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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

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Time: 10h00

Super easy antiquing method.
This doesn't have to just be done on mirrors, you can do anything from a huge bookcase to a little photo frame. If you're doing it on that fake wood stuff or wood that has been varnished you'll want to rough it up with sandpaper a bit first so the paint sticks. I put the time for this project as 10 hours just because there is a lot of drying time between steps. The price of this varies depending on what you already have. I had the paints & got the mirror for about £3 from Wilkinsons. This can easily be done with paint samples rather than having to buy whole tins.

Posted by Georgia from Egremont, England, United Kingdom • Published 5th August 2013 • See Georgia's 4 projects »

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Vintage & Retro

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Vanessa B. added Antiqued Mirror to Home DIY 20 Feb 06:21
paulcammack favorited Antiqued Mirror 10 Aug 16:31

Step 1
Grab your mirror & give it a quick wipe down to get rid of any dust or dirt. After that you want to cover the actual mirror so you don't get anything on it. If you're using that fake, plastic-y wood or varnished wood this would be the time to sand it a bit, if you don't the paint will end up peeling off. If you're using plain wood then you're good to go. I used some newspaper & masking tape to cover up my mirror. You'll want to put some newspaper down on your work surface too because it gets a bit messy.
Step 2
Get your candle & rub it on all the edges. This is where the paint would start to come off over time if it was actually an antique. Rub more wax on in some places & less in others so when you take some of the paint off it'll have an uneven, worn effect. This will make it so the paint will come off easily later on. After that just wipe off any loose bits of wax or they'll get stuck in the paint.
Step 3
Paint your first colour onto the mirror frame. This should be lighter than your second colour & it'll only just peek through when everything is totally finished. I used some really light cream I had left from painting my kitchen. This needs to be a fairly thick layer, you want it to took like it's been painted a fair few times & it just makes things easier later if the paint is thicker. You could just do two or three layers if you wanted to but it might not give the same effect in the later steps. Make sure you get the front, back, side, the lot. It took me a while to find a way to position the mirror so I could paint it all at once. If your mirror doesn't have a stand you don't have much of a problem there.
Step 4
Paint your mirror your second colour. I used a blue that was also left over from painting my kitchen. You don't need to worry about getting this on thick, just make it nice & even like any other painting you'd do.
Step 5
Use something like a blunt knife, a ruler or something similar to scrape off the paint. Run the edge of the knife over the places you put the wax & it should come off without having to scrape too hard. If you put too much force into it you'll damage to wood so be gentle. You should leave the newspaper on for this to stop the mirror from getting messy, I had already took it off when I took my photos.
Step 6
I ran my knife along a slightly domed part of the mirror & it took a few bits of paint off which I quite liked but you don't have to do. You can see it didn't come off as well as the parts that had wax on.
Step 7
& there you go! Just wipe the loose paint away & you're done. If you want you can use a clear varnish over it to protect the paint & give it a nice finish but, so far, I've just left mine.