I decided to sand down the top, drawer front, and low shelf edges, but leave the spindles alone. I tried to match the stain but the one I bought (and tried on a hidden area) came out too red, so I skipped staining. Luckily several coats of poly ended up close enough.
Before (previous post):
I have an old beat up version holding my Networking gear on Top with my NAS on the bottom. Those old Telephone tables are pretty useful once the home phone has disappeared.
Ah, thanks for the proper name for it. Yeah, handy shape!