So have you ever inherited a piece that wasn’t really your style, but you didn’t want to get rid of it, because you know its a special piece? Here’s where SPRAY PAINT (my best DIY friend) comes in handy.
S and I were very fortunate to be given a HUGE antique mirror from his grandmother’s things. It is solid wood, about five feet wide, and…gold. Yup, you heard it right. The frame of the mirror was gold. Not that I have anything against gold, because I love to wear it as an accessory, but gold has no place in our home. Most of our things are chrome, silver, polished/brushed, and not gold. So we had this great piece but nothing to do with it.
It’s pretty…orange-y gold.
Enter Ashley’s furniture placement ADD. After buying those awesome parsons chairs for dirt cheap and recovering our existing chairs in our dining room, it was obvious that it needed a quick rearrange. Though we haven’t ever needed seating for more than four at our table, we also liked the idea of being able to hopefully host an adult dinner party in the near future. This is where the rotation of the room comes in. Because our buffet is so deep, its always been a bit awkward on the opposite wall. I moved it and our china cabinet, so that we could flank the buffet with the super cute and newly slip covered parsons chairs. This way the chairs can pull double duty: if we need them at the table with an extra leaf, pull ’em up, or, if we need ’em in the living room for a rousing game of catch phrase, drag them in there instead! Eitherway, now the large and hefty buffet was on an opposite wall and it looked sad and naked without something above it. Remember that gold mirror? Aha!
To make sure that the mirror was painted properly (and only on the frame, not the glass), I used packing paper to cover the glass of the mirror.
Cover up!
After struggling to carry this sucker by myself down our deck stairs, I set it up underneath our deck for its spray paint. Luckily, I didn’t really need primer for this baby. I did a few quick coats….
Before…
After!
I did several coats and had to be very careful to get all the little nooks and crannies with the details on the corners and in the middle of the frame. I left it to dry outside, brought it in and enjoyed my handiwork. Until…I saw that I actually taped TOO well and missed some of the frame. So I re-taped, recovered, and removed the mirror from the house for it’s final spray. It did work out, and I think it looks AWESOME.
All done!
We’ve put him in his general spot, but because he’s so heavy, we’re going to have a professional help us mount him on the wall. Not that I think S and I could not do it ourselves, but I also have nightmares of hearing a loud crash in the middle of the night, quickly followed by the sound of shattering glass. Or a similar nightmare when I arrive home from work to a terrified dog who has avoided a room because of the broken antique mirror on the floor. This is something that I would much rather leave to the professionals (not unlike my feelings about electrical work). So here he will stay until our professional hanger-upper comes to help.
Home for now.
You can kind of see the parsons chairs on either side and, of course, you get an awesome view of my formerly brass swans that have found their home on the buffet. I think I’m going to like this mirror, even though it is a bit more flowery than I would usually go when decorating our house. I picked Valspar Semi-Gloss black paint to try and give a bit of sheen but not overwhelmingly so. I think the frame has a bit of Hollywood regency about it but also still traditional.
What do you think?
XOXO,
Ashley
PS- If you are painting a mirror frame and you DO happen to get paint on the glass (which I may or may not have done…) using a liquid remover like nail polish remover and some good old elbow grease will get it right off, so don’t panic!
Mid-Century Mod Podge 