Monday, October 18, 2010

I Was Framed!

I <3 mirrors. 

Not that I am especially {foxy}, but I love the way they brighten spaces, and I especially love having mirrors close to the floor so my kids can see themselves without getting Mom or Dad to pick them up and hold them to a mirror!

This is the mirror that has served that purpose in my house since we moved in


kinda plain. You know what would make it super high-impact?

A frame!

I went to Home Depot and bought 2 8' sticks of trim, and 2 8' sticks of rectangular wood (this wood doesn't appear to have a name. This is the label...)


It is simply a rectangular stick 1" x 1/2". 


(Baby girl plays with wood stake, ready to drive it into the {heart} of any vampires who try to sweet-talk her!)

I measured the mirror, it was 22 x 68. I cut the wood to fit around the border and mitered the ends. Then I painted the outside edge all around ('cause it will show!) and used the nail gun to attach it on all four sides. 


(like my hairy wrists? I actually fear nailguns more than I fear the oven, so Herr Handsome did this part)

Then I measured the outside corners to determine how long the trim pieces should be. Hubby cut and I painted the wood, and then he nailed it up.

(Make sure you paint both sides of the trim, since the back side will be reflected in the mirror, and if it is plain, unpainted wood, it will look cruddy!)


here the mirror is framed on 4 sides with wood and one side with the trim

Once the trim was all hung, I filled the nail holes with spackle, then sanded it a tiny bit to smooth it out, and painted over the holes. 



Finished! It looks like I hung a lovely framed mirror! 



And my kiddies like it too!

<3 AmberLou

8 comments:

  1. Lovely! I love a framed mirror! I did the same thing with my bathroom mirror and it looks 100% better. Check out my giveaway going on now! alittleknickknack.blogspot.com
    Have a wonderful day!

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  2. Great job! I love large framed mirrors and your looks amazing!

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  3. Amazing what a difference a frame can make! Great project! Thanks for linking it to A Round Tuit!

    Hope you have a lovely week!

    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  4. Found you via hopestudios linky party. Love the project.

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  5. I am dying to try this on our massive, outdated bathroom mirror -- thanks for sharing!

    Jenny
    www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com

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