A what-not-to-do DIY ~~ finished

Several years ago I salvaged a dresser mirror from certain death in a land fill. It was in perfect condition. Well, it was ugly. The mirror was dirty, but a spritz of cleaner proved it to be without scratches or other problems. The frame was  another thing. No amount of cleaning was going to make the brown, worn-out wood less ugly. 

But I could see potential there. If only I could figure out where, how, when to  use it. I mean, I didn't really need a mirror, ugly or otherwise. So it got put in the studio, where it leaned against a wall for years, a place where it could easily be forgotten. This mirror, it seems, never really had much chance of being truly rescued.

I really liked this decorative edge on the bottom.

Our master bath is getting a remodel. All new everything. Except! I've finally found a home for the mirror--above the vanity in the new/old bathroom. 

So what not to do? Ha, for starters just get to work doing something you've never done before without trying to figure it our beforehand. Or speaking to an expert. Or watching a YouTube video. Or anything that will tell you how you should go about it. 

The bottom edge of the mirror, which 
would have sat on the dresser, had 
so much damage that we removed it.

That's how we started. My sweet husband knows about refinishing, painting, building, fixing, anything mechanical. Still, we ran into a problem with the mirror. He's a  superhero at taking things apart and putting them back together in working order.

In this case he chose to not remove the back panel and mirror to refinish the frame. In our defense we didn't know how old or in what condition the inside might be and didn't want to possibly cause more damage. I liked this frame!

 We decided that since we were only cleaning and painting, we'd slip cardstock under the frame to catch any spills. So the blue in the picture is paper, not tape. Important. 

A first coat of Kiltz primer. Then a second coat. And  things were looking quite positive.

A first coat of the dark gray that is my contrast color. 

A second coat and we were ready to remove the cardstock and possibly hang the mirror. Except.

 The cardstock wouldn't remove. First, the paper absorbed the paint and stuck to the wood. Second, the wood absorbed the paint and expanded ever so slightly making the space tight enough to really hold the paper.  The paper was truly attached. And stuck. Of course, I had wiggled the cardstock deeply between mirror and frame. Maybe I was a bit enthusiastic. 

I tried several ways to remove that line of blue. We solved the problem the hard way: removed the backing and mirror. Then I sanded and scraped the paper until every tiny bit of blue was removed. 

Hopefully it looks like it belongs here.

Then we ever so carefully replaced the mirror and backing and Richard, who had measured the space between the mirror and edge of the frame, stapled it all back in place. I can't tell you how many times he checked that measurement. I wondered if it would change at some point. It did not.

Finished and hanging. Notice that the decorative detail is now
 on the top. Richard built the closet reflected in the mirror.

A kidding aside, I really like the mirror. It was difficult to choosing  between white (like the window and door trim) or gray (to match the other wooden "furniture"). More pictures coming when we finish the bathroom. It's so close!