apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

wow. i mean...all i can say is...just...wow.

that looks awesome and i've never really been a big fan of this style, but this is what i'm doing for nightstands.

Could you get a similar effect by applying silver leaf to the wood, itself? That would avoid the cost of the custom glass panels, but is it even possible?

This is great! I love the final result. I would have never known that is was silver leaf from the first picture. It really looks like aged mirror.

u did a really good job here.

I'm not a big fan of mirrored furniture, at least not for myself, BUT this turned out to be an incredible piece. A job incredibly well done.

Wow! Just, wow.

Gorgeous!

You did a really fantastic job, congratulations!

As an aside, for anyone interested in purchasing mirrored dressers or nightstands, Pier 1 has some great ones at very reasonable prices right now. The nightstands are $179. Don't remember the price for dressers, but assume it would be commensurate.

I must be a real cheapskate, because I'd spend $400 on a vintage, solid wood dresser, but to spend that much fixing up a piece of junk from Ikea? I love the end result, but this seems like a bit of an absurd endeavor to me.

Magnifico!

I would love more info and pictures on the cutting down process, Shauna.

Fantastic job!

Very creative.

Shauna, where is your brown and white rug from?

visualingual-
I totally agree with you. Plus you can score mirrored furniture for less than $400. I have two mirrored chest from Bombay, that I bought for $150 each. Pier One has an inexpensive mirrored furniture line too, and so does Target. Don't get me wrong, Shauna, your creation looks fab and very authentic. But I think you can find some mirrored furniture pieces for a lot less.

wowzers!

I'm in love.

How pretty. I'm sure the piece means even more to you since you've put all the work into it yourself. Did the glass people cut the holes for the knobs?

that's amazing.

amazing job...

i think the dresser is fabulous

katie k the rug is from west elm

they don't appear to sell it anymore but this one is pretty:
http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODr509&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E&parentId=WE-SH1RUGRUG&retainNav=true&cmsrc=WE-SH1RUGRUG

You did a GREAT job! I love the look!
I only wonder if it is really time & cost effective since you can purchase well made mirrored nightstands and small dressers for $200 - $500, respectively. See Urban Outfitters, Horchow, Z gallerie, or Pier 1 for different price ranges. I was lucky to buy my mirrored nightstands on sale from Bombay Company right before they went out of business for $175 each.

Why the silver leaf for mirror effect, instead of just getting mirror cut and gluing that to the front of the drawers? I suppose it does look more 'antiqued', but the black paint you used to seal the silver leaf seems to be seeping through - I'm not sure if you intended that paint to show? Anyway, this was definitely an imaginative project. For $400 though, I agree with some other posters who feel that that is a lot for what is basically particleboard from Ikea.

I really like the effect of the silver leaf under the glass. It seems to be a little softer and more subtle than a straight mirrored piece. Great job.

this looks amazing!

this is shauna of the mirrored dresser. thanks, everyone, for your kind words.

it's fun to see my entry on AT! though unfortunately it looks like the photos lost something when i uploaded them - so grainy and washed out, at least on my monitor.

i'll try to answer questions as they come in:

nanc - you could apply silver leaf directly to the wood, though i'm not sure it would have the same mirror effect. it's often done for picture / art frames, and the supplies you'd need would be available at an art supply store.

also, having the edges of the glass beveled cost quite a bit extra. in my case i felt it worthwhile, but having the glass cut without bevels could reduce costs.

moira - unfortunately, i don't have more photographs during the actual cutting process. once the lower drawer was removed, i drew a line along the sides indicating where the bottom of the third (and now lowest) drawer was, and then disassembled the dresser. i cut along that line, and then reassembled everything.

Katie K - the rug is from West Elm.

meganificent - the glass people did cut the holes for the knobs (that was a bit of a fiasco - though i had specified the correct diameter of the holes, when i got the glass home, the knobs didn't fit! they'd used the wrong drill bit, and corrected the mistake, but it was a hassle. next time i'd take a knob with me when picking up the glass...)

arza - i wanted the effect to be soft, rather than perfectly, highly reflective. so the black paint showing through the wrinkles and tears in the silver leaf was intentional. it is possible to have mirror antiqued and then cut to size by the glass people, but it's more expensive (and less DIY!)

ndvheller, JuliaL, and visualingual - the ikea dresser was sturdy and functional, and had the basic shape and size (after modifications) that i needed. of course i'd have preferred solid wood, but in this case it was easier to recycle what i already had. i'd been looking for a mirrored dresser for ages (all over the web, b&m stores, and craigslist), and couldn't find anything in the size i needed that fit my budget. so i made it!

i bet a much cheaper version would be just using the silver leaf & applying a thick layer of epoxy like decopage. good idea & it does look nice. didn't really save money though.

I can understand the reasoning behind "you can buy a mirrored dresser for cheap at X, Y, and Z", but obviously this nightstand is totally original, creative, and personal. There's something about about putting your soul into a piece rather than forking over cash (no matter how much or how little) at the register.

Beautifully done!

Again, I congratulate Shauna on the wonderful results of her hard work. The dresser really does look pretty (and not cheap at all). You should be proud.
While I agree that individual hard work makes possessions all the more sentimental, as in the case of painstakingly restoring an historic home, for example; it goes against (my) logical reasoning to spend $400 on creating something already being produced for less/more elsewhere of the same/better quality. And since, according to Shauna, she undertook this project because she couldn't find anything that fit her budget (rather than a desire to actually create) it makes even less sense to me.
My point is that, in the end, the time & money spent (and yes, the amount is a major factor) can be considered an unwise investment. It is akin to spending $200 to reupholster a folding chair bought at say, Target, for $40. That's all.

This is absolutely amazing. I like the soft effect from the silver leaf. I'd love to see the effects of different time of day and different lighting on the dresser. I bet it looks wonderful in low light with a candle flickering on top.

I honestly like this a lot more than the factory-made mirrored pieces...they're too shiny. And, I love the idea of putting leaf on the back of the glass. I'll have to keep that in mind for future crafting needs!

Ingenious.

My only suggestion would be perhaps getting bigger knobs - they seem a bit out of scale. But really...great job.

selena, that's exactly how i feel about it. thanks for putting it so eloquently!

ndvheller, i can appreciate your opinion, but i do want to say that my decision to undertake this project wasn't simply a cost issue - it was a combination of factors. i needed a very specific size dresser to fit my space, which was limiting. most of the dressers i found that fit the size requirement did not fit my budget, or didn't suit me style-wise (many of the factory-made pieces use regular shiny mirror, and i was set on having that softer, antiqued look). additionally, many of the pre-made cheaper pieces i saw were of poorer quality than the ikea dresser i started with! so all in all, it's true it was a bit of cost and effort, but it was fun and worthwhile, and perfectly customized for me. i would do it all over again :)

Shauna-
I am not knocking your dresser! I think it's very beautiful. And I totally understand your reasons for creating it. I, sadly, don't have a creative bone in my body so I admire anyone who can make something. Secondly, I'm not knocking Ikea either, as I have two Malm dressers in my bedroom. I just wanted to point out that there were some economical options out there for those of us who don't have creative genius and want mirrored furniture. :-) Congrats again on doing such a good job!

Julia

Shauna,
Fantastic project!!! I too am a project person.
I see a perfect mix of contemporary square edges with the ornamentation of soft silvery beveled mirrors. I've regularly spent more than the currently available cheap or even not so cheap knock off. People will often ask if it saves money to do these projects - in my opinion, "No, it doesn't save money," but the end product is exactly what I want not just what is available. It all about getting what we want not settling.
Congratulations!
Alice

What about plexiglass instead of actual glass. It would probably provide pretty similar results for a lot less.

nicolemarie, plexiglass is not so cheap, depending on the thickness. And it would scratch much more easily than glass.

i love this! it's beautiful and has an elegant, timeless look.
beautiful!

I adore the final look of this piece and I'm going to use some of the idea in a different context.

The "silver leaf" cracked me up because it reminds me of when I was a kid and I would peel the silvery part off of gum wrappers and stick them on anything plastic, usually my homework organizer. It was pretty entertaining.

But to the point, it looks very nice!

I guess the posters who called this project an "absurd endeavor" and an "unwise investment" know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Well done, Shauna.

Look, I like Ikea as much as the next person, but there is a point where you invest too much money on a cheap frame...

athink about this - when looking to buy a house that needs a bit of work, one should look for a house with good "bones", (basic structure). Otherwise, you may lose your investment on the beautiful surfaces as the interior structure deteriorates.

That said - Shauna, I think you did a beautiful job on this piece and I truly hope it lasts for you.

Stunning! You were so right to cut down the dresser, the proportions are great now, before they were a little off. I can totally understand making your own, most cheap modern mirrored furniture is just not quite right in one way or another. Plus making things is fun!

Also, while there is certainly mirrored furniture out there that costs less than this project, Shauna's looks like a much higher-end piece. In fact it really reminds me of this, which is three times the price.

http://tinyurl.com/2xqzdo

Bravo, Shauna. I agree with Cassis. The mirrored piece at Pier 1, btw, is a vanity for $300. This is a bigger, nicer piece for not much more. Mitchell Gold, hardly a high-end retailer, has one like it for $1600.

the posters who called this project an "absurd endeavor" and an "unwise investment" know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Yes, Chestnut, we're soul-less evil monsters devoid of any sentimentality since emerging from our egg incubators. It's just a natural consequence of being raised in our sterile bubble environments with no emotional ties to humanity.

heh heh

You totally have to put this on ikeahacker!

the before picture has 4 drawers and the after has 3. Wrong images possibly?

sag123, those are the correct images. the dresser was shortened as explained in the step-by-step instructions.

I'm just sorry that I didn't see it until now! I think this is sensational! And the silver-leaf instead of the real mirror is just inspired! Because it's prettier than regular mirror AND prettier than old tarnished mirror.

And I COMPLETELY agree with have the edges beveled, because it really adds a lot to the piece.

(And for the person who mentioned plexiglas, the problem with that would be that plexiglas is NEVER really flat. It always looks just the tinitest bit warped, which is so very obvious in the reflections it creates.)

You're a bloomin' genius!

Curtis, I've long admired your many impressive DIY projects, so your compliments are especially meaningful - thank you :)

dang...."yeeaahhhhhhh"....you shoulda won. Flat out. This looks great. Project was original, too.....

Maybe you should go into business with this project!