Elegant Ornate Mirror Makeover from Gold to Pewter

Ornate Mirror with an Elegant Metallic Pewter Makeover

I have to confess that this ornate mirror is a little intimidating. It’s grandiose size, it’s ornate details. It’s just plain gorgeous and makes you hold your breath while your heart skips a beat for but a second.

Disclosure: This pewter elegant ornate mirror post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

The Before – Grandma’s Vintage Ornate Mirror

This ornate mirror belongs to my customer and before that it belonged to her grandmother. It’s gorgeous ornate details exude a presence no matter what color it is, but my customer wants to change the mirror from gold to pewter to better match her home. 

When the mirror was dropped off at my shop I decided to put it on my sawhorse due to its enormous size. I fear that photos just aren’t able to truly capture the size of this mirror. 

If you adore this style of mirrors then click here for a variety of available ornate mirrors: HERE 

The Process – Painting a Vintage Ornate Mirror

First, and foremost I made sure to protect the mirror itself by taping off the mirror and then covering the whole thing with brown paper. I know many people who don’t cover the mirror but rather paint and then scrape off any paint with a razor. But I know myself and I am very messy when I work, so I prefer to play it safe and cover the entire surface.

To clean and prep the mirror I lightly sanded and then used an old toothbrush to get in the nooks and crannies.

Once prepped for paint, the entire mirror was painted in Kristi Kuehl Pure Home Paint in Derby, which is a pure black. It took two coats of derby to cover up all of the gold. 

Once the gold was all covered up I decided to seal the black paint in with Jett protective wood stain. Again, just a little extra measure.  I would hate to distress later in the makeover and reveal the gold again, so the Jett adds a protective layer to the black. Moving on, the next step was to brush the details with Storm, our light gray paint.

Layering Paint to Bring out the Details

Oh my! I’m speechless.

The gray over the black makes the details POP! After this step, I layered metallics using our Hardware Opulence in Silver and Onyx. Once the layers were complete the raised details were all kissed with a hint of silver before being sealed with a Smoke protective glaze and then our clear Satin Protective Finish. I must’ve used every paint brush in my shop to get different textures, add layers and get into crevices, or lightly brush raised details.

The Result – Painted Pewter Mirror

When I forwarded a few photos to my customer before staging I had a lump in my throat and a tightness in my chest waiting to hear back from her on whether she liked it or not. Once she responded that she loves it I felt like I could finally breathe again. Then my mother in law came by to see the kids and said: “that mirror looks great, it looks like a pewter” ..  which is exactly what we are going for, so another sigh of relief there. 

Click here for 20+ DIY mirrors to inspire you and beautify your home – DIY Mirrors

20+ Modern DIY Mirrors to Inspire You and Beautify your Home

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