One step closer

Hello, darlings!!

It' s high time to show you one of my easiest and nicest Diy!! I'm talking about painting my mirror.

On the entry hall in the apartment we're currently living in I have a mirror. It isn't as large as the one I dream of having at the house, but it is big enough (I think it's 70/50 cm), and it is really heavy, I guess that means solid wood. The frame is thick and it was natural grain, just painted with transparent lacquer. I was ok with that, especially that this mirror was bought for me by my mother when I got married for the wedding ceremony. In Romania, when the bride puts on her veil, she needs a mirror to see how her Godmother is arranging it. So this is that mirror. I've had it for for 8 years now and I like it a lot. This is one thing I am taking with me when we move and I decided it was time to spice it up a bit. What better colour for that than gold?!:)

First, here is a photo of me as a bride (sorry for this, nostalgia hit me!!:))))

Now, back to the deco stuff!! Here is the mirror before, partially sanded:

                                              

I sanded manually, as I don't own a sanding tool, and it was a lot of work, at one point, my hand got really numb....but I had to finish what I started so, I kept on sanding. This was the hardest part, after I finished sanding it was smooth sailing all the way! I spray painted it gold, I gave it three layers, I didn't wait a lot between coats, but it was ok. Don't forget to tape the mirror so that you don't get paint on it:

The two pictures above are after the three coats of spray paint. It looked too plain, I haven't found a gold spray paint that looks like brass yet. I didn't like the result so I decided to dab some liquid gold paint with a cloth, thus creating texture and giving the mirror more character. The difference is subtle, but it is way better than with just spray paint. These two pictures are in natural light, on the balcony:

This picture is taken  inside the kitchen:

I planned to stage the mirror and then snap a few photos for you, but my fears came true,  photographing a mirror is extremely hard. If I don't use the flash, you cannot see the gold, and if I use it, it seems to dark. It's a no-win situation, so I can only show you these:

So, there you have it, folks! The mirror looks better in real life, but, these the only photos I was able to take!

What do you think? Like it or hate it?

Also, check out the progress on my 'To do list' here:http://houseatheart.blogspot.ro/2012/12/to-do-list.html 

xoxo,

Ozana