Upcycling fun - Bringing life back into an old mirror

Winter is here and the evenings are freezing! Despite this, we are still getting some beautiful days filled with sunshine (albeit cold!) which are perfect for spending time in the garden or working on a project. 

A little upcycling project I recently finished was a lovely arch mirror that Tom's parents passed onto us when they visited last month. It was the perfect size for our guest bedroom but with wood featuring heavily already in the room, it needed something to make it stand out. 

I set off to Bunnings, grabbed a variety of sample paint cards and brought them home to test against the mirror. After settling on Banksia Leaf - a deep foresty green - I got everything together and set to work. 

There wasn't much of a stain on the frame of the mirror so I started with a light sanding job just to help the paint stick to the surface. Tom had some sandpaper for his sander in his workshop so I just grabbed one with a medium grit and wrapped it around an offcut of wood to assist in the process. 


Then, as I wasn't able to seperate the mirror from the frame, I put some masking tape around the edges in an attempt to keep the paint from getting onto the mirror (there was not a huge amount of success here!). 

I popped the first coat on and gave it about an hour to dry and then followed up with two additional coats. This gave plenty of coverage and prevented any imperfections from showing through. 
After leaving it overnight to dry, I began to peel away the tape (and accidentally peeled some of the paint off with it!), I ended up using a stanley knife to try to stop the paint from lifting at the edges. 
In the end I had to go in again with my paintbrush and touch up some of the edges as quite a bit of paint had lifted. 

Once it was dry, I used my all-purpose cleaner to give the mirror a quick wipe and pop it in place in the guest bedroom. I'm extremely happy with the result and love how it looks with my beautifully growing pothos!

Upcycling projects are super easy and I am always excited to find something new to bring life back into from old mirrors, to well-worn clothing, there are so many things that can have a few extra years of enjoyment if you just put a little bit of effort and love into them! 

I would love to see your upcycling projects - tag @mollys.cottage in your Instagram posts or use the hashtag #MCUpcycle
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