How To Stencil An Old Mirror Back To Beautiful
How To Stencil An Old Mirror Back To Beautiful
Stenciling can transform anything into a stunning conversation piece. It allows you to quickly create a sophisticated multi-color look of designer wallpaper or any artistic design element at a fraction of the cost.
I’ve had so much fun stenciling furniture before but I’ve never attempted it on yes, a mirror! I’ve seen pictures of it done before so I knew I had to tackle it. It was such a fun leaving curve for me and the best part is if you don’t like the way your first run turns out you can easily wipe it off and start over! You don’t often get that opportunity when stenciling furniture without a huge headache that’s for sure.
It all started when I decided to refinish an old decorative mirror that was a part of a bedroom set I had. I loved this piece and knew it would make a lovely wall artist piece. After refinishing it, it was time to address the slightly damaged mirror itself. Rather than replace the glass, I knew stenciling it was the answer.
This is what it looked like before I refinished it. You can’t see the nicks and scratches but they were there.
One side note – it’s super frustrating to take decent pictures of this mirror because it’s in my upstairs foyer and the angle is impossible to capture. Even with a lighting kit it still creates shadows and since I didn’t want my reflection in the photos the angle was always awkward.
Regardless, I think you can still get a good feel for just how beautiful it turned out.
I saw the perfect stencil over at Cutting Edge Stencils and I knew it would add the perfect elements of geometric design I had in mind.
Cutting Edge Stencils designs and produces the best stencils for DIY home décor and crafts. It’s a collaborative expression between long-time professional decorative artists, Janna Makaeva and Greg Swisher. Together, they ran the New York area’s leading decorative painting company, Spec Fin (Specialty Finishes), and completed hundreds of high-profile decorating projects. Lovers of the arts and all things beautiful, Janna and Greg have a common goal: To empower today’s Do-It-Yourself-er, to teach and to share their wealth of painting and decorating knowledge, and to inspire you to “Go For It!”
They have a wonderful and exciting assortment of products to choose from and have an awesome tutorials page too. Be sure to check out their blog as well. It’s loaded with exciting ideas for so many projects! 
This is the stencil design that won my heart. It’s called Resonance and can be used for so many exciting projects.
It’s described as: “This cool modern stencil is inspired by sound wave patterns. We call it “Resonance” and feel that it captures the nature of radiating vibrations. You can create a stunning wall effect with this modern stencil. Use this design in a free-form manner or lay out your pattern on your wall ahead of time using little pieces of blue tape. This design is perfect for contemporary interiors, or when a subtle background pattern is appropriate. It looks stunning in metallics, golds, silvers or even tone-on-tone. The stencil is very forgiving and easy to use. You can create very interesting textured plaster effects with this pattern and experiment with DIY curtains and furniture embellishment.”
This is an easy design to stencil with a dense foam roller. For expert stenciling tips, please watch their How to stencil videos! You’ll find them extremely helpful for your stenciling project. Even beginners get great results!
Some key elements to remember when stenciling are:
First, be sure to anchor your stencil to your mirror to prevent slippage or movement. I used Frog tape. Be sure to position it securely to the mirror.
Determine what tools you prefer to use. Rollers and brushes are perfect. I decided to use a small paint roller. You can also use stenciling brushes as well. Cutting Edge Stencils has a wonderful assortment of them at terrific prices.
Test your paint colors first. Be sure to test your colors on a blank piece of paper first to make sure they are exactly what you want. The paint colors I chose were a bold red and a stunning slightly shimmering gold.
Again, super frustrating trying to capture the right angle – you can’t fully appreciate just how stunning the colors turned out via the images but in real life, I am thrilled with how it turned out.
You can also use an adhesive spray to keep the paint from coming off. I didn’t on this piece because I’m not going to be spraying cleaning on it and will spot clean any areas if they need it.
It’s such a delight to know that I’ve turned my old mirror into a work of art I can enjoy every day.
And as a bonus – I get such a kick out of the beautiful stencil shadow it casts on my walls and doors!
Here are some other stunning examples of what you can do with this stencil! I used the same overlapping technique on my mirror. It’s my favorite.
This work of stencil art is gorgeous! I am really tempted to give this a whirl soon!
Why hang artwork when you can easily and inexpensively create it yourself? The example below is breath-taking.
I love the colors in this overlapping stencil too. Paired with some white accent pieces, it’s a work of art in itself.
I am thrilled with the results. I can’t wait to use this stencil again for some other upcoming projects.
Let me know if you have any questions – you can leave them in the comment section below.
I hope you get to enjoy transforming an old mirror or stenciling a plain wall soon. It’s a DIYers dream and so much fun too!
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