Hi everyone, While leaving my yoga class in Northpoint on Saturday morning, I came across a woman on Larkin with an open garage and a lot of funky items for sale. The mirror attached just called out to me as a must-have but I'm not quite sure what to do with it. It was a total steal for only $5! It measures 30in wide x 40 in tall and weighs enough for 2 people to carry. The frame is very much intact but appears to have been painted in a thick gold/bronze paint. It has chipped in some places and reveals a reddish colour underneath...
-Max
P.S. Photos are of the full mirror and top and bottom frame details.
Email us with QUESTIONS in subject line: sf (at) apartmenttherapy (dot) com
Note: Include a picture and your question gets posted first
Note: Include a picture and your question gets posted first
The Ultimate Used Furniture Cleaning Kit
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Z2 iPod Dock and Wi...
Soda Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Man Oh Man. I am tres jealous. I'd paint it some rockin' color.
nice mirror!
there was post awhile back with a high loss fancy mirror frame on here.... very swanky.
high gloss white sounds good... really any color in high gloss would look nice i think!
Friends have done this with other Rococo pieces and it looks great. Black or a pop of coral or tomato, turquoise, etc. could look amazing too.
i'm thinking orange would be hot.
I would paint it some hot, birght color. you can always paint it white later.
of course by 'high loss' i meant high gloss.... =P
In addition to the glossy white (which always looks sharp), another suggestion is to paint it a shade or two lighter or darker (based on which you prefer) than the color of the wall you plan on hanging it. This adds some flare that will compliment the modern/minimal look of your home.
You could look here for inspiration for combining modern furniture with painted 'antiques':
http://www.byblosarthotel.com/en-rooms.htm
They also have a great breakfast buffet
I have a very similar mirror. I painted it matte white, and then put it on a wall that is black. It looks very cool!
Do you have pics of your room? it would help to see the space to know how it might be changed (or left as is) to work with your decor.
I actually have a decorative mirror in gold. I love gold and it actaully can be a nice compliment to a very modernist style with a cool or warm palette. It is all about placement and if you want to draw attention to it. It could work nice in some place like an entry hall or over a very minimal credenza. So, I am partial to the glitz and glamor and keeping your great find the metallic beauty it aspires to be, it just needs the right home, in your home.
Paint is used underneath gold leaf to give it a particular tone. Often a reddish rust color is used to give the gold some warmth. To me it sounds like the mirror is in its original condition. I think it would look just fine in a modern environment left original.
Whatever you end up doing, please be sure to post a photo. Looking forward to seeing the end result. I am sure it will look wonderful!
Oh my...you totally scored! This gives me hope that there is a cool mirror waiting for me 'somewhere'. Been visiting second hand stores and garage sales for a few weeks now.
You could always hang it on the wall just as it is - Just don't hang it on a drab off-white wall or it won't look as good as it can.
There's not a thing wrong with mixing styles if you like the pieces themselves.
Give it to me.What can't you do with that thing? Its beautiful as is. I covet it! Above a dresser,perhaps in a dining space, or entry way. enjoy!
Leave it just like that! I think it's beautiful and would add some old world quality charm. Painting it, while it might be the trendy thing to do will make it look like it was mass-produced. But I'm a romantic like that. Leaving it unpainted, to me, implies a story and a past.
You could sell it to me! I'll offer you five times what you paid for it and you can feel quite smug =)
Or... you could paint it a solid, bold color based on your decor. I'd vote for gloss black. (It'd be either gloss black or white if it came to live with me!)
I like the suggestion of tomato or orange, in high gloss, like Chinese lacquer. If you can't find a space for it in the house, open up your garden or patio with it.
Oh! Beautiful piece...I vote glossy white or maybe even a bright color (yellow? blue?) that matches your current decor.
It's gorgeous - what a find!
I'd be tempted first to sand off some of the gold and bring up more of the red underlayer - see how that looks.
i painted my mirror frame (similar but smaller) and found to be a pain in the butt. i used medium gloss black about half way into the process and found that the reflection of the gold parts on the very inside looked horrible. then a friend said i should pop the mirror out of the frame (duh!) and then paint!
it's all done and it looks great!
see here in the upper right hand corner:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cakelike/2247248501/in/set-72157603870599774/
"DO"???
Why would you "DO" anything??? It's perfect the way it is.
Hang it up or pass it on, but please resist the urge to "DO" anything...
Not everything needs to be "done".
Hi everyone. As a follow up, the woman who sold me this mirror also had another one. Same style, same width, just round. I didn't get her name but her garage is right next to the parking garage on Larkin before North Point. I picked this up this past Saturday so the round one might still be available. I will post photos of the finished product. In the meantime a friend who is an antiques collector came by and saw it and actually suggested getting it appraised because the gilding on this looks to be actually a very rich gold thicker than I thought. He cleaned a small area with a weak soap solution about the size of a dime and you can't imagine how the mirror gleams. The frame has never been touched and even has the original paper backing on it. Track down the other mirror if u think it's worth a trip.
I have a similar mirror, albeit smaller, that was also the same bronze color. I found some lovely paint in a champagne/silver color...(I guess that would be platinum?)
It's a very soft patina and not too shiny. It coexists beautifully with the more modern pieces in my home and surprisingly looks as if it was always that color.
O this takes me back. I had a similar mirror in my first college apartment. It had a long, narrow living room and the mirror visually widened the room wonderfully. We painted ours a glossy white and hung it on two large nails with some wire. Buy a good stud finder--it'll make hanging it so much easier.
Paint ... brushed silver.
I'd listen to your antiques dealer friend and get it appraised before painting. If it's original gold leaf and a good frame you will ruin it by painting it. You could sell it for much more and buy a frame that's already painted a swank color. If it's not original or not a good frame go for it!
I had a similar one, but mine was full length and I painted it glossy white enamel . It looks great. I never really considered it would be worth alot of money...it was my grandmothers and she was an immigrant, so she would not have had much money when she bought it.
paint it white!
I have a very similar (small oval) painted matte white, and I really like it. It's a nice break from the super-high gloss look that is oh so popular. I'm also selling it in Brooklyn, if anyone wants.
I would leave it as is!!!
I would paint it with White Laquer. Use appliance paint. It is thicker and more durable.
That is just gorgeous I would leave it as is. Although, I was just recently going through old magazines, and in the design issue of Oprah's O a woman had an amazing mirror that she used chalk board paint on and it looked great.
I think it would look amazing in high gloss white. (Not to toot my own horn, but) I painted a similarly ornate mirror high gloss yellow (I just used spray paint) last year and it looks awesome. You should go for it.