I love visiting thrift stores and stopping by garage sales. I don't merely look at the merchandise for what it currently is. Instead, I look for what it could become. I scout out potential; I envision what could be. It's terribly exciting, you see, because I'm a sucker for good before-and-after pictures.
As we bring this year to a close, it's a perfect time to share some of my favorite projects and salvaged finds from the past year. Since I'm feeling festive, I'll share one each day for twelve days. We'll call it the Twelve DIYs of Christmas. (See what I did there?) Let's get started!
Twelve DIYs of Christmas
Day 1: Framing Bathroom Mirrors
When we bought our house 19 years ago, we went with contractor-grade finishes. One of those standard choices was using plain plate glass mirrors directly above the sinks in the bathrooms. This is economical and gets the job done, but it's not especially exciting.
Over the course of one summer weekend, I made a simple upgrade by adding inexpensive trim to create the appearance that our bathroom mirrors were framed. Here's the sink and mirror before:
Over the course of one summer weekend, I made a simple upgrade by adding inexpensive trim to create the appearance that our bathroom mirrors were framed. Here's the sink and mirror before:
And here's the bathroom after:
Friends, this was so simple. I measured the perimeter of each mirror, bought inexpensive trim pieces from Lowes, mitered the corners, painted the trim, and then used a water-resistant glue to adhere the trim directly on top of the mirrors. In the initial steps, I laid out the pieces on our garage floor to check measurements (math!) and make sure each piece was sized appropriately.
When painting, I selected a dark gray, which I thought elevated the simple trim to look more expensive and polished than keeping it white. (This is Sherwin Williams' Iron Ore, which is a favorite deep charcoal shade.) Since the trim is placed directly on mirror, I painted both the front and back to ensure that any trim reflected from underneath would match the finished color.
Since I already had paint left over from another project, the total cost was under $25 — and that's for all three mirrors. Here's another before-and-after photoshoot of our powder room mirror to see the difference:
Here's to simple upgrades that deliver great results!
May your DIYs be merry and bright!
Keep visiting for all Twelve DIYs of Christmas.
No comments