Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Mirror Transformation

If your anything like me, you have a callous on your index finger from some trigger happy spray painting.  Here is a quick mirror transformation that I did this week with my old friend spray paint. 


Here is the before. 
Not bad, but I'm over the brown.
I am slowly getting rid of the any traces of the Tuscan look in my house and these mirrors are part of the change going on.   I love re purposing stuff I already have. Why buy new when you can just give an existing piece new life with a little spray paint.


I purchased these metal mirrors hanging behind my living room couch several years ago at Marshall's on clearance.  They were a distressed brown and gold finish.  I'm going to slip cover the couch, but haven't gotten to it yet. 
To see more of how I changed our living room into our home office go here.

After carefully removing the mirror I spray painted the metal frame white.  Then I taped off the outer border of the frame and painted the inside grill work bright gold.  Be careful removing the mirrors.  Newer mirrors are often hot glued in place and difficult to take apart.  This was the case with these mirrors, but I was able to gently remove the glue and ease the mirror out of the frame.  Wear gloves and eye protection in case it breaks.  Been there, done that, it's a bummer when they break.

Then I used a gray glaze over the whole piece.  Here is the glaze I mixed up.  A little white paint, black paint, water, and glazing medium.




Piper is very curious about everything and she tried to help.  She curled up in my lap while I was sanding.  I think Roscoe sent her a message that I need puppy help with my DIY projects.


 After the glaze dried I distressed the whole piece with some sandpaper.


Here is the mirror detail before sanding.


Here it is after sanding.


I washed the mirrors with warm soapy water before putting them back in the frames.
Soap and water is the best mirror cleaner I've found, no streaking.
Here they are back in the living room.



I'm liking the gold detail on the mirror with my HFH re purposed hanging light fixture.
You can see more of that project here.




I like them...for now. 


Bye bye Tuscan, hello Swedish Gustavian?

How has your design taste changed? 
Are you transitioning too?
I would love to here all about it.
Thanks for checking it out.



7 comments:

  1. They look great! So fresh and bright. Piper is adorable. We've lightened things up around here quite a bit too. Gone are the darker jewel tones.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am getting married and leaving the nest and I am inheriting all my moms Tuscan stuff she doesn't want anymore. But I'm more French Country! Whats a girl to do!

    ReplyDelete
  3. shan. love the new look. but i also love how you are never growing moss, girlie. have to say i am drooling over your black/dark computer desk. wasn't that white not too long ago? can i have one just like it please? with that nailhead chair? stop the madness.

    can't wait to see it all in person. miss the gang like crazy. excited to see you all next month.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful! I love the after! That is my favorite thing to do- repurpose what I've already got. My look is always evolving so if I wasn't willing to bust out the spray paint on my existing decor, I'd be blowing way too much money on new stuff! I've been lightening up everything around my house too. My old look was more rustic, which is great with kids because everything is already distressed so if they bang it up it looks like it's suppose to be like that...but I've been craving a much more fresh and glam look so I'm throwing caution to the wind and painting everything white.
    btw Piper is darling!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love what you did!! They look great!!! I need to do a little more glazing! Btw...I love the succulents! I'm going to throw a succulent arrangment together today!!
    www.moddybee.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. it looks great it looks so much better i like the chandelier to . xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. love the transformation!! and the puppy? oh so cute!!!!
    Tana

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...