Blogging, Building a Home, Decorating, Decorating with mirrors, Dining Table, French Provincial, home decorating, master bedroom, mid-life, Mirror Display, new home, Ornate mirror, The bedroom, The City House, the guest room, the suburban home

Weekend Home Tour

i love to visit model homes. Near my sister in law’s house they have 7 model homes open for touring.  It was a muddy, stormy Sunday afternoon so she and I headed out to walk through the homes.  This builder’s homes are well built and are part of a 55+ neighborhood.  Today you get to see the first two. 

I have never seen this designer/ builder’s work, and I really enjoyed getting to see their ideas.  They had the most creative ceilings I have ever seen.  My favorite home happened to be the first home we visited. 

The very first room was… Navy and coral with a rustic, modern vibe.  I can honestly say it was the only room I could see myself in,  but I did take away some ideas.

We didn’t plan on going so excuse the iPhone photos. 

House One

I loved this house.

The front bedroom was so cool.  I really liked the china cabinet and the matching crib springs.  The stripes wet navy, burlap, and a cream color.  The art was stenciled canvas.   

 

Loved the coral tailored cloth on the night stands. 

     

Here is the rest of the house:

  The master was a little too fussy for me.  The side tables were way too full and the picture above the bed was too much.  The mosaic tile panels are throughout all the homes.

       

I had to ask myself if that design in the shower would get old?

I loved the zinc topped hammerd table.  

    

  I liked  the wood squares on the laundry wall.    

I loved the wood flooring!

  

House Two

This house was totally not my style but still fun to look at and even in this house there were elements I really liked.  I called this the mirror house.

  

Imagine dusting all those mirror frames.

  

A wall of mirrors in a 55+ guest bedroom? 

      

I really liked this piece.  

Loved the formal dining table.

     

I like the light fixture but two breakfast tables?

   

  

The backsplash was fun.

      

Oh my, the master was sensory overload. Tile and beam ceiling, tile insets on the wall, mirror edged headboard…

 

I did like the slate look ceramic tile.

DIY, master bedroom, mid-life, Mirror, Mirror Display, Ornate mirror

Restoring a Vintage Oval Triple Mirror

Are there some things that you wish you could find when you are out looking but you really don’t expect to find those things at a price you would be willing to pay? I have a list of things that fall into dream junk category, and for some reason, mirrors are usually at the top of the list. Vintage mirrors that are ornate are at the top of the top list. Number one on the top of the top list has been a large ornate mirror for above my dresser. I have had a large mirror I bought at Ross years ago above the dresser. It was better than the original triple oak folding mirror that came with the set, especially after I glazed it.
Recently I ran across THE mirror I thought I would never find at a reasonable price; a vintage triple oval mirror from Syracuse Ornamental Company (Syroco). It made from a wood/polymer resin, not just a plastic mold, so I know it was probably produced after 1962 and before 1965. I was born in 1961 and grew up seeing these beautiful gold mirrors. They were always gold, although they varied between being super ornate bright shiny gold to being antique gold not so ornate. The mirror I found online had been hung where the sun had faded it then someone tried to paint it a brownish color. I snagged it for $20.00 and could not wait to get started on her makeover. I thought I would gold leaf the mirror frame until I priced it out. It would have been fourty bucks for the gold leaf and adhesive. All that money on a technique I had never tried…no thank you. A quick search online led me to Design Masters spray paint in 24 carat gold color. It is a great gold color that I will be using again.
gold spray paint

It was less than $4.50 for the can at Michaels with a coupon.

I covered all the mirror with contact paper from Dollar Tree. It is a really cheap masking option if you have to cover a large area.
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I love the color and will be using it for some accent pieces as is, but for our bedroom I wanted a more time-worn look. The solution was another product I had never used, tinted wax. I checked the price of tinted wax and Wow! As my father in law would have said “They are proud of that stuff.” I could not justify paying almost as much for the wax as I payed for the mirror. A quick search on the internet and I found Dee at Deeconstructed blog’s tinted wax “recipe”. You can find it by clicking here: Tinted Wax. The best part; I had everything at the house. Woo Hoo!
Waxing was easier than I thought, just a lot of rubbing with a clean cloth.
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After removing the contact paper and cleaning up the areas that spay paint got on the glass, here is the finished product.

It took work to hang the 60 pound sucker but it was so worth it.

close up mirrror

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syroco mirror

I love the elegant look in our bedroom. I wonder what color the wall behind the bed should be?

Decorating, Mirror, Mirror Display, Ornate mirror

My Name is Karen and I am a Mirror Addict

I promise I am not vain. I don’t spend much time in front of a mirror, in fact I would bet that some folks don’t think I spend enough time! Even though I don’t spend a lot of time looking at myself in front of a mirror, I do love having them in my home. I love the way they move light around a room. In the past 12 months, I have purchased 7 large mirrors. Yep. I said 7. And those seven did not replace the mirrors already on the walls in my house. I have added an antique mirror to our back bedroom that I had to repaint and repair, two mirrors to the yellow and gray bedroom, a giant gold framed mirror that I painted silver that is going to the Southern Belle’s house, a round ancient mirror that was part of Sweet Amanda’s buffet, a pair of mirrors that were split up, one for the mudroom bench and one went to the Lovebird’s apartment. I think I must be part crow because I like shiny things so much. I know you know where this is going, but Hubby has to take partial credit for this one. I was busy typing my blog post about the blue coffee table on the way to the city house from Star Hill when he suddenly turned the truck around. I thought something was wrong until he said, “there is a bunch of furniture back there, I thought you would want to look at it.” I love that man! Sure enough, I had missed the furniture for sale on the side of the road.and the furniture was great! I especially liked a vintage metal patio chair with a built in footstool but WE ARE MOVING…soon. I thought I would make it out of there without a purchase until I spotted this ornate mirror leaned against a horse trailer. When the nice lady said $5.00 I almost shouted with joy. This is a 30 ” by 36 ” ornate mirror and although it is not wood, it will be beautiful painted. I have been looking for an ornate mirror for a friend’s niece and this will fit the bill perfectly. I wonder what color it will be? I will let you know when it gets finished. The picturs are straight out of the truck, filthy and still has the dresser hardware attached.

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Mirror Display, The City House, Thrifty Art, Thrifty decorating

Art for the Guest Room

In the guest room I have a large empty wall over the desk that will be staying.  The wall is the darkest in the room and it needs some sparkle and light.

 I will be making some art for the room, but I wanted to use some things that I already had around the house too.  Recently I have had a mirror obsession.  I have been buying the mirrors for $10.00 or less each- most are about $2.00.  I also had a cool frame that I bought recently for $2.00 that I thought I would use for a chalkboard.  Today while cleaning out a drawer I discovered a letter  S that was hiding from me.  I decided it needed to go on the wall in the center of the empty frame.  I also had a bunch of vintage tarnished silver plated serving bowls and change holders. I found them on sale at Etsy for WAY more than what I paid  See examples here.She’ll serving dishes I collected mine at resale shops in the country for 25 cents each.   They have needed a home too.  I laid everything out on the bed in about the size that the wall would be.

I will be painting the small square mirror black.  The empty frame was painted with yellow paint then three coats of the metallic paint that is on the stenciled wall. This is what it looked like when I bought it.

 Hubby brought in one of the mirrors I bought a while back while I was organizing .  I painted the 70’s frame, used metallic silver and glaze on it a while back but Hubby just got the backs fixed and put the mirrors in for me when he saw the room.  He said that the 70’s mirror belongs in this room.  I still have one of the mirrors that I am ready to sell for Emma’s Hugs but he was right, one of them does belong in the guest room.

The Mirror Looks a Little Different Now

I am leaving the gold mirror alone.  It was a great find for $ 2.00

  I need to go purchase some plate discs from Hobby Lobby before the silver pieces go up so it will be Wednesday night before I finish the wall.  If you haven’t used plate discs you gotta try them.  They hang anything that was not intended to hang on the wall easily. They are not cheap, about $1.50 each, but with my trusty coupons I should get them for 90 cents or so.  Seems funny that the hanger will cost more than the art, but still just over a buck a piece is not too bad.

  I am leaving to see the Southern Belle Thursday evening so I must be finished or it will drive me crazy.