Tutorial: Adding Molding to a Builder Grade Mirror

This isn't my bathroom but is exactly how my master bathroom used to look ... only instead of vinyl we still have lovely carpet.

When we bought our townhome, there were lots of features we really loved: open floorplan, large bedrooms, upper-floor laundry, good-sized closets and such. But we didn't love all of the brass fixtures and seen-better-days oak cabinets. I swore that as soon as I moved in, I would banish the brass. Four years later, there is still some brass kicking around. But this year is the year. 

For a while now, I've wanted to hide the brass trim on our bathroom mirrors by adding molding around the frame. During the holidays, I finally convinced my husband that it would look good — thanks to lots of pictures on Pinterest. He is a hard sell on most home improvement projects but always helps out and always ends up loving it in the end. 

Kids bathroom mirror before.

With his help, this project came together really quickly.

Step 1: Measure your mirror. Of course.

Step 2: Purchase molding. We bought ours at our local ReStore. It cost $8 for enough molding to cover the mirror in the master bathroom and in the kids bathroom. We lucked out in finding thicker molding, which I really wanted because the mirrors are big and I wanted the frame to seem intentional and substantial. I would recommend preprimed molding for this project.

Step 3: Set up a paintworkstation. We did this in our unfinished basement, where food storage buckets served as a makeshift sawhorse.

Step 4: Using the measurements from your mirror, cut 45 degree angles at the end of the molding. We planned on using a mitre box cutter, but the molding we bought ended up being too big for the box. However, it was easy enough to get the angle from the box and use that as a template to cut the molding. Tip: Cut from the front of the molding. That way, if your saw doesn't cut clean or causes chips, they won't be visible on the front.

Step 5: Paint. We used a sample pot I had in my paint stash (what, doesn't everyone have one?) to paint the master bedroom moldings a deep brown. For the kids bathroom, we went with same white as the cabinets.

Waiting for the paint to dry. I use semi-gloss in bathrooms for better durability.

 

Step 6: Paint the back of the molding. You'll be able to see a reflection of at least the top third of the molding.

 

Step 7:  Use Liquid Nails for mirrors to adhere to mirror. Notice that I forgot to paint the back of this one ... oops! I had to quickly slap on some paint before the adhesive cured. Align the molding in the corners as best as you can, but don't stress if it doesn't look perfectly perfect. Liquid Nails isn't an instant-cure so you can play around with it a bit to make sure it looks nice.

Tip: Don't put adhesive all the way to the top of the molding. Unless you want to see a reflection of that, too. About two-thirds of the way up was enough to hold it in place without it being visible.

 
Step 8: Use painters tape to hold the frame in place until your adhesive is cured. (For Liquid Nails, the instructions said 72-hours. However, it seemed pretty secure after only a few hours).

The best part of this picture is that you can see my ghetto point-and-shoot ... currently held together by duct tape!

Step 9: Use paintable caulk to fill in corners.

Step 10: Touch-up caulk with paint. I used a Q-tip but you could use a paintbrush. I just didn't want to walk downstairs to get one.

After: Master Bathroom mirror in progress

After: Kids bathroom mirror. Still a lot of work in here: new shower curtain, add beadboard below towel hooks, paint walls.

Step 11: Enjoy your beautiful new mirror. 

This was a super inexpensive and easy upgrade. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Upholstered Chair: Before and After

This extra grainy photo (circa 2009) was the only 'before' I could find of the chair. I took a bunch on my iphone as I was taking it apart and putting it back together .... but sadly the phone died and took the photos with it. 

When my husband and I were first married we bought a red microsuede chair (above) at a local furniture outlet for $100. It was a rocking chair, which seemed useful enough ... but never really was. It sat in the living rooms at various apartments, then after we had our first baby, we tried to repurpose it in the nursery. But the arms weren't conducive to nursing a baby, and the rocking function was really more annoying than helpful. So we just sort of put up with the chair.

This summer, after the chair was kicked out of my son''s room to make way for toys, it landed in the living room, again. We took the rockers off and replaced them with feet that we got from a chair found in the dumpster at D.I. (Don't worry, we got the manager's permission and paid for $2 for the feet).

The fact that it didn't rock and scrape the wall behind it was a big improvement, but the chair's tomato red coloring didn't play well with the calm blues and greys in the room. Late one Saturday night, I got a wild hair to reupholster the chair myself. So I took it apart!

This was my first major foray into upholstery. I made a headboard for our bedroom and have replaced fabric on a kitchen chair but nothing major. I was ready to get rid of the chair, anyway, so I figured I didn't have much to lose by trying to reupholster it myself. I should have picked an easier first project — you know, one where I didn't have to make my own bias tape and piping — but now I've tackled it and lived to tell the tale.

I used this Serena & Lily fabric — retail price is $50 a yard! — found at Home Fabrics for $5.99 a yard. (I found the DwellStudio fabric I used on my master bedroom curtains the same day. Happy day!) It is a nice, heavy canvas and was perfect for this project.

And here is the after:

A detail shot of the arm. It isn't perfect, but I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

Not too shabby for about $50 in fabric and supplies

This corner still needs some help. I'd love to find a perfect lumbar pillow for this chair. I will likely move the pictures above the chair when I tackle the TV wall. Oh, and I'd love to get a pharmacy-style floor lamp to get behind the chair and add some depth to the corner. Maybe this one?

For now, I'm super pleased with result and glad that I tried to revive the chair rather than tossing it in a landfill. I definitely see more projects like this in my future. What do you think? Have you ever tried to reupholster a piece of furniture? I can post some resources and tips if anyone is interested.

Kitchen Plate Wall

Looking from the entrance to the kitchen. Don't mind the light fixture that will someday be switched for a pendant light.

We've lived in this house for four years, and I've always been a bit stumped with the main wall in my kitchen. See, my kitchen is fairly compact and there is really only one big wall. Everything I tried was too small.

A year or so ago, I made a DIY Chalkboard from a cheap-o picture (from D.I.) I hung that up. I have really enjoyed using the chalkboard for my weekly menu, birthday announcements and favorite quotes. But it didn't seem quite finished.

I got it in my head that I wanted to do a plate wall around the chalkboard. Despite my husband's utter confusion as to why I would hang plates on the wall  — 'cause don't you want plates on the table so you can use them? — I went for it. I love the result and the fact that the whole thing was done for less than $20 makes it even better.

This was seriously a 2-minute project.

I bought all of the plates for the wall at Savers (local thrift store) for $1 each. Funny story: My good friend Shannon came over one day and asked where I got the plates. When I told her I found them at Savers, she recognized a few of the plates as ones she had recently donated. So funny, thanks Shannon!

  

 For a more "collected" look, I didn't choose a matching set of plates. I think I have two pairs that match and the others are just random. There were actually a ton of plates to choose from, and I tried to stick to ones with interesting details. Love the little scalloped plate at the top.

 

And here is the wall that faces the plate wall, just for kicks. It's pretty much all business.  

If you need something to perk up a dining/eating space, might I suggest a plate wall? Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for reading!