Painted Furniture
Wrapping Up
We're really getting there now. When last we met the mirror had been all prepped, taped off, sanded, cleaned up and ready for paint. Now it's time to make it look good, clean it up and hang it. Let's get into it.
Priming
I guess there's not much to say about this phase. While I did sand the mirror frame, I didn't spend a lot of time on it so I chose a good primer. Probably a bit of overkill but I didn't want to take any chances so I gave it a couple light coats.
Hardware!
Just as I was getting ready to put the first coat of paint on, I realized I should probably put the hardware on the back of the frame first. I decided to go with the French cleat system to hang this mirror. A French cleat hanger uses two interlocking, beveled pieces of metal (one mounted to the wall and one to the object) to securely hang items like mirrors, artwork, cabinets, or shelves. I've never used one so I'm a little anxious, but at the same time... confident that it'll work just fine! The key though, was mounting the hardware so the mirror is level on the wall. We'll see how that came out shortly!
Painting
Painting the mirror frame, while not difficult, came with a bit of a challenge. It started when I pulled out three cans of red paint from this collection of paints in the workshop:
So I grabbed what I thought was the right can, but as you can see in this picture...it wasn't! Look how bright it was...not at all what I had in mind - just a happy little accident I guess!
Then I ran test samples of all the red paints I have, including spray paint, and Rustoleum reds I've used with some tool restorations, but I just wasn't coming up with anything of the color I had in mind. But at some point I just happened to pull out my Swiss Army knife and noticed that it was exactly the color I wanted!
Life is a painting, and you are the artist. You have on your palette all the colors in the spectrum - the same ones available to Michaelangelo and DaVinci. - Paul J. Meyer
In this next picture you can see my knife tucked in the back of my valet and, even though computer screens don't pick up the exact colors, especially with red, it's a pretty close facsimile. So I took the knife to Lowe's and had them do a color match which turned out pretty darn close!
Because I already had a coat of paint on the frame, I thought I could get away with one coat, but it didn't work out that way. To get the full effect of my Swiss Army knife shade of red, I ended up putting two coats over the first red paint. And with that... it was beginning to look the way I originally imagined.
Next it was time for glazing. A few years ago I picked up a can of Valspar mis-matched glaze for $5.00. What a great opportunity... today they're over $20! I have to admit... this is one of the best glazes I've worked with.
Anyway, I really enjoy painting furniture pieces and I've gotten pretty good at glazing - just wish I had more opportunity to do it. As you can see, we're on a roll at this point...
An attempted closeup... one of these days I'm getting a real camera...
I love how the glaze enhances the architectural interest and gives some attractive definition in a piece like this.
The Topcoat
Then, finally, I gave it one coat of Polycrillic just to protect the glazing. Typically, you would apply a topcoat on pieces that get a lot of wear and tear, like the dining room table, that gets a lot of use and you could stand the possibility of rubbing the glazing off.
Nonetheless, I went ahead and put a coat on the frame just to protect the glazing. You never know when you get to dusting or cleaning or something - just sayin'.
It's Natural Habitat
I suppose all that's left to do is to show you the mirror and its natural habitat. This mirror is now in the upstairs hallway, as you could tell by the title of the last two posts. So, let me give you a brief tour of the hallway. First is a long shot picture of the hallway. What you'll see on the left is some kind of plaster sculpture we got a maybe 25 or so years ago at Pier 1 Imports. Across from that is where the mirror will be hung, where there was some kind of Greek or Roman scene that we've had just as long, also Pier 1.
Also in the hallway is the light. We put it in back when we finished the stairwell and hallways back in 2018. It's a Craftsman style, and the shade is yellow, green and red, and ended up dictating the color scheme up there.
Wow. I really got off track here, so let's get back to it. So here's a couple shots of the new-old mirror in its natural habitat! This first one, obviously, is facing toward the stairwell.
And the second picture is pointing toward the end of the hallway with the lamp and table... all complimenting one another.
And now you've seen the mirror in its natural habitat. This was a quick and fun project, and like I said earlier, I wish I had more opportunity to paint furniture but retirement's not too far down the road! Anyway, thanks for stopping by - see ya' next time!
