I've had this little number done, for a while now, and I totally spaced posting this, until a friend asked me if I ever posted the tutorial for it! Oopsie daisy. I've been a little out of sorts with being sick, yet again, with this pregnancy, and also experiencing the infamous 'pregnancy brain' early on. But! Alas, I got my rear in gear today, to share this awesome transformation with all of you!
I've been waiting for the perfect piece to hang on this large wall, in our dining room. I was hoping to stumble across a large, ornate mirror to take up most of the space. I randomly lucked out at the beginning of the summer, and found this beauty, at a friend's yard sale! I was so excited and knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with it, as soon as I saw it...."Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, here I come!"
The bold gold, was a little too much, for my style, but I definitely still wanted to keep some of the original color and personality. I also wanted to incorporate the other colors of my dining room, all while choosing a color that would go with some other decor in other rooms of my house, so I have the option of using it in other rooms, in the future, when we move again. So, Annie Sloan's Provence, it was!
I started off taping the mirror off, so I would have less scraping at the end, if any paint got on the mirror, in the process. I then used our handy air compressor and blew off all the dust, to ensure a clean, dust free foundation.
I then used a round, chalk paint brush to guide the paint into all of the deep surfaces, along with the shallow. I decided to try the Blue Hawk, Natural Bristle Brush, from Lowe's, since it was a fraction of the cost of the Annie Sloan one. I figured, since this was a mirror, hanging on a wall, and not going to be a well used piece of furniture, I wanted to save a little extra money and test it's performance. It worked really well, and covered the areas, really easily. I was extremely impressed! The brissles on this brush, seemed to be a little more rigid then the Annie Sloan one, which I think might have helped a bit more, with this ornate piece, and my technique I wanted to use it for. I don't know if I would use it for a piece of furniture where you would need fine bristled brush strokes. This paint was so fun to work with, and the color is amazing! Just a little, went a long way.
I only used one coat, since it's all I needed to execute the wet distressed technique. After the paint was just barely dried, I used a damp cloth to 'sand' or wipe away the areas where I wanted the original gold color to show through. This allowed the original gold to show through, without damaging or compromising the original lustre, like it might have, if I used fine sand paper. I was jumping for joy as I saw the mirror come back to life, with it's new look!
Once the wet distressing was all done, and I achieved the look I was hoping for, I applied Annie Sloan's Clear Wax, to seal the chalk paint. I only applied a thin coat and did the best I could with all the deep surfaces. I wasn't too worried about getting every millimetre of this frame, since it's not a piece that is intended to be handled very often.
I absolutely LOVE how this turned out and would do it 100 more times, if I had 100 more mirrors to play with. It was so easy, and only required a little patience, and extra attention, during the distressing portion.
After my husband helped me hang it back on the dining room wall, I'm fairly certain I shrieked like a little school girl. Haha! It's always so exciting to see a plan come to life! I love creating a mood for every space. My goal with this statement piece was to bring some more elegance and color to our dinging room, and I couldn't be happier with the results.
(Next dinging room project...the china cabinet! haha.)
Happy Tuesday, my fellow DIY friends! Drop me a message, comment below, or feel free to email me if you have any questions!
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