I have a tendency to buy things at garage sales and then let them sit around in the garage waiting for me to find the time to fix them up somehow. Usually the thing I buy is something we need but still...

Anyway, I purchased a bookshelf at our church garage sale for about $8 in April. Then school let out and potty training took over and, although I was pestered by Boo, I just didn't get to refinishing it. Finally, Chip decided he would like to have his garage space back, so I started stripping the old stain off. Well, Chip did a second application of stain removal and then sanded off what was left. He also trimmed up the decorative wood that was on the top and cut some scrap wood to create a better looking front siding.
Then he applied the new stain and finishing coat. I'm grateful that he took over the project because, at the rate I was going, it would have been done shortly before Boo graduated from high school! Here's the finished product. It took the place of the smaller bookshelf that my grandfather made (which I refinished all by myself a few years ago!).

Here's the older bookshelf, now in Boo's room. It took almost no time for it to be completely full of her chapter/series books!