Friday, July 1, 2011

DIY Modern Painted Mirrors

Good morning, quick update we passed inspection! Moving forward with concrete:)

Today I'm doing a quick post on how to paint your mirrors to make them more modern. This can also be done with picture frames and is really quite easy. 

My goal in this project was to make my entry way feel larger and more bright. Mirrors will do just that.

I started with 3 mirrors that I bought from Home Goods for only $99 ea, note that they have quite a bit of detailing in the frames which is good and what you want for this project:

Now you may be saying to yourself, "what is this crazy woman talking about?, They are white already!" Well, I know, but as I said I've done this before and in order for you to have them look modern and not country bumpkin or shabby chic they will need to be painted to get rid of all the detailing in flat white (also one of them was gold and all 3 were different colors). You can do it in any color be it black, pink, green or blue but stick to the same flat spray paint.



The first thing you need to do is tape off the frame as close to the edge as you can to avoid getting paint on the mirrors. You will then cover the mirror with some kind of paper or card board and then tape that as well. Painters tape works best since it will leave nothing behind.


Next you will take your mirrors somewhere outside where you have air flow and where you are not in fear of the over spray that WILL come from the spray paint. I would also recommend using a mask just so that you aren't breathing in the toxic fumes. I choose a spray paint in flat white that has a built in primer which just makes your coverage go further. Hold the spray paint a bit far away from your frame (not directly close to it or it will drip) and do short bursts of paint to form a thin coat all around your frame. Then move on to the next one etc. By then you should be safe to add a 2nd coat, and then leave it to dry. When you come back in a few hours you can assess if it needs a 3rd coat etc.

Once finished you will have really nice modern feeling mirrors with a very eclectic feel to them. Here are my mirrors:




And here is one that I did in my old house which really stood out on my chocolate walls:



 Such a great idea, and can be done for so little mulah$$. Please share with me if you've done this yourself, feel free to include a link~

3 comments:

  1. I've never done it but just wanted to say that they look amazing in your room!!!

    What a fabulous job you've done!

    B

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  2. Hi B and Melz, thanks for the support and I'm glad you like them. I need to invest in a better camera at some point because my Canon Power Shot just isn't cutting it:(

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