Back in the day when the i3 8" was the bee's knees, I painted my woodwork mainly for aesthetic reasons. However, I have had a number of experiences of having MDF soften and swell when liquids landed on it. You might think that water droplets and suspended vapour (humidity) would be the only culprits, but my printer has been in the firing line of WD40, grease, anti-freeze and such because it has been in my workshop. Since I moved house it has come closer into the living space, and it's a bit hard keeping a 2 year-old's juice bottle away from Poppy's maker thing.

Besides, to me, Baltic pine laminate just screams IKEA.

Old Man Emu