A few weeks ago I came across the most wonderful windows ever made. They were for sale in someones barn and I went to look at them with a dear friend of mine who knew the owner. I was instantly in love. It’s so rare to find arched windows like this and with the glass perfectly intact I knew these were a once in a lifetime find. Slowly the reality of the size of the windows dawned on me, they were nine feet tall. My ceilings are not nine feet tall and so I left feeling rather disappointed.
I forgot about the windows over the next week but was reminded of them when my sister told me she wanted to make some changes in her living room which happens to have a cathedral ceiling. I showed her the picture and within a few days the windows were at home in her shed awaiting their makeover. The goal was to make them into mirrors. Preferably old antique mirrors that have crazing and not a lot of clarity.
And so the project commenced.
Here is what we used to create the look of an old antique mirror: Krylon Looking Glass spray, white vinegar, a fine spray mister and black spray paint.
The first thing we did was lay the windows flat so that the vinegar spray would not run. The back of the mirror is what you’re going to be spraying so that it will be reflective on the other side.
Use a spray bottle with a fine mist setting and add white vinegar and water. I did not measure but I had mostly vinegar in my bottle, I really wanted crazing to occur. Please note that the looking glass spray will NOT create a brand new looking mirror even without the vinegar, it will still have an aged look.
After you have sprayed the glass panes with the vinegar, you will need to begin spraying the looking glass spray immediately so that the vinegar doesn’t dry. You should spray three to five coats on each pane. There is no need to wait for the spray to dry between coats although it does dry very quickly. We ran out of paint after three coats and were pleased with the results as it had the aged look we desired.
Here is a photo of the glass crazing as it dries. It is so lovely!!
This picture is the reason I wanted to coat the back of the glass with a thin coat of the black matte spray paint. Without the black behind it, you will not see any of these details from the front side.
We left them to dry outside before we brought them into the living room, make sure you do this as the paint still has a tendency to run if the vinegar has not dried.
Here sits the one mirror, it will end up getting attached to the wall behind it as she doesn’t feel it’s safe to have it leaning with her small children playing around it.
And the other!
These turned out so perfect. You would hardly know that they only became mirrors today! The black spray paint really helped to bring out all of the beautiful imperfections we hoped for and they appear to be many years old.
Next time you see an old picture frame or an old window that you really love, remember that you can easily transform it into something even more lovely!
Stay tuned for more on my sisters living room transformation in the next coming weeks. Next week we are going to apply lime to the walls to make it look like her walls are aged and transported from Europe!
Until Next Time,
Melissa
Provincial Elegance 