Refinish Existing Cabinet? Coating is discolored, peeling, flaking, etc.

[Drel]

I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of a cabinet I picked up some time ago, and I've decided it's time to return the favor -- I'm going to attempt to refinish the cabinet, starting with the left side.  It's in pretty ugly looking shape right now, and I'd love some pointers on how to proceed.

Can anyone offer any tips on how best to tackle this project?  The coating (I'm not sure what this is made of - paint? melamine? laminate?) on the particle board is discolored (probably from the adhesive used on whatever side art was there originally, cigarette smoke, and who knows what else), it's completely come off in some spots (I tried to capture a picture of one particularly scabby spot), and is flaking off along some edges.  Can this coating be sanded off, chemically stripped off, or ... ?  Once off, what would be the best coating to replace it with?  Glue on some kind of laminate?  Paint?

Or, should I just cover it up (again, with paint, or laminate, or...)?

I guess I'm looking for a "cabinet restoration how to", intended for the total novice!

The good news is that the particle board itself doesn't seem in particularly bad shape, other than minor little dings; no water damage or major gouges.

[brock.sampson]

It's hard for me to tell what the sides are by the pictures.  I stripped the sides of my blitz cabinet with an old hair dryer and a putty knife.  Both sides where totally covered with a vinyl overlay.  If that is white vinyl heat will loosen the adhesive and you should be able to peel/scrape it off.  If you have an actual heat gun it would probably go even faster.  By the flaking I wouldn't think that it's laminate or melamine but I'm certainly not an expert.  The problem is once you get that covering off the particle board underneath is not going to be very smooth.  I sanded mine to smooth it out and then used a few coats of thinned drywall mud to fill the rest.  I ended up painting mine which took quite a few coats but turned out pretty nice.  I did price laminate but the sheets Lowe's were selling wouldn't be enough to cover both sides and the sheets were like $50 a pop.  I later found out there are different kinds of laminate for counters and thinner for vertical applications.  I didn't price out the thinner version as I was already painting by then.  Also if you use a laminate you shouldn't have to do quite as much prep work i.e no filling with drywall mud, bondo, wood filler etc.  I would still fill any larger gouges as these will likely show through.  I wouldn't go over it without removing  the flaking portions.  You will be trying to bond either paint or laminate to a flaking surface.  Do it right the first time and you will save yourself time and money in the long run.  Just my .02.