Vintage Mirror Makeover

Mirror mirror on the wall...

So we went to an auction at our favourite auction house that specialises in antiques and bric a brac, where things sell for as little as £1 right up to £1000's and more often than not it is possible to pick up a bit of a bargain, and I spotted a lovely oak framed mirror which was ornately carved with flowers all the way around.

the original frame was in good condition, although it did have a couple of cracks and the wood had a dark varnish on it, making it look a little dated and gloomy.

Sooo, with a tin of F&B's Lamp Room Grey (I know I'm so predictable), I set to work and this is the result I am more than happy with:

Now it is just a case of deciding where to hang it - I am thinking sitting room? hmm....

My little secrets:
Mirror: From a little weekly bric a brac auction, we paid approx £40
Paint: Farrow and Ball's Lamp Room Grey (emulsion - I know) painted with a little craft paint brush in front of the fire whilst watching the TV! ;)

Bedroom Blitz - (before and during) tbc...

So the Easter holidays were a-maz-ing, because we spent all four days together, covered in dust and paint and more dust, and at the end of it we have a pretty gorgeous bedroom (if I do say so myself!).

Firstly you need to see the before shot, and remember that the floor was all scuffed up and stained, and the yucky wallpaper was a flowery beige crime, and the walls an icky magnolia with loads of pit holes. Other that that it was in pretty good nick, and definitely the best room in the house when we moved in.

Above: icky wallpaper and scuffed up floor :(

Day 1: Firstly, we filled, sanded and prepared the 3 painted walls (there were a lot of cracks to fill), and painted over the manky wallpaper with F&B Downpipe No 26, then we painted over the 3 remaining, tear inducing, magnolia walls with a crisp brilliant white - what a breath of fresh air!

Day 2: We sanded the oak floors - they only needed a fine 120 grade sanding (as they weren't that bad really), we coated them with Danish oil, and left them to dry.

Above: During - bedroom floor - part way through - sanded but not oiled but  already looking great!

Above: After - the lovely oak flooring oiled with natural Danish oil :)

(It is worth pointing out that at this stage, all our bedroom belongings were outside in the courtyard exposed to the elements - fine when the sun was shining, not so great when the heavens decided to open - cue me running around with plastic decorators sheeting and masking tape desperately trying to protect the sofa, bed and wardrobes from the worst of it - not hilarious)

Day 3: (Easter Sunday): Spend the day painting the window frames (F&B Lamp Room Grey), and then moved on to the wooden furniture - (see my updating pine furniture post here).

You need to know at this stage that the bedroom furniture was a mixmatch of all colours of pine, from the untreated bare kind to the orangey shiny kind - not a great look for a restful, coordinated and fabulous bedroom see below:

Above: Before -yucky shiny orangey pine drawers - blurgh.

Now I know you probably want to see the 'after', the 'before' and 'during' is a bit of an anti-climax, but I am not quite ready yet, just a few more finishing touches and then I'll post them - promise! :)

Updating Pine Furniture

I remember when pine furniture was all the rage. I would look at my white melamine faced chipboard drawers in my childhood bedroom and only dream of something so extravagant as pine furniture. 

I think it is safe to say that times have changed, and after a massive influx of affordable pine furniture swamped the market, our tastes have evolved and quite frankly pine furniture is not what it was.

In our master bedroom we have some older good quality pine drawers and bedside tables, and some really quite flimsy and brand new pine wardrobes. They looked a mismatch together, and the orangey colour dominated the room - not great.

Above: Before - orangey pine drawers and boring handles - bleugh

(whoop for Ugly Betty though!)

The solution? Well, we decided to give them a new lease of life with a coat of F&B's Lamp Room Grey, which is a mid toned grey/blue colour, which also really compliments the strong grey blue of F&B's Downpipe which we used on our feature wall.

And, and, my favourite design feature of the whole master bedroom has to be the drawer handles I sourced. We needed 48 of them in the end, and I requested all different styles but all blue and white in colour - who knew we had so many knobs!

 

Above: I HEART THESE KNOBS!

And so I did cheat a little, I brought undercoat but thought I'd just see if I could get away without using it, and I only flipping did :)



Above: old pine drawers painted and with new 'mismatched' porcelain knobs!

And here it is up against the Downpipe, the colours really compliment each other, and the drawer knobs add a touch of femininity and originality in an otherwise masculine coloured room.

Above: After - the two colours working together

And the brand new flimsy wardrobes didn't come up too bad either, again no undercoat (don't tell my Dad), and they have come up lovely, and look much more expensive than they previously did.

Above and below: After - the painted wardrobe suddenly looks more expensive!

 Hurrah for wood paint :)

My little secrets:
Old pine drawers: ours were inherited, but try an auction house or a secondhand furniture shop such as a charity shop
New pine Wardrobes: Argos, cheap as chips really, a 4 door wardrobe with drawers underneath was £150 (Scandinavian range), but they are probably not best for high usage, as they are a bit flimsy
Paint: Furniture: Farrow and Ball, Estate Eggshell in Lamp Room Grey, Wall: Downpipe in Modern Emulsion
Knobs: from a lovely lady, worked out at about £70 for all 48 http://www.macandmehome.co.uk/
Knitted heart: christmas decoration that just stayed up!
Mirror: TK Maxx (chipped corner you can't really see - so £15)
Crystal based lamp: Home Sense about £29 (the lamp shade is going I have just decided!)