Weddingbee boards

So MIL gave DH this lovely mirror in a frame, that I would love to hang in our bathroom, but I'm just not sure how to make it look nicer. I'm not even sure if it's wood. It was painted black, apparently over some gold color, and the black chips off very easily, but as you can see, there are lots of ridges that would make scrapping it off quite a project. I want to paint it brown somehow. 

Any ideas how to go about doing this? I assume I can't just slap brown paint over the black paint that keeps chipping off... Would I need to paint it with some sort of primer first? Help! I've never done anything like this before! :-)

I would try using a paint stripper first. You may have to use it a couple times since it seems like there are a few layers of paint on there. You may discover some pretty wood under there that you could stain!!

After you have stripped off as much paint as you can you should sand it to get all the little pieces off. It will be hard to get all those little ridges, but they sell small sander pieces at Home Depot or Lowes.

I love re-finishing stuff :) Good luck!

For something that intricate, you're going to probably need to spray paint it to get into all the nooks and crannies.  I agree with pp, go with a chemical stripper and a firm toothbrush to get out as much as you can.