We interrupt our regularly scheduled home posts to bring you an easy detailed tutorial on how to create antique mirrors.    Oh, how cute…our first little tute.  Aren’t you excited?  😂

Antique Mirrors

You’ve seen these “antique mirrors” a few times before in my previous posts, but let’s refresh your memory.   Remember this door on our stairway landing?

We installed a real mirror on the opposite side which is in the bathroom and we created an “antique mirror” on the stairway landing side.

And if you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen this picture.

 

 

I often get asked how I got this particular look, therefore I thought I would share.  And besides, I have an old door that will be our weekend project, so what better timing.

I heard that Chip on Fixer Upper talked about making an antique mirror a few weeks back, so basically it’s another reason to discuss it.  And, if you don’t know who Chip is… we can’t be friends.

Ok now, let’s start the tute.

Supplies:

I made it easy for you so that everything can be bought from Amazon by clicking on the supply list below.  How easy is that?

These are the supplies that you will need for this project.

*Glass Cleaner

*Paper Towels

*Razor blade

*Painters Tape

*Krylon-Looking Glass Spray Paint

*Black Spray Paint  (This is my absolute favorite brand.)

 

PROJECT PIECE:

Take a look at this fabulous antique door that will be installed this weekend in the guest bedroom.

 

Obviously, with it being a guest room, our guests will need privacy.  It’s not hard at all to accomplish privacy in a glass door with this antique mirror technique.

So, this technique is actually done on the BACK of your project piece.

First off, start by cleaning the glass with the glass cleaner.  I mean really clean.  While you’re at it, you may as well clean the front side, too.

Secondly, scrape off all of the old paint and dried fly poop from your project piece.  Yes, there will be dried fly poop.  Trust me!   After you wipe the glass clean, clean it one more time.  I can’t stress this part enough.

Tape it off

In my case, I taped off all of the wood around the glass to avoid overspray, because I am not going to paint the back of the door.   I want it to remain wood color.  If it doesn’t matter what the back of your project piece looks like, you can skip this part and spray away.

I taped the entire area around the glass and used an old towel to cover the rest.

Shake it, Baby, shake it!

Shake the can of Krylon Looking-Glass spray paint for 6 hours. Seriously… shake it for a long time.  I even shake it in between coats.  

Start by spraying several light coats and letting them dry between.

*Only do this next step if you want a mercury glass look with lots of imperfections.  If you want a “perfect” looking antique mirror without the mercury glass look, skip this part.

After the fourth or fifth coat is dry, dribble a few drops of your glass cleaner on the project.  I don’t know what other word to use than “dribble.”  See the pictures to better explain what I mean by “dribble.”

Dab, Dab, Dab the Dribbles

DO NOT WIPE the dribbles…. DAB them.  Basically, soak them up with the paper towels. What this does is remove some of the spray paint for that “mercury glass look” we are going for.

And, by the way…. my hand looks like my grandma’s.  😐

The picture above is a perfectly dabbed dribble.

You can make your dribbles as big or as small as you like.  I prefer all different sizes and there is usually no rhyme or reason to my  madness.

And, when all of your dribbles are dabbed, apply a million more light coats of the looking-glass spray paint or basically until the can is empty.  I used a whole can on a door this size.

When dry, completely cover the window with black spray paint, spraying several thin coats.  I had this Rustoleum Ultra Cover already on hand, therefore, this is what I used.

 

When the black paint is dry, it’s time to remove your tape.

 

My Finished Project!

You now have an opaque black window on the back side for privacy….

 

And a gorgeous “antique mirror” on the front.  This beauty will be hung in the guest room this weekend and don’t worry, you will hear about it.   Can you tell I’m pretty excited?

Let me know if you try this antique mirror technique.  I would love to see pictures.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  As a result, I am pledging my love to you all for being faithful readers.  Also, I would love to hear from you by commenting on this post or on Facebook and Instagram.

And, Buh Bye now, said in a really loud old lady’s voice, because how else could you say Buh Bye now.