DIY Arch Mirror

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Hey everyone!  Sorry it has been so long between posts lately, but I am finding it difficult to post project updates when there is so much going on at the new house.  There are so many things going on over there that I want to share, but many of them are not complete.  This DIY arch mirror makeover is at 90%, so I thought it would be ok to share now.

This entire project started because I had seen some old arched window frames on an antique store Facebook page.  Mike and I drove an hour and a half to the store to buy them and as usual, they looked better in the picture!  We decided we would make our own.

You may remember from our last mirror makeover I learned the hard way, (mirrors are expensive).  Not this time! Can you believe I bought two wicker framed arched mirrors off of a Facebook swap page for $20!  I didn’t care about the wicker frame, all I wanted was the arched mirror.

I was so excited to get this project started that I didn’t get a good picture of the wicker frames with mirrors, I am sure you get the idea!  This is what we started with and used as our pattern for the new frames.

Mike made these arch mirror frames using some pine wood scraps that we had laying around.  The top curved section was cut out of a 1×12, this allowed for enough room to cut the curve.  Next he measured and cut the sides and bottom using 1×4’s. He joined to pieces together using the Kreg jig.  Next we used a router to make a groove on the back for the mirror to sit in.  (I didn’t take pictures of all these steps) it was really pretty simple.  Other than the fact that our mirrors were different sizes!  So we had to make some adjustments to the router grooves in the back so the frames are the same size!

I really wanted these to look old, similar to the original window frames I found.  I applied several different ageing techniques to get this look.  This was the frustrating part.  There are layers of milk paint, chalk paint, stain and regular paint.  I painted, sanded, I stained, I sanded, I pained again, I sanded again.  I considered asking Mike to make me new frames so I could start over…….

Since I knew that wasn’t an option, I kept painting, sanding, painting, staining……  I wish I could tell you a simple process to apply in order to get this look.  Instead I guess I am here to tell this that this could be what you call a Pinterest fail?  However, I kept at it and ended up with a look I am happy with.

The lighting fixtures still need to be installed, once that happens, I will share more pics………..until then, you can enjoy this view.