Do you ever stumble upon a poor neglected something at the thrift store and think about those high school makeover chick flicks?
You know like the ones where the “nerd” of the school, after some eyeliner application and spectacle removal, ends up being the senior class hottie? (What was up with all of those back in the day? People seriously couldn’t see the already pretty girl behind the glasses?)
Well, meet our latest version of Rachael Leigh Cook from She’s All That.
And also a silly faced selfie since what else are you supposed to do in a before shot of a mirror?
I felt a little stuck on this one, so after polling a bunch of y’all on Instagram, the wheels finally started turning just in time for our monthly Trash to Treasure Tuesday (which you can see other thrifty projects for at the end of this post).
As much as I liked the gold already, the finish was flaking off at the bottom and had seen better days. Plus, gold wasn’t really going to work in our living room.
So I sanded off the flakiness and gave the whole thing a distressed charcoal finish.
Supplies Used: (Affiliate links are provided below. For more information, see my full disclosure here.)
- Fusion Mineral Paint in Algonquin
- Fusion Mineral Paint in Ash
- A paint brush (I always use this one.)
- Vaseline
- Painter’s tape
- A clean, dry rag
I’ve used this method so many times before to give a distressed look to pieces without sanding, so if you’re ever working with furniture or a decor item that you want to give a distressed wood look that isn’t actually made of wood, the Vaseline trick is the best.
I used it on our DIY distressed hollow core doors and gallery wall frames and love how they all turned out.
I taped off the mirror first and gave the entire frame two coats of the Fusion Algonquin paint for my base color.
When the Algonquin color was dry, I rubbed some Vaseline with my fingertips on all of the edges and details where a wooden frame would naturally be distressed. Don’t be afraid to lay it on moderately since a thin layer doesn’t always do enough.
Right after applying the Vaseline, I painted on two coats of the Ash color paint.
Then rubbed the Vaseline away with a rag after the paint was dry. The Algonquin color peeking through looks a lot like wood. It’s not my favorite color by itself, but there is so much you can do with it for distressing.
So now our once blank mantel doesn’t look so lonely anymore!
I love all of the pretty details this method shows off on this mirror.
If you saw this fireplace’s latest update the other week, then you probably already know this baby has come a long way.
I’m so glad we don’t have a ginormous TV hanging out up here anymore. (Which I pinky swear you’ll be seeing soon if I can stop piddling around in our backyard and in our kitchen. Sheesh!)
And just for a before and after moment (because those are my favorite!) here is how far our living room has come in three years:
The before… back when I was still contemplating this faux fireplace situation.
And now…
(Not to mention the photography skills have improved a bit, but we won’t focus on that, right?)
So even though our Sandra Dee mirror was pretty before, I think she is rockin’ this sleek new look. What do you think?
You can pop over to my other Trash to Treasure Transformation friends’ blogs to see their high school chick flick worthy makeovers too:
(Clockwise from top left): Prodigal Pieces | Girl in the Garage |
Confessions of a Serial DIYer | Artsy Chicks Rule
If you ever want to reference this distressing method in the future, you can pin it here:
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