Whitewashed Mirror
Garage sales are still one of my very favorite places to find awesome things. Typically, the prices can’t be beat and you find unique items. Sure, a lot of the time you have to wade through the bad to find the good, but that’s part of the process. Luckily, I can tell pretty quickly if a stop is worth my time, or if I should keep driving.
A few weeks ago, I was heading to pick up my parents power washer for an upcoming project, and on the way I drove by a pretty neat garage sale. My eye quickly landed on an antique mirror, so I couldn’t resist pulling over. I’m happy I followed my instinct, because I ended up with a pretty awesome mirror for $5.00, not to mention the other goodies I grabbed too!
I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it once I got it home… Here’s our new whitewashed mirror!
It was such a simple process, which makes me look back and giggle. Somehow, I thought it’d be much harder than it really was… 😀
Here’s what I started with…
The finish was in pretty rough shape… and I didn’t love it’s current “orange” tint…
It seemed to want to flake off pretty easily, so I grabbed my razor blade and started scraping it off…
It came off great, and I used a medium course sanding block to remove any extra finish. Once I had it cleaned off, I grabbed my dark brown antiquing wax from Maison Blanche…
And started rubbing it into the corners and any other grooves…
Once I had all of those areas covered, I grabbed my Maison White paint and clear antiquing wax…
I mixed a small amount of the clear wax with the white paint and kept stirring and adding white paint until I liked it…
Once I had it where I wanted it, I started rubbing it all over the frame…
It was very easy to get the look I wanted. If I thought an area needed a bit more white, I just applied the wax a bit heavier. I did make sure to rub it into any crevices.
As soon as I was done with the wax, it was ready to hang and enjoy…
I really, really, really love the way it turned out. It lets the natural wood peek out, but the white wax tones it all down to look very muted.
It’s one of my very favorite pieces that I’ve re-done!
It’s subtle, but it brought it back to life…
And I already know I’ll be using this technique again…
I’ve been looking for the right mirror for our entryway, so I’m happy I stumbled upon that garage sale. $5.00 never looked so good… And even though the mirror itself has a few flaws, and some polka dots, the frame is totally worth it! I’ll probably have the mirror replaced at some point, but that’s minor. In the meantime, how about a bit more fall decorating? 😀
Happy Day! 😀
P.S. This wasn’t a sponsored post, I just love the finished product and thought you would too! 😀
Sans hésiter, j’ai eu plaisir à partager sur FaceBook. SUPERBE !!!
Score! So fabulous when you find something at a garage sale you love and can repurpose it for your style.
I’m with you, I love a good garage sale and know when to cruise past or pull over and buy 🙂 This mirror was a GREAT find, and what you did with it made it 100 x better!! Looks so pretty!!! If the person who sold it to you saw it now, they’d be sad they parted with it!! Love it!
Thank you so much for sharing this project and the technique of adding white paint to the wax! Never considered that possibility but adore the end results. It is so difficult to get a faint white wash finish but I see this as becoming a new way to achieve it much more easily. I will be using it soon!
killer score and fab redo… i love what it reflects also so many pretties in your home xx
You were so in the right place at the right time!! And knew HOW to make. This mirror fit into your home style and color scheme perfectly. Thank you for this tip of just mixing wax and paint. Darkening grooves a bit first. Love the basket and sideways flowers plus the “dipped” bag. Great look. Do the black dots hit to look like fly specks or add charm?? Someone had their mirror cut at a glass shop and it wasn’t too much surprisingly for a good mirror ( unlike my cheap Ross mirror which has waves!!).
Thank you for sharing ideas. Even the bag could make a post if you altered the bag for I wouldn’t know how to do it!!!
Fantastic mirror and crazy great price! Love the outcome of whitewashing it……~Ashley
It looks beautiful!
Tania
It’s gorgeous! I love the makeover!
Such a pretty change, Shayna- and I love it against that beautiful little entry table!!
Dear Shayna, just had to compliment you on the $5.00 whitewashed mirror and your rescued bench and your fold down potting bench. Your also lucky to have a husband and good tools. Although i like to havemy own ttime to work on projects it’s also nice when the hubby is involved in your projects. You definitely have an eye for re purposing and have a wonderful eye for decorating and to be so young, there is only better things to come. Thanks for posting and sharing. Diena <3
Meant to say, your lucky to have a husband whos so involved, lol. Sorry, didn’t proof read last post, obviously !! ( : Diena <3