Try This Spectacular Mirror Decorating Tip | And Painted Furniture

Remember you saw this awesome mirror decorating tip here first! Do you have very many mirrors in your home? I try to hang one in each bedroom and of course the bathrooms. If a mirror is a bit plain or if I want to show it off I I have a little trick I use.

A mirror always looks good when wearing a necklace. You would be surprised how this simple trick amps up the look. The necklace I chose from my jewelry stash accents the dark wood of the mirror frame. Not too blingy or flashy and it doesn’t clash with to colorful pieces sitting on the cabinet.

I painted the orange furniture thingy that I’m calling a cabinet from now on. It’s not really a dresser or chest so cabinet it is. Most of you suggested I go with white and I listened.

But I did distress the paint to show off the pretty orange color here and there.

This is how the piece looked before. I chose the photo of the orange cabinet in the blue bedroom because it really pops and all the photos of the piece in Sofi’s bedroom are taken at an odd angle because of where the orange cabinet is sitting.

I almost painted the cabinet in the house. It is so hot hear. But I finally decided to haul it out to the workshop.

I found some white Valspar oops paint on the shelf. The sheen is flat.

I flipped the cabinet on it’s back and started painting the inside. This is the pain in the butt part. I used a chalk brush from Waverly. My chalk brushes (FolkArt & Waverly) are awesome with latex paint. They hold a lot of paint and the paint goes on smooth.

You can see how well the paint covers with one coat. I almost stopped with one coat. The paint dried so fast I was able to brush on another coat as soon as I finished with the first coat.

I wasn’t going to paint the doors at all but they were too dingy looking against the fresh coat of white paint.

I pulled out my favorite Ryobi battery powered sander and went to town on the distressing. I first started distressing by hand with a piece of sandpaper and was not making much headway.

As I mentioned earlier the paint had a flat sheen and I thought that’s what I wanted. When I moved the cabinet back into the house the white paint just looked blah.

I applied a coat of Howard’s Wax in Neutral to add a bit of shine. The wax is yellow but dries clear. It takes about 30 minutes for the wax to dry then it needs to be buffed with a lint free rag. Use a lint free rag to apply the wax also.

I tried different items when decorating the new bright white furniture. You can see the items I didn’t use sitting on the bed in the mirror reflection.

The orange metal box is a junk treasure and the bold yellow plant containers are from IKEA. The necklace is one I haven’t worn in a while. As you can see it has a ton of charms (or whatever) on it. I don’t wear much jewelry these days. Not called for with my workshop outfit.

Another look at the distressed paint. I tried not to overdo it. That orange paint had been on the cabinet for a while. I was afraid the power sander would take the paint down to the original wood finish but it didn’t. I ran the sander over all the edges including the louvered doors and legs.

Got to show one more photo of the mirror and the photo to the right. This is one of my very favorite photos. The picture is of my oldest granddaughter Tenley holding on to my Mom. The photo was taken at my brothers wedding reception 10 years ago. The photo always makes me smile but makes me sad too. If you’ve been here very long you know from reading my personal Arkansas stories that my Mom has Alzheimer’s and is in the nursing home.

Decorating A Mirror

By the way…today is Amazon Prime Day and you can get some great deals. Find my favorite DIY products on the Petticoat Junktion Amazon Page here. Or just go to the Amazon Prime Guide here.

If you missed this bedroom makeover complete with painted walls, ceiling, closet….and updated décor you can see it here…..

Sometimes I hang a small wreath from a mirror. And sometimes I put little vinyl decorative stickers on them. Depends on the look I’m going for.Do you have any decorating tips you would like to share? Please do.

As always thanks for being here, Kathy    p.s. I promise to have the blue bedroom makeover reveal this week.

Kathy Owen

Website

Author: Kathy Owen
Kathy Owen is the founder of the home decor blog Petticoat Junktion where she shares tutorials on painting furniture and upcycling thrifty finds into unique home décor. Her DIY projects have been featured on the Home Depot Blog, Plaid Crafts, Behr Designer Series, and in numerous magazines. Kathy’s newest website is HappyHomeDIY.com