Anyone who curb picks knows how great some of the finds can be. Sit with me for a minute while I show you my latest projects rescued from the curb!
I moved into a new home a couple months ago and instead of moving things across the country from Texas to my new place, I simply gave most of it away. This left me with a new home and basically nothing to put in it. I have been incredibly blessed by my friends and family who have helped me find the things I wanted or needed and can honestly tell you that everything in my home with the exception of my mattress and bed frame was totally free.
This mirror is no exception to that. A friend brought it over after she found it on the curb because apparently I have amazing timing. I moved during city clean up week. That’s why you’re seeing a box in the mirrors reflection. Anyhow, she brought the mirror to me and I immediately saw the potential.
As you can see, the frame was in desperate need of help. Aside from the horrific green color it had been sloppily painted, the mirror itself was taped in and the backing piece was covered in mildew. To start, I removed the backing and tape, removed the mirror and set it aside. This left just the frame to work with and no worries about getting paint on the mirror itself.
She was an ugly ducking, but I knew she had potential.
I knew I wanted to create a black and gold statement piece for my bedroom. I am working on a modern, beautiful black and gold decor theme in there and the mirror, if done right, would look amazing.
I was right by the way. It looks amazing.
Obviously, I am not big on spending money, so when I went looking for paint, I hit the Dollar General closest to my house. What I found amazed me a bit because the quality was so good.
Ya’ll, they have 8 oz bottles of chalk paint for $3.00 and the quality is off the charts! So, I grabbed a couple of black bottles and a couple bottles of gold metallic acrylic paint.
Supplies I used:
- 6 oz Crafters Closet Art Basics Black Chalk paint
- 2 oz Crafters Closet Gold Metallic Acrylic Paint
- Large Artists Brush
- Artists detailing brush
- Matte Spray Sealer
- Hot Glue Gun with Glue Sticks
- Corrugated Cardboard Backing
I did not have high hopes hence the reason I bought 2 bottles of each. I was very, very wrong. The coverage of this paint is so good and it’s highly pigmented. I could have gotten away with a single coat, but since I wanted a deeper color black, I did two. The paint covered well without any brush lines in the final look making it even better in my eyes.
I hate fighting brush lines when I am painting.
The above photo shows one coat and even when it dried down, it still had amazing coverage. For $3.00? I’m all about that paint!
First off, don’t laugh at what I use for paint. The bottom piece of the sandwich box was cracked and I saw a use for the lid. It works and cost me nothing.
But I digress; do you see the coverage of this gold paint? Other than the spot on the right that was still wet, this paint was fantastic quality too with amazing coverage.
I did have to do 2 coats plus touch ups but only because the mirror was so ornate and it was harder to get the right amount of paint into crevices created by the embellishments.
Before I walked away for 24 hours to allow the paint to fully dry, I used a small artists brush to fill in any crevices that got missed and to finish the black trim where the black and gold meet. I then added the mirror back into using a hot glue gun, I glued it and a new backing back in place.
And I was so excited that I took the photos before I cleaned the glass and with my leg in the shot.
Don’t judge. I was so pleased with how well “she” turned out that I got ahead of myself.
So, there you have it. From the curb to my bedroom wall, she looks amazing!
Have you restored anything lately? My next project is those chairs you see in the before photo. They’re curb finds too! So excited!
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