Mirror, Mirror

From Plastic To Fantastic

Mirrors with Painted Plastic Frames

We all know a plastic-framed mirror wreaks of cheap, but here's a great way to take that gold plastic look from cheap to chic!

White Shabby Chic Mirror- Large- SOLD!

I started with taking the mirrors out of the frames, which is probably the hardest part of this whole ordeal. I then took the frames and spray painted them, one white and one black. After the white one was HALF WAY dry, I applied antique glaze with a brush. I let that sit for a minute and began rubbing the glaze all over the frame with my bare hands (yes it's messy, but afterwards, everywhere you touch you add patina). Since the paint was only half way dry, some of it came off, leaving that great shabby chic look of dirty, white wood. Adding the dark glaze forced the beautiful and intricate design out so that it pops a little more. Overall- a fantastic result.

Round Shabby Mirror- Medium- SOLD!

For this mirror, I used the same technique, just opposite colors. Over the black spray paint I dry brushed white, leaving the dark in the grooves and pulling out the surface of the detail. I then painted the whole thing with the antique glaze and rubbed it until the white was almost gone. It looks a lot older and you can't tell it's plastic now.

Another technique I long to try is just spray painting the whole frame with one solid, bright color like hot coral or turquoise. Detail will remain in shadows, but the main thing is picking the right color.