Ugh, that's the worst smell ever, but another great piece of furniture!

Oh how I feel for you. I once bought a beautiful chest at a yard sale and when I got it home I realized it reeked of smoke. I threw it to the curb on garbage pick-up day. Of course a few days later someone told me I could have used Kilz to seal the smell and painted over it. Live and learn, right?

I hope yours turns out great.

I suspect most of the smell comes form the unfinished parts of the cabinet (ie- the insides,backs and bottoms of the cabinet & drawers.) You may be able to seal in the smell by applying a very thin coat of shellac (not varnish). A single coat of off the shelf pre-mixed shellac diluted about 50/50 with alcohol should do it. We've used this trick on musty smelling antique furniture with good results.
good luck! - dj

How the construction on this piece? I found a VERY similar one on my local craigslist.
I assume it is veneer on plywood? and the legs are solid wood?

bunny - it is veneer on something, but the wood is nicer than plywood... we were able to stain it on the inside when we made the tv stand. the whole thing is very well constructed and sturdy. the legs / base seems to be solid wood. the veneer is pretty thick, there is some weird stain on the top of the dresser that i'm going to try to sand out even though it is veneer.

Awesome, thanks!