This project combines so many of my favorite things: vintage furniture (I have an extra weakness for chairs and mirrors), DIY, and Anthropologie! I’ll link to some of my other favorite mirror projects at the bottom of this post!

I started the weekend really wanting a project, and I was so excited to find this mirror on Craigslist (even though the lady who sold it was a bit unusual and gave me an address that was someone else’s house and then drove up like a drug dealer to hand off the mirror). My inspiration was Anthropologie’s Gleaming Primrose mirror , pictured on the left below – but come on, I know we all already know what it looks like! I love the arched shape and the way it evokes a Parisian apartment. Mine is more Anthro-inspired than a real dupe or copycat, but I still love it. There are lots of inexpensive vintage mirrors on Craigslist, so if you want to try this yourself, I’ll share the details of my mirror makeover.

Anthro ($500) and mine ($65 for the mirror -$50 from reselling my old mirror = $15), and more importantly, a breath of light and fresh air in this room! Being inside the same old walls are definitely wearing on me some days

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A mirror with an interesting shape and frame
• Sandpaper
• Gold spray paint
• Black craft paint
• Clear varnish
• cloth rags
• razor blade (if your mirror has old paint or crud and glass cleaner 

Here’s how to do it

• I started by unscrewing the back of my mirror and taking out the glass. If your mirror back is not easy to remove, you can carefully mask off the mirror with newspaper and painter’s tape. You can usually slide some paper under the edge of the frame, so there is no mirror exposed and then tape it in place
• Sand and clean your frame, so the paint will stick
• Spray with several coats of gold paint and let it dry thoroughly
• Put some black craft paint on a rag and rub into the frame, wiping most of it off with wet and dry cloths, leaving a thin layer of paint, which will naturally fill in the grooves of the frame’s design. Once you get the look you want, let the paint dry thoroughly
• Finish with a clear coat of varnish
• Re-install your mirror and clean it off

I’m so excited about the finished product!

A close-up of the finish:

Before (actually quite cute) and after (just the bling I needed in my life right now!):

And once more, with feeling:

Here are some of my other mirror makeover projects:

• decoupaged IKEA mirror for a kid’s room
• wrapping paper decoupaged hall mirror
• vintage faux bamboo mirror makeover

While it looks like I’m always finding things on Craigslist (like the awesome headboard I found a few weeks ago), I’ve actually been doing a lot of cleaning and giving away old toys and other items. Let’s hope I can keep giving away more items than I am bringing into the house!

Julie aka “Jewels”