Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

This past weekend I made the hour long trek from my house to The Promised Land. Also known as: IKEA. Where the décor is limitless, the prices are cheap, and the Swedish meatballs are DELISH (just ask my 15 month old. She ate 5.)

Among the multitudes of things I purchased on this trip were three wooden 10x10 mirrors. You see, we spent this past summer giving our kitchen a bit of a frugal facelift (something I want to blog about in much greater detail at another time) and there was this small space of wall between the cabinets and the windows that needed something but I couldn’t exactly figure out what it was. For a few months, it’s been a clock that I picked up from Hobby Lobby with a 50% off coupon.

It was…okay. But it didn’t bowl me over, and quite frankly it didn’t really jive with the more modern feel we had going in this room since the re-do. I had seen these small wooden mirrors the last time I was in IKEA but passed them by at the time. But I kept thinking about them. And the more I stared at that clock on the wall the more I knew those mirrors were the right fit for that space.

At $2.99 a piece, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. So I snatched up 3 of the unfinished wood versions (the only other colors they offered were black and red) and brought them home with me.

I’m sure that spray paint would have been a much faster way to cover these things, but it was cold outside so I opted to use the white craft paint I had left over from my Love Letters.

It took SEVERAL coats. Any by several I mean somewhere around six coats each. That’s eighteen coats total for those who are mathematically challenged like me. I let each coat dry completely before covering with the next one to make sure the coats went on as evenly as possible.

I think this is somewhere around coat four. I know its hard to tell because of the bad lighting (I'm a nocturnal crafter!) but trust me, they are taking on their crisp color here.

When it comes to hanging things, I consider myself a master eye-baller. I do not have the patience to measure things. Measuring is for weenies. And people who are good at math.

TAAAA-DAAAA! Sorry for the craptastic night pic, but in case you haven’ t noticed, I do most of my crafting/blogging/decorating at night. That meatball-loving toddler is just soooo needy when she's awake! :)

I’m pretty happy with them. For a $9 investment, I say you can’t go wrong! I love the clean, modern lines and the fresh contrast of the white against our brown walls.

Someday, when I have more time (and better lighting) I'll have to give you the tour of the rest of our kitchen. And tell you the story of The Summer We Remodeled Our Kitchen. At least you know it has a happy ending. :)


The Copycat Rundown:

Total Cost: Just over $9. I already had the craft paint and foam brush. I do love those Swedes and their cheap home furnishings.

Total Time: All in all, the painting took about an hour. I would paint a coat and come back to it a few hours later, then paint another one, etc. Attaching the hangers and hanging these puppies took another half hour. Not too bad!

Would we do this again? Sure! I think these little mirrors are great. I would love to hang them in a big grouping or even use them singularly. They are worth stocking up on and keeping around. You just never know!

Credit: The Swedish. Let’s all have a moment of silence for the awesomeness that is IKEA.