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What color to paint this framed mirror?

Please ignore the messyness, I've had 2 knee surgeries in a month. At baseline I'm a bad housekeeper and the knee recovery has amplified that trait!

I'm thinking a silver tone, the cabinet handles are BN and I have a few metal pieces for the glass cabinets and buffet. Thoughts?

Also, any thoughts on wall art/ decor for this wall which is opposite the mirror?

Comments (17)

  • nosoccermom
    9 years ago

    Yes to the silver.
    How about some more dried poppy flowers or seed pops in a frame.

    Why did you pick these poppy flowers? Maybe that can point you to the art.

  • thirdkitchenremodel
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The poppies were from our last house and are peeling so they are leaving.

    The poppy wall is about 12 feet long. I wonder how what size needs to hang there?

  • nosoccermom
    9 years ago

    Well, in that case, I'd opt for a big piece of wall art. I usually like anything that has some personal meaning, so if budget is an issue:
    a large photoprint, maybe black and white?
    map print
    hobbies

    Print black and white on engineering prints at Staples.

    {{!gwi}}

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago

    My first thought was silver as well, to keep it with the contemporary look of your room.

  • Bunny
    9 years ago

    What color is it now? White? If you want silver, may I suggest Rub 'n' Buff or Liquid Leaf. I have been in the throes of changing my mirror frame finish the past couple of days. I bought a new mirror from Crate & Barrel. The finish was supposed to be silver but it had way too much gold in it. I started with Rub 'n' Buff but it didn't work with the particular texture of my frame. I thought I had ruined a $300 mirror that was brand new. I did some research and it looked like Liquid Leaf might work. Applied with small flat artist's brush, two coats. It comes in a tiny bottle but my large mirror only took about 1/3 of a bottle. You want to make sure you work in a well-ventilated area. Clean up with mineral spirits. I got this stuff at an art supply store, but many hobby/craft stores carry it.

    I tried several products and think Liquid Leaf has the best silver look. If your frame has a relatively smooth finish, Rub 'n' Buff would be very easy too.

  • patricianat
    9 years ago

    Rub 'n Buff can be used on any surface that can be painted, rough being best as it needs to be "worked in" and the roughness makes it similar to a roughening for painting. I think silver is great, matches your chandelier and it looks like it matches your handles. (What is BN)?

    About your artwork for the opposing wall, seeing as how your wall furniture is asymmetrical, I think you have several options, to include one large centered piece or a grouping of pieces of art in rows, i.e., 12 framed pieces of art in 3 rows, no white space, making it appear as one piece but with frames, frames, frames.

    I hope you do not mean that you had two knee replacements in one month on bilateral knees. Ouch. If so, you are much braver than I. Housekeeping. Anyone who goes through knee replacements is excused from housework for a very extended period of time.

    This post was edited by patricia43 on Mon, Jun 30, 14 at 9:17

  • thirdkitchenremodel
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Patricia it was arthroscopy, about 3 weeks apart. Still doing PT, much improved but I have a long way to go.

    I'll take a close up when I get home. The frame has a textured pattern so not smooth. It's white, but my twins decorated it with some highlighter and markers when we weren't looking. Hence the need for painting lol

    BN is brushed nickel.

  • patricianat
    9 years ago

    Oh, do take care. Nonetheless, arthroscopy is such a measure that needs protecting the knee from further insult.

    You can paint the mirror black and rub 'n buff in silver and if some of the black shows through, so be it, it has an antiqued look which is what you are going to get with that kind of painting anyway and having an antique look juxtaposed to the refined clean lines you have is required to add interest. You can create such a lovely space here (only when knees are healed).

  • thirdkitchenremodel
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Following up, I painted the frame with Liquid Leaf. It still looks a little antique-y, which I like.

    And close up:

    You might notice the mess is mostly cleaned up. I motivated (ie nagged) dh to help and what do you know, he actually did!

    Thanks!

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago

    It looks fantastic.

  • nosoccermom
    9 years ago

    Wow, I'm amazed by what difference it makes!

  • PRO
    BeverlyFLADeziner
    9 years ago

    I would consider hanging the mirror vertically and including some taller buffet style lamps

  • Bunny
    9 years ago

    Thirdkitchen, yay for Liquid Leaf!! Cool stuff. How many coats did you use? At first I thought one coat was okay on my frame, until I did a few touchups and discovered they looked so different. A second coat did the trick. It was soooo easy to apply. The guys are here right now so my mirror should be hung soon.

    I think in a head to head comparison, Liquid Leaf has a more authentic silver look than Rub 'n' Buff.

  • thirdkitchenremodel
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I used a whole jar with one coat. I kept going back and touching up thin spots so my one coat was pretty thorough. Super simple to apply!

    Beverly that does look really nice! My mirror is too wide to hang vertically though. And I have low ceilings to boot! Tough to fit anything vertically and have it look correctly proportioned.

  • PRO
    BeverlyFLADeziner
    9 years ago

    I do think you have the room to mount the mirror vertically.

    However, if you stay with the mirror mounted horizontally, I think it would be more successful if it were closer to the cabinet below. I have lowered it in the picture to demonstrate. That way the sideboard and mirror reads like a complete composition instead of separate items. I have included a few examples to illustrate my point.

  • Jules
    9 years ago

    It turned out fantastic!

    beverly always seems to have the best suggestions, too.

  • rhomy
    9 years ago

    Changing the frame really looks great!

    As an artist, I see art hung too high much of the time. I echo Beverly's suggestion of lowering the mirror a bit. Larger lamps would look nice also and can be used with the mirror horizontal. It is okay to overlap items and gives a cohesive or continuity to them, helping the eye flow. See 2nd photo Beverly posted just above.

    My artist eye would love to see some color!!

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