Before and After: Gilded Mirror

Rescue. Restore. Redecorate. 

The three R's make up the concept behind Amy Howard At Home. In this Before and After, I found this broken mirror and saw potential with how I could rescue it, restore it, and redecorate using the piece. 

The mirror had a beautiful frame that had a few chipped spots and broken mirror but I knew for the frame that we could use One Step Paint and gilding supplies, and for the mirror, cut a piece of mirror and antique it.

The found Mirror : Before

First I painted it with the Black One Step Paint

I removed and discarded the broken mirror

I painted on a Legno Gesso where I was going to gild

Then I painted over the Legno Gesso with the Bole

Once I had put on the Bole, I added Size which acts as the tacky glue for the Gold Leaf

As you can see, I then placed the Gold Leaf over the Bole

I took a t-shirt rag to lightly wipe off the excess Gold Leaf and then rubbed the steel wool to get the distressed look with the Gesso and Bole showing through

I used a China Bristle brush to lightly cover the piece in Light Wax and then in Dark Wax

I buffed the piece using a t-shirt rag once the waxes had dried

I added the Dust of the Ages to get that fabulous distressed look.

Then buffed the mirror again with a t-shirt rag.

I inserted the Lightly Antiqued mirror into the frame and brushed it off

The Rescued Mirror was placed in an Entryway above a console!

What a transformation!!

All materials available on www.amyhowardathome.com.

Materials Needed:

-Piece of Furniture

-Amy Howard At Home One Step Paint

-Amy Howard At Home Bole

-Amy Howard At Home Gilding Size

-Amy Howard At Home Gold Leaf

-Amy Howard At Home Light Wax

-Amy Howard At Home Dark Wax

-Amy Howard At Home Dust of the Ages

-T-shirt rags

-China Bristle Brushes (2")

-Artist Brush for striping/detail

-Small sheets of sand paper

-Very fine steel wool

-Raw Mirror

-Amy Howard At Home Antique Mirror Kit