloth if it gets too fugly.

If buying a new wood top is out of the question, you could by a plexi glass or acrylic clear top cut to fit your table size, if you want to totally cover the wood..put some fabric on the table first then put the plexi over it. makes for a durable, different but not very permanent or expensive change.

How about having a new top cut from a piece of Baltic birch plywood? Or even from a more affordable slab of maple or birch veneer plywood from whatever Home Depot/Lowes type store is closest to you. Finish it with a couple of coats of poly.

Consider the metaphor of carbohydrate furniture: if someone went onto a health site and said "all I eat is white bread, I need to lose 10 lbs now, but I can't change my diet for a year", what do you think the response would be? Given that the photo is just a stock table, how do y'all know that the original question wasn't a troll?

Perhaps we should ask what is the exact model and from there give suggesstion.

If the table has real wood veneer, check how it was handled to decide how you could repair it. The table in the photo you attached has a clear acrylic finish so I'd first rub the scratches with steel wool (#00) then apply a very thin layer of clear acrylic.