Simple, DIY Nursery Accents >> Custom Mirrors:
Whether you have a small space to work with, or just need a DIY idea to add a custom touch to the look of your decor, here is an easy to create project that will make your nursery the talk of the town, while also lending to the feel of a larger space.
If your nursery is on the smaller side, mirrors go a long way to make the room feel more spacious. For the refurb pictured in this blog, I used two, large wall mirrors, purchased for roughly $3 a piece at a consignment shop. In this case, the mirrors had been salvaged and donated to the consignment shop by a construction worker involved in the demolition of an old, beachside hotel. As you can see from the 'before' picture, they looked very much like something you might have found in a hotel during the early 90's. I could only imagine the surrounding décor being a combination of flamingo pink and teal blue in color. None the less, they were a steal! For similar finds, check local consignment shops and yard sales, or online at sites like Swip-Swap and Ebay. If cost is not an issue, you may also purchase new mirrors from a local home improvement store such as Lowes or Home Depot, or from an online store. Amazon.com is my online store of choice when it comes to new purchases.
The first thing I did, was to clean the mirrors thoroughly with a damp cloth, making sure to get between all of the grooves, these particular mirrors being wicker, there were many grooves to clean. Then, I pulled out my trusty, 3M brand, blue painter’s tape and some old newspaper, and began masking off the glass in preparation for a fresh coat of paint. I chose white paint for this project as the mirrors were to be mounted on a pale yellow wall. I started with Kilz matte white primer. It took two coats in this particular case. I then applied a final coat of Valspar, high gloss white. The high gloss compliments the eggshell wall paint and ensures the mirrors will be a focal point in the room.
After painting was complete, I went a step further, and added a design to each mirror that would lend to the theme of the decor purchased for the nursery. The decor was a woodland animal design and I took several pictures of the quilt, wall hangings and other accessories being used, to get a feel for the style. The owl and fox characters appeared to be the primary focus of the store-purchased items, so I decided to use those characters to enhance the appearance of, and better incorporate the new mirrors into the room.
Here’s where the real creativity comes into play. On cardstock paper, using a pencil and the photos I had taken as inspiration; I sketched an owl, a fox and some accent leaves in the style of the room decor. Once I was happy with the look of each, I traced over my pencil lines with a black medium tip Sharpie marker. I then “colored in” the animals and leaves with acrylic Apple Barrel brand paint, followed by a glossy clear coat of Valspar spray paint to seal them. Once all the paint was dry, I used a short, sharp pair of scissors to cut out the characters. Using a hot glue gun, I affixed one character to each mirror, placing a leaf on either side. The reason I used hot glue, is so that down the road, as the child out-grows the decor, it can be easily removed, and the mirrors either left blank, or different images applied.
Note: If free-hand sketching is not your thing, you can blow-up images from photos of the characters you wish to use, and trace these onto plain, white paper. Use carbon paper to then transfer the tracings from the plain, white paper to cardstock paper, in order to give you a surface durable enough for painting on.
