Little Country Shelf that could

I found this cute shelf years ago during the clean-out of a foreclosure home. It would have been thrown in the trash had I not taken it home where it spent several years being home to my 4 little soup bowls.
It was originally painted in a dark rusty orange color and I painted it black to match my kitchen in the old house.

When we moved, it was time to give the little country shelf a make over. I started with a sander but the layers of paint were so thick I quickly gave up and got myself a bucket of paint stripper. That, along with a bit more sanding and scrubbing did the trick.

I then applied "Red Mahogany" strain and it turned out really nice.