Sunday, September 25, 2011

Color is Cooler

So my mom has had this mirror for, like, ever. My sister and I bought it for her one year when gold corners and crackle finish was totally in style. I had totally forgotten about it until my mom mentioned that they planned to sell it in a garage sale.

Um. . . . no! I NEEDED a mirror to sit atop my mantel and look amazing. The only problem was, I'm not really a gold corners and crackle paint kind of girl. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing ugly enough that a can of spray paint (or in this case, not even a full can) can't fix.

Again, thanks to Pinterest, I tried something new. I rubbed candle wax over the corner flourishes with the intent of adding some "aged" look to the frame. I carefully masked off the mirror with masking paper and painters tape.

My one tip here would be: don't skimp on painters tape. I have several DIY projects at home that have been marred by the cheap painters tape. If it doesn't block out the paint you wind up with a horrible end product or more work for yourself.

Once it was masked off, I spread out an old vinyl tablecloth that I purchased at an end of season sale at Wal-Mart for $1.50 and now use as my spray paint drop cloth. It's a great, cheap way to create a painting space anywhere you need one.


The frame took a good two coats of paint before it was fully covered. As you can see below, the corners did retain a bit of the aged look. Not quite what I thought I might get but I'm happy with it. The crackle finish along the frame resulted in a nice texture that I'm digging now that its done.

And just like that, my somewhat color challenged living room has a POP of lipstick red that reflects the light, brightens the room and makes both the darling hubby and I happy (though I suspect he may be a fan because now we have crimson and cream in the living room). :)

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