Y’all, I’m so excited to be part of an amazing group of talented bloggers that truly know how to turn a Thrifty find into a thing of beauty! We each took a thrift find that was $30 or less, and “relifted” it. We will be doing this once a month, so be sure to keep a lookout for it! At the end of this post, there are links for you to follow to see all the amazing transformations! I chose a $5 thrifted mirror as my project:
Do y’all LOVE Restoration Hardware like i do? When i get their catalogs, that are more like beautiful, thick magazines…i just swoon as i go from page to page. I fell in love with a mirror from there, but not so much the price tag. Somehow, I don’t think Mr. B would approve of spending $1500.00 on a mirror!
So, true to my thrifty nature, i decided i would try to make a similar mirror, but at a huge fraction of the cost. Now, i’m bringing the tutorial to y’all! Here we go!
My inspiration came from this mirror:
As i did a little more searching, i found this mirror, which i also love, (but it was still $500.00 not including shipping):
At any rate, both of these mirrors became my inspiration for my knock-off version.
The hunt for the right mirror was underway! I found this HUGE mirror at a local thrift store for $5.00. It originally was a panel mirror sliding door for a closet. As a matter of fact, both panels were there, so i got two of these for $10.00 (i have other plans for the second mirror that i will be sharing with y’all in an upcoming post!).
Because i wanted this to be a cheap transformation, i started looking for a material to make my “iron” like pieces out of to create a grid on my mirror. I found these pieces at Home Depot, priced perfectly:
i ended up needing 3 of the smaller size, and 2 of the larger for my mirror. So, about $12.
I decided i would use these pieces, cut them down to the size i needed for my mirror, and spray them with Rustoleum Metallic finish paint to get an iron look. They are made from PVC, so are super lightweight, and would easily adhere to the mirror using just liquid nails. The mirror itself is insanely heavy, and i didn’t want to add extra weight to it if at all possible. This option was win-win. Cheap, lightweight, and easy to cut.
I laid my strips out on my mirror to get the correct measurements, marked them, then cut and sprayed them.
Once my paint had dried, it was time to start adhering the “metal” strips to the mirror. I used Liquid Nails to secure the pieces onto the mirror frame.
I started with the long sides first, and then moved to the top and the bottom.
I then clamped the “metal” pieces to the mirror frame while it dried.
Next, i decided i wanted it to look a little “chunkier”, so i added another piece on the inside of the “frame” i had just created. I did the same thing with the liquid nails, but didnt need the clamps this time because it had the mirror itself to rest on and adhere to.
Then i needed to decide how big to make my inner grid. I’m a get-it-done DIY’er, so i laid my level on the mirror, and thought, yeah, that looks like a good space! so i used my level to space the pieces for my inner grid.
After i knew my spacing, i did the same thing and applied those pieces with liquid nails.
Here are a few pictures to show you how i continued to build my “iron grid” and glue it in place.
I did have a few spots that didn’t line up exactly, but there’s an easy fix for that! Gotta love Painter’s Caulk!
Before filling the gap
Now that the gap is filled, i can easily paint over it when it dries.
Here you can see all the pieces are in place, and i am just waiting for it to dry before i touch up some areas with paint!
Are you ready for the finished product?
I’d say this was some serious bang for my buck. Restoration Hardware knock off for a total of $26.00. I wanted to bring a little extra light into my entryway on my newly shiplapped wall…(you can see the Shiplap Tutorial HERE). I’d love to here what you think!
As promised, here are your links to the other amazing projects of Thrifted & Relifted! Be sure to check them all out!
http://gratefullyvintage.com/blog/
graciebluetheblog.blogspot.com
http://www.brightyellowdoor.com/
http://www.littlehomereloved.com/
http://farmhouseforfive.blogspot.com/
Thanks for joining us!! I appreciate ya’ll so much!!
Much Love,
Heather
