Weekend Project: A little painted mirror

I don’t know about you, but for me, Spring, with its longer evenings and fresher, brighter days, is making me feel newly energised and motivated to tackle some mini projects around the house that I’ve been meaning to do for ages (you know how it is, they’ve been queued up on that never-ending list I have inside my head, probably not dissimilar to yours!)

One such job I have been planning to do for a while is to repaint an old mirror that a friend donated to me a few weeks ago.  She had no place for it in her own home, yet thought it had some potential to be ‘prettified’, and so it arrived on my doorstep one day, ready for its mini makeover!

As you can see, it’s a cute little piece, of solid wood (unvarnished pine I think), complete with a little shelf beneath the mirror, so ideal for holding a hairbrush, spare bobbles, that sort of thing.  For now, I thought it would be a great mirror for my 9 year old daughter’s bedroom, as she’ll enjoy placing her odds and ends on it, but because we haven’t quite decided on how we’ll redecorate her room, I decided to keep things simple and paint it white.

I opted for chalk paint to complete this project, as it’s so easy to use and you get quick results!  (Patience and me have never got along).  I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in Pure for a nice, clean look against a darker wall.  I also plan to repaint a double bed frame white (I’m being inspired by all things Scandi these days), so at least I’ll get to use the rest of the paint tin up for that.

Upon cleaning down the mirror for painting, I discovered there were a few marks on the shelf, so I sprayed some sealing primer on these areas first, just in case.  Chalk paint normally needs very little or no prep prior to painting, however in some circumstances it’s wise to seal any greasy looking marks with primer first.  If the piece you’re painting is a very dark stained wood, it can also help to do a quick layer of primer first – saves on any hassle further down the line.

These are the products I used:

L-R: Annie Sloan chalk paint in Pure; Zinsser BIN Cover Stain Primer/Sealer Spray (similar to Shellac);   Annie Sloan Clear Soft Wax

 

It took 2-3 coats of the pure white chalk paint to get the desired finish, as out of all the Annie Sloan colours, this one has the weakest coverage.  Then a quick coat of wax, which I left to ‘dry’ for 24 hours.  This ensures no surface scratches or marks and guarantees a longer lasting finish.  I would like to add here that chalk paint is not as durable in the long run as the traditional method of sanding, priming and painting 2 coats of eggshell, but for a quick update, the chalk paint is hard to beat.

And here is the end result, which I have to say I’m pretty pleased with!

 

 

I like how the cut of the wood grain still shows through a little, giving that almost imperfect finish that is the charm of chalk paint.  Not a bad transformation for a couple of hours’ work!

Well that’s my latest weekend project.  There are plenty more in the pipeline!  I look forward to sharing some more with you in the coming weeks.

Have you any upcycling or painting projects planned for the Spring? I’d love to hear!  #HomeEtc

K x

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