Gilded Mirror Revamp

Let’s give an old gilded mirror a whole new look in a few easy steps with nothing more than Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™ Follow the instructions below and there you have it! Remember - always do a test area first before continuing with your painting just to check that all is well!

After dusting the frame off just to clean away grime and dust, try and remove the mirror in order to paint the inside of the rebate. This means that once the mirror is returned to the frame, the reflection will be the same as the paint colour. If this proves difficult then don’t worry it’s not essential, you can use your brush to blend the inside edge of the frame to match its reflection.

Now apply a coat of your chosen colour Chalk Paint™ over the frame working it into the relief work with your brush. In our case we have used Aubusson Blue but pretty much any colour works well. See image 1 above.

Once the paint has dried, take a damp cloth and gently wipe the surface which will begin to remove some of the paint. Rinse the cloth off in clean water, wring out and continue work until you are happy with the result. This action will reveal the gilded relief work below. Work slowly so as not to remove any of the gilt finish underneath. See image 3 above.

You can apply more paint and repeat this process until you have created the effect you desire.

A lovely advantage for using Chalk Paint™ for this is that when it comes to cleaning the mirror once you have finished all you need is a little water to damp a biodegradable cotton bud or wet wipe and clean the glass! The paint will wipe off easily.

Normally, we would need to protect the work with wax or lacquer but as this is a frame and unlikely to be touched alot it is not really necessary, unless you choose to.

the images above show the effect you are aiming for to create a sophisticated finish to your mirror frame.

xx Jane