I think this mirror may be my new favourite piece in the condo :) And it cost $10, which makes me love it even more. It's hard for others to understand just how much I love a good deal...
I love pretending what it would be like to actually have people read this blog. When doing a new project, I'll say to my boyfriend "Wait! Let me take a photo of this step!" And he'll look at me with an almost pleading look of "But it would go so much faster if you didn't have to do that..." to which I reply "But my readers won't understand how to do it if I don't capture this step!". Then he gives me a look that is a combination of "Aww.. it's cute that you think that" and "Maybe one day..." but he says "Okay, let's take the photo" and I win :)
This project took about 30 minutes and I did it on my own, so I didn't have to make anyone stop to pose. Maybe next time.
A few weeks ago I was driving to visit my Grandma. I stopped at a Goodwill on the way because it's not one I normally go to, so I was hoping for a good find. And I got one! This mirror was $20, but it just so happened to be a 50% off furniture day! I couldn't believe that nobody else had snatched it up - the lines were perfect!
Here's what it looked like before:
My wonderful future sister-in-law let me spray paint it in her garage.
You can tell from the holes in the side that it used to be a part of a tri-fold mirror that probably sat on top of a dresser. They only had the middle part, but that's all I needed! gave the whole piece a quick sand using 80 grit sand paper, and then filled the holes with wood filler.
After I had sanded the wood filled areas and wiped the mirror down, I taped the inside of the mirror so that I wouldn't get any spray paint on it.
And then I covered the mirror with newspaper. One layer is enough, it won't leak through to the mirror. If when you're done you realize there was a spot you didn't cover, don't worry, you can use a razor blade to scrape it off.
I lay the mirror down on newspaper so I wouldn't ruin their floors (although there were a few spots that I didn't cover perfectly - sorry Stacey!)
*TIP! Make sure you raise whatever you're painting slightly off the ground. I put two little cardboard pieces underneath so that I could get good coverage on the sides and I wouldn't have to worry about the mirror sticking to the newspaper underneath.
I used this spray paint:
I already had it from a previous project, it's just $8 at Home Depot, not bad!
I did two coats and let it dry in between, but it dries super quickly. I wouldn't leave the newspaper on for too long, because you don't want the paint to adhere to it, and then pull off parts of the paint with the newspaper.
(Please pardon the poor quality iPad photos).
Here's the before:
And after:
I like that the wood grain almost gives it a gold-leaf-ish finish.
I couldn't be happier! The gold ties in perfectly with the coffee table I just painted for the living room, which I'll show soon :).