Painting A Faux Trumeau Mirror

"So there was this old dresser......"


I wonder how many bloggers start posts like that, another story of a furniture transformation achieved with a couple coats of paint, some elbow grease...and a little Annie Sloan wax, of course.


Of course.

This post isn't about a dresser.  Well, kinda.  It all started when I found a certain hutch on CL (is it okay to abbreviate Craigslist with CL now?  I think everyone knows what CL means, but perhaps that's presumptuous of me?), and the lady selling the hutch also had an old dresser for sale which included two tall, tacky mirrors that looked like this.

I knew right away this wasn't a whole lot of beauty to work with, but I held onto both mirrors the last few months as I brainstormed what to do because the thing is, who doesn't love a mirror?  They can go anywhere, they reflect light, they add movement....

....and even more importantly, my darling almost-14-year-old loves to check his hair frequently.  Keeping mirrors around quite simply elevates my mom status exponentially.

What I kept picturing in my mind, though, are those lovely trumeau mirrors I often see in French-inspired homes. Gorgeous.

 

 

So last night, on a whim, I pulled one of those old mirrors up to the kitchen and started painting.

Because that's what I do when I need soul time.  When my mind needs to breathe and my emotions need a time out.

I mixed up a concoction of chalk paint from SW Halcyon Green (3/4 cup paint, 1/4 cup Calcium Carbonate, 1/4 cup water) and painted one coat.  Then, instead of distressing the edges to bring out detail, I used a very small amount of white on a dry paintbrush to "highlight" the edges and details of the mirror.  You can see the drybrushing effect in this photo.

I also dry-brushed a little white on the edges to add interest.  Finally, I mixed Annie Sloan Dark Wax with Minwax's Furniture Wax (the Dark Wax can be scary to use on its own, so I've found mixing it with a clear wax makes it more user friendly) and brushed it on, paying attention to crevices and corners.  The wax aged the mirror finish and completed the look I was after.

I hung this mirror in our stairway, which makes a right turn halfway up.  It's a great location to add extra light, but I also wanted to offer a preview of the many places upstairs I've decorated with this same color blue.  You can read about the wall gallery here.  You can read about painting the stripes on the wall here.

My mirror certainly isn't quite as lovely as the original trumeau mirrors pictured above, but part of the joy comes in attempting to recreate a look with what I already have.


And refresh my soul at the same time ~