Mirror, Mirror

On the wall...or the table...or the countertop...or wherever your heart desires.  But we'll get to that in a minute.  First, we were handed-down this pretty little mirror.

It's a cute little thing that I decided to display on a wall in our bedroom.  The only issue, it's black and gold...our bedroom is blue and white.  I bet you can guess what comes next...yep, spray paint!

To preface my next spray-painting project, let me just say that (in my area anyway) I see so many mirrors in thrift stores just begging for a little TLC.  Don't be fooled if you see a mirror with an ugly frame...those ugly frames can usually become 'frame-tastic' with a little bit of the magic in a can...spray paint! 

Okay, on to how this mirror-painting project went down. 

I consider myself a pretty lazy efficient person and when it comes to painting the frames surrounding mirrors (or windows for that matter), taping is an extra step I feel is a waste of time.  This is how I do it:

Using the spray paint in a well-ventilated area, our backyard in my case, I sprayed on two thin coats to cover my mirror frame.  Of course, since I didn't tape the mirror off, paint got all over the mirror.  But, not to worry.  After the frame was nice and dry I got out some glass cleaner and a razor blade.  I sprayed enough cleaner to get a thin coat over the entire face of the mirror.  Using the razor blade, I simply 'shaved' the paint right off.  

 For this mirror, it took me about a minute to get all of the paint off.  To tape off the entire mirror would've taken me longer to do and is more tedious (in my humble opinion) since you have to make sure your corners are covering the mirror but not overlapping onto your frame...annoying!  So anyways, here's our 'new mirror' in all her reflective glory!

 Soon-to-be flanked by two identical picture frames (which are still sitting in some thrift store ready to be loved), it's a great addition to our light and airy bedroom and reflects even more light into the space.

Here are some other ways to use mirrors:
1.  As a table centerpiece:  smaller mirrors (or larger, depending on the size of your table) look great lying flat on the center of any dining room or coffee table with flowers in a vase and other decorative items placed on top and around them.
2.  On a bathroom countertop:  they serve as a great way to decorate using pretty perfume bottles or other bathroom-related items - soaps, cute soap bars, a shell or two, some pretty jewelry, candles, etc...  Placing them in a guest bathroom gives a cute space in plain sight on which to place things your guests might need. 
3.  As a memo board:  use erase-board markers on a mirror to write love notes, a schedule for the day, reminders, or welcome notes to visitors.  Hang by the back door, in a guest room, office, or any other space you can think of to get reflection and a notepad in one!


Any other ideas to share?  Have you revamped a mirror and put it to good use?  Show and tell!  Send us an email with pictures showing your creativity at work and be admired on our blog!