The Hall Mirror - From Junky to Fabulous

So a few posts back I showed you a mirror I found for $38.

It was huge, and heavy, with a gorgeous beveled edge mirror set in a really unattractive, damaged pink frame.

So I bought it, even though I was not quite sure what I was going to do with it  

(this happens around here a lot!).

It sat in the storage room until a twitter buddy, onhomedecor, posted a link to this pic

What a great idea for an accent wall.

  For a twist, you could use old atlases, photography books, botanical journals, whatever tickles your fancy... It's simple to do, just make sure you put up a dry strippable wallpaper underneath (so you can remove it down the road), and use a layer of wallpaper paste underneath and on top of each page, saturating it completely.

So how does this relate to the mirror?

I decided to decoupage the frame.  

Off to the local sally Ann, where I found this vintage beauty -

This was my favourite story as a kid - all I wanted was a life of adventure - my children are the same way, fascinated by geography and always wanting to learn about life in other places.

as a book lover, I felt really torn (no pun intended!)  about destroying this book, but just kept telling myself that I was actually preserving it, in a way...

out came the first page...

no turning back!

I arranged the pages around the frame roughly where I wanted them,

got the modge-podge out, and a stiff brush.

This took a suprisingly long time, but after I finished and it dried out for a day,

 we hung the mirror in our entry way - over a simple bench my Dad made for me.

I am so happy with it! I feel like it tells a little story about us when you enter into our home, and thats what decorating is all about.  I always try to explain to Staging Clients the difference between decorating and staging - one is personalizing your home, and the other is de-personalizing your home. Personalizing is definitely more enjoyable, but staging helps other people to see themselves living in your space.

here are few more pics for inspiration - sorry, I'm not sure where they all came from, they were in a forgotten corner of my picture files!

Have you ever done anything like this? I'd love to see your creations!

til next time...