Mirror Up-cycle

I found this mirror at a thrift store for $7. The hanger was broken on the back and the corners were a little scuffed up. It was definitely a fixer upper but I loved that the frame was solid wood and it's a BIG mirror. I knew there was no way I could find this big of a mirror without a large price tag so I snatched it up and went to work. 

In a moment of genius I thought I'll put this newspaper down and then tap the corners and stick it al a little under the edges so I don't get any paint drip. This seemed like a great idea at the time. It definitely worked and there was no pain on the mirror at all. Getting the tape and newspaper out from between the frame and mirror was nightmare. I had to use an exacto knife for a lot of it. I would definitely not recommend doing this. Just stick the newspaper under the frame and be careful when painting. 

First I used a white base coat because the wood is really dark. It took two base coats with how dark the wood was but I did really light coats and it seemed to work well. 

After my base coats I used a grey-blue paint I got a free quart of at Ace. I love this color and I have it on a few different pieces in my living room so it worked out perfect that I used it on this mirror.

Then of course I distressed the frame and showed off the great lines and the original wood color. You can also see some of the white base coat show through in some spots which I love. To fix the hanger on the back I just bought some wire at Ace and used the attachment pieces already on the back of the mirror. All it took was some wire cutters and pliers to get the wire secure on the hangers. This mirror is very heavy to we had to make sure it was put into a stud. I would definitely suggest always putting heavy items into a stud. This is a very important safety precaution.



I think this mirror turned out great. It looks wonderful on my wall above our love seat. Now just to make something to go on each side of the mirror. It needs some accent pieces.

What do you think I should put on each side of the mirror? 

I'm linking up at these parties!

Kitchen Hutch Remodel

So we recently moved into a bigger house so we could have more room. Just another rental until we graduate and get big kid jobs. I don't know if all rentals are like this but everyone I've lived in has about zero cabinet space in the kitchen. Now a lot of college students don't cook but I do. I love to cook and I need space in my kitchen for my pops, pans, odds, ins, and food! So when we found the new place I noticed the lack of cabinet space once again and decided to do something about it. 

I got on Craigslist and looked until I found an old wooden hutch that I could get for a reasonable price and redo. Of course when we went to pick it up Jarr gave me the "are you serious right now, this is hideous" look. I just smiled and said you know I can work magic when I have an idea. 

The above picture is of the original hutch I purchased off of craigslist. Please ignore the stuff in the background this was in the middle of moving. 

So I cleaned the hutch really really good which it needed very badly, it smelled like a house from the 70's. It looked like a house from the 70's, and it reminded me of my grandma's house. I'm sure that most of you can relate to that. 

Please ignore my very lived in kitchen with the trash can and Eli's litter box. What we did was paint this bad boy about 95 million times to get her white. I used 3 coats of primer to get rid of the dark wood color and then two coats of Benjamin Moore Antique White to get her this lovely cream color. I replaced her knobs with some I got a Lowe's that I like the color of better. 

And we put chicken wire on the inside of the doors so you can see in the cabinet. I LOVE the way this piece turned out and I am so proud of my beauty. It took about a week to paint her, letting each coat dry overnight. I didn't put any kind of sealant on her I just let her drive for a week before we put anything on her and she seems to be taking everything well. I absolutely love how much storage she provides and I am so happy with my remodel. 

Here is the finished product complete with decorations on top. 

What do you think about my new kitchen storage? 

I'm linking up at these parties this week!