Mirror Makeover

This is a guest post by Cindy Kihn-Santiago of My Romantic Home, one of our favorite blogs. Over the years, Cindy has shared her do-it-yourself projects – updating antiques, chairs and dressers for her charming, shabby chic home. Now shares a new project, a mirror makeover, with us.

Revamping old home décor items is a very economical way to decorate.  Many outdated items which can be found for a few dollars at flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales can easily be updated for a fresh new look. 

Garish gold mirrors are one of my favorite makeover projects.  They get an updated look quickly with a can of spray paint.

 

The first step is to take the mirror out of the frame.  There are usually metal clips that you can bend up and the mirror and cardboard backing will easily come out.  Be careful the edges of the mirror can be sharp.

Turn the frame over and paint the back with a spray primer and let dry and then prime the front.  Once the primer is dry you are ready for the spray paint.  I use a flat spray paint.  It’s important that you paint the rim that the mirror rests on.  If you don’t paint the rim area where the mirror sits you will see the old color through the reflection in the mirror. 

 

To create an aged look I use Rub n Buff which can be found at most hobby stores.  It comes in a wide range of colors.  I used a combination of Spanish Copper and Autumn Gold for this mirror.

 

Put a very small amount of Rub ‘n Buff on the very tip of your index finger and lightly rub over the some of the high edges of your mirror.  You are adding paint but you are creating the effect of paint that has worn off so put it in places where the paint would naturally wear off over time. 

 

A little of this paint goes a long way.  You may want to practice on something else before you use this so you get the feel of it first.

 

Now you just need to put the mirror back in the frame and you are finished. 

I used white paint on this project but you can use the same technique with any color. It works especially well with black spray paint.

~ Cindy

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 2:15 am and is filed under Painting, Q & A, Q and A. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.