Painting a Carved Mirror Frame White

I admit, I am showing this project off for selfish reasons, I have a mirror just like this.  I have been considering painting it and now that I have seen that transformation that April on Home Hinges was able to make from hers, I know that someday... when I have time... (ha, ha- but seriously) I really am going to remake mine.  I love how painting this old carved frame mirror white completely highlights all the beautiful detail... Check out what I mean:

Sometimes when people put stuff by the side of the road it means it is for sale. Other times it means, “Don’t touch. I’m just bringing my car around to pick it up.” And every so often it means “free junk I don’t want any more.”

My roadside mirror after a few coats of paint and fixing my mistakes.

Paula and I happened upon a pile of the latter last week. Neither one of us usually stops for a pile of what looks like junk on the side of the road, but due to inspiration from Miss Mustard Seed, that is just what we did. Initially we drove right past it. We were enjoying a random conversation in her car, Paula’s baby asleep in her carseat in the back, when all of a sudden Paula exclaims, “Did you see that stuff. There’s stuff on the side of the road.” Not usually into that kind of thing I hadn’t paid any attention. I was inclined to move on and forget about it when next Paula said, as she frantically started looking over her shoulder to see if she could pull a U-ey right there in the street, that Miss Mustard Seed says to keep your eyes out for opportunities like this because you never know what you might find.

At the mention of Miss Mustard Seed I was completely on board.

I’m a huge fan.

I’d like to one day be called Miss Fennel Seed.

I’d even settle for Miss Ginger Rhizome, but it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

Anyway, we quickly turned around and approached the man in the front yard trying to back his truck up to a fence looking very busy and a little forbidding. This is the part where I came back to my senses and thought, “What are we doing?” Timidly I asked if the stuff by the curb was for sale. He looked at us like we were a little crazy and said, “If you want it, you can just take it.”
“Really? Are you sure?” was my brilliant reply.

He explained they are moving and just want to get rid of the stuff.  So with the spirit of “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” we went to work taking a closer look at the pile. Some of it was pretty ugly with a capital U, but we did find a mirror and a little side table.

Miss Mustard Seed says to only go for real wood items. The mirror was a faux-wood plastic with faux-wood plastic molding attached around it. We almost left it behind due to its plasticness, but at the last second I grabbed it for the mirror’s sake.

At home I decided to try experimenting with it. I decided to try Kilz primer on it to see if it would really prime plastic.  Of course as soon as I pull out a paint brush I have several small people right there to “help”.

Kilz seemed to work, so then I gave it two coats of Behr Cozy Cottage paint I have laying around.   I’m supposed to be painting my bathroom with it, but haven’t felt the bug to do it yet.

At this point I thought it actually looked worthy to hang in the house, but I wanted to try doing a glaze like Miss Mustard Seed does on some of her pieces.That’s when things took a bad turn. Rather than study how to go about glazing, I just jumped in and did my own thing. First I mixed a small amount of two different oops paints I’ve had in the garage for forever.

One is a bluish-black-gray and the other is a dark chocolate brown. Then I added a little water and stirred. I think the problem was I didn’t add enough water. As soon as I started wiping on the “glaze” it stuck too well to the paint and didn’t wipe of like I thought it should. It ended up making the whole thing just look streaky and too dark. Super Ugly!

Luckily it wasn’t anything another two coats of paint couldn’t fix.  So I went ahead and painted more Cozy Cottage, and waited for both coats to dry…again.

At this point my quick and simple transformation was starting to feel endless, and I almost didn’t have the heart to try glazing again.   Still not going online to get other people’s instructions, I really watered down my paint concoction and let it dribble all over with one rag, working it into all the crevices, while wiping it off with another wet rag. Then I wiped with a dry towel to get any excess off. Working in small chunks seemed to help too.

I’m not sure if this was the right way to glaze a faux wood mirror frame, but I like how it turned out…the second time that is.

I am definitely trying this at home!

What about you?

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Great Blue and Brown Bedroom Design

This party link is so great we had to show it off!  It is from Cindy at Cottage Instinct's great blue and brown bedroom, and she has a great blue and brown link party with this post ( I think the link up is closed but there are great projects to see) you should go check out!
Ok, ready?  I’m gonna share my BLUE & BROWN bedroom.  We’ll call it a psuedo-reveal because I’ve shown it to you before, and I mostly just rearranged stuff, moved stuff in, moved stuff out, and vacuumed.  But I did make (or am in the process of making) stuff too, so I’ll point those things out as we take the tour.

Ta da!  I didn’t paint or sand or do anything to the thingamabob….I just backed it with some tan/beige fabric using a staple gun, then hung a twig wreath I found in the black hole of my cra(p)ft room with some clearanced blue linen.  Kept the edges raw.  Just because.  I’m darn happy with the outcome.  Darn happy.

So below is the view going into my bedroom.  We moved the antique corner hutch and dresser from the family room back here.  I took the curtains and rod from the dining nook,  and pinned on added some more of that clearanced blue linen to the bottom ‘cause they were a wee bit on the short side…also plan on adding a bamboo-ish shade in the near future.



Coming around the corner, you can see my quick fix closet doors.  Ick.  Hate ‘em, but I haven’t found a solution I like.



I set up a clothes dumping ground little reading corner with my white rattan chair.  I covered the seat with the same fabric I lined the back of the thingamabob.  The bookshelf was a thrift find from last fall.  Today she finally got cleaned, sanded, painted, distressed, and glazed.
  


Here’s the view when I turn around.  Let’s see….there’s the ruffled pillow cases I made awhile back with some vintage sheets, a couple quilted shams from Walmart, and that striped sham (quilted floral on the other side)  everyone emailed me about.



See how perfectly lined up my side table lamps are?  I cheated by sticking some of my hubby’s vintage books under my side so they’d be the same height.  See the beige blanket at the end of the bed?  Just several yards of fabric I hope to make into a throw eventually.  I’m such a cheater.

The nightstand is actually my gramma’s old sewing storage thingy.  She painted and glazed it back in the 50’s.  A perfect turquoise!



Close up of my reading corner.  Wasn’t my hubs a cute baby?  The top shelf are old Landmark History books.  I removed the covers to find all different colors.  I took the pale blue/greens and pale beiges. 
 

Close up of my handiwork out in the garage this morning…..



View from the reading corner to hubby’s side of the bed.  His bedside table also traveled the wilds of our hallway, coming from the family room (yes there’s furniture in the family room.  That will be another post though…..)  That nightstand as well as the dresser were in my bedroom growing up.  ‘Tain’t never selling or painting them.  Nevah evah.  Oh, and I love to decorate with cords.  *rolling eyes*



Love my simple wreath.  I fiddled with the colors so you could see the right shade of blue….but gave up.  Just know it’s perfection.  



Looking back across to the corner hutch, which also sat in my mama’s house as I grew up.



Filled it with some big ole pitchers (comodes?), some tiny pitchers and some vintage pitchers….er, pictures of hubs and me as kids.  Not crazy about the arrangement, but dude, the party was about to start.



Weren’t I a cutie?  How ‘bout that black and yellow bathing suit, eh?  



Up top I stuck my chippy wicker vase and a vintage basket that belonged to my mama with dried hydrangeas from her garden.  Please ignore the nasty ceilings.  They definitely do not say ‘cottage instincts’.  They say ‘cottage cheese’.  Bleck.



Now here are a pair of chippy old windows that I’ve never figured out what to do with.  I’ve decided they’re getting hung in here.  That’s that.  The fabric is a remnant I think I like.  Just checking.  Might stick it behind the glass.  Or something.

   
Again, using some vintage books that belonged to my hubs when he was a kiddo to prop up some silk fallishness in a thrift store vase.

    
And that’ll do pig it for the bedroom.  
Now I linked this post up to Jen’s place today too ‘cause she’s having a hook up your hutch party.  Unfortuately she’s gonna have to scroll thru lots of pics to see my hutches, but I’m hopin’ she won’t mind.  Do ya Jen?
So here's my other hutch in the dining nook.  My kitchen is painted the same color as my bedroom, so I get to play with blues and browns in here too :)  This wee hutch was a craigslist find.   It’s a perfect fit….love.



I’m slowly filling it with toned down fall colors, and the whole thing just looks delish against my blue walls.  I’m considering repainting the back the same blue or a titch darker blue than the walls.  Dunno.  Bigger fish to fry right now.



And there ya have it.  My blue and brown bedroom and a wee bit of my blue and brown kitchen.

Now I want to see what YOU all came up with. Can't wait!  Pass me the blue and brown M & M's please.

I love the soft colors and especially love the corner cabinet, it looks so great!  What is your favorite part of the room?

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Master Bathroom Renovation Before and After

This is a great master bathroom renovation I thought i would share with you form Little Brown House, enjoy:

Oh my gosh – this has been the longest bathroom remodel in history.

My history, anyway!

We started last May on our bathroom remodel, and worked at

it as time and money allowed. I so love the end result!

I will show some before/after shots, then just focus on the new!

We pretty much gutted the bathroom (we meaning my hubby)

and everything except the toilet is new.

Here is the back wall when we took the old bathtub out – and how it looks today.

Here is the old cabinet (with one of the new knobs on just to see how it looks) and the new cabinet we painted.

Here is yet one more view!

Here is a shot of the entire bathroom before:

Yep – gotta love the bright row of lights above the sink – along with the magnifying mirror

which I still have. I can’t help it – I need to know the worst before I walk out in public..

My husband spotted this dent/ding cabinet at the back of the Home Depot store, and we snapped it up.

I sanded and painted it, and we were really happy with the result.

We got most of our things from Home Depot – and did great on the cost’s.

Especially because we (meaning my husband) did all the work ourselves.

I got the knobs from TJ Maxx – my fave store!

The mirror came from Ross – another favorite!

We tiled everything – my husband has become quite good at it! And it can really be so

low in cost when you do it yourself! This tile on the counter is granite, and was sooooo

much cheaper to do this way vs. a slab, which has to be cut. This is not a high grade of

granite, but it is perfect for the spot and what it is used for. The tiling across the front and back matches

the tile we used for the bathtub/shower surround. The back is not finished yet, but if

I wait to do the reveal when everything is done, it will be time to remodel again!

Just facing the facts!

I got this cabinet at TJ Maxx – another dent/ding special, for $50 – I love it!

I bought regular curtains for the shower, and just use a vinyl liner.

I could not find the look I was going for in a shower curtain.

I was really happy with the floor. The tile color is both attractive

and dirt hiding – two of my favorite things!

Here is the view from the bedroom.

So what do you think? I wanted it to be soothing, soft, and romantic -

Did we make it? Well, all I can say is I love to be in there now!

If I had room for a coffee pot and an cozy chair it could become

my new office!  I really would have to get rid of that toilet paper

though – it really jumps out at you!

If you are interested, here are links to 3 of the projects I made for this room:

Chic $5 Light!

DIY Picture Decor

Painted Longaberger Basket

Thanks so much for stopping by!

By the way – my daughter was very confused by the pictures because of the location

of the toilet. We (meaning Hubby) did move the toilet to the other side of the room,

I forgot to mention that. It was like a 3 foot move, but he is a plumber and it was super

important to him. In fact he said it was the only thing he really wanted to do!

So I figured it was a small price to pay for getting the rest of the remodel!


Great job!  I hope you are loving the space,
that is the best part of being done with a remodel, right?

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