Painted Furniture
Upcycling a 1935 Classic
Sometime way back around 1998 or 1999-ish, I picked up an old dresser and mirror from The Salvation Army store to use in one of the bedrooms. It's really quite a solid, well-built piece and I got it for about $25. All these years it's been a great piece for the house. However, in recent years, a very large TV was a put on top of that dresser, almost completely covering the mirror. At some point I realized there really was no need for that mirror. So, we removed the mirror and stored it in the study for the last... I don't know, maybe year or so.
Then a week or two ago, it dawned on us that maybe we should do something with it. It's a rather pretty mirror and it was being wasted, just sitting in a corner of the study. So, we decided to put it in the upstairs hallway. Of course, it was old and some of the styling was a bit dated so we thought - let's do something different with it. And that's what I'm gonna tell you all about now...let's get into it.
The Back
First, let me point out my favorite thing about this mirror... the dog in its reflection! Charlie almost acted as if he knew it was him looking back. Little guy's a bundle of joy.
That out of the way, I started this Prineville by removing the back cover of the mirror. It was surprisingly substantial at 1/4" of old-school plywood.
It also has mounting hardware on both sides. I don't plan to use them but thought it's a nice touch... they'll stay.
Once opened, the level of quality craftsmanship of the build was immediately apparent. As you can see...wooden wedges rather than framer's points...
There were also several wads of cotton along the sides and at the corners between the mirror edge and the wood. My Sherlock-like skills of deduction deduced that these cotton wads were there for cushioning!
Some of those wads fell out when I took the back off the mirror, so I pulled pulled out a piece of fiberglass insulation and rolled up bits to replace the missing wads.
And because I have sausage fingers, I just very gingerly pressed the new fiberglass wads into place using my trusty old putty knife.
All that done, I reinstalled the back. I reused some of the same small nails, but I also added some very small screws, just to give it a little bit more teeth into the frame. Of course, I was very, very careful and predrilled the holes for the screws, being sure not to drill too deeply. After the back was reinstalled, it seemed to lay much flatter and tighter against the frame, and a lot more secure as well.
And just for fun, I wanted to point out that, as with just about every single project here at 173, I used a lot more tools for this simple task than I would have ever imagined. But that's just how I roll!
1935!
And I just wanted to take a moment to point out this great stamp that was on the back of the mirror. The most significant thing here is that it was apparently made back on April 11, 1935! Ol' House 173 was a mere eight years old! It's been around a long time, so it made me think that I really want to be careful, and protect this mirror during this process so I don't break it.
I don't say that lightly because well, back in 1999-ish, I was putting this beautiful Art Deco style full length mirror back on the wall after painting the hallway and, as I was tightening the screws on the holders that held the mirror to the wall, I turned the screw just one turn too many and the mirror snaped right in half. I was a beautiful and heavy older mirror and I still think of it from time to time. Anyway, this time I'm being extra careful!
The Decorative Tacks
In 1935, and probably for many years after, the decorative tacks running across the top of the frame (and in the dresser too) were stylish.
However, in 2025 they had long since taken on the character of being tacky (see what I did there?).
.heic)
As much as I like to keep things as close to original as I can, in this case we're changing the entire look anyway so... out came the tacks.
Of course there will be a little repair work to do, but nothing big at all.
Literally less than two minutes and the holes were repaired...
She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.
- Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott
Last of the Prep Work
I decided that before I started sanding and really getting into any further into this, it was time to protect the mirror itself.
So I started with some painter's tape around the edge just to make for less scraping after the painting was done. And before we move on...I love mirror pictures like this next one - looking up at the joists where I store a lot of wood and other odds and ends.
And because there would be a lot of work going on so close to the mirror, I decided to cover the whole thing with some paper to help prevent scratches and keep reminding me that I couldn't just casually plop things down on there with any force.
From there, I used one of those spongy sandpaper blocks and spent, I don't know, I guess 15 or 20 minutes sanding the frame, basically just getting the gloss off and sanding down where I had to used the wood filler on the old tack holes. And that's really all, it didn't take much to get it ready for painting.
That's where we end it for this stage of the project. The next steps include painting, antiquing and topcoating... and I can't wait. This little project is moving so quickly I'm getting downright giddy!
Until the final post on this little project, thanks for stopping by!
