The Three Rs at Work

We recently remodeled our master bath (finally).  I didn't like that room because it was just bland in color, had only one sink and had a closet in there (steamed the clothes with each shower!)  Anyway, I digress.  The one good thing about that bath was the mirror hanging over the sink.  It looked like it had been hanging there since the house was built.

So 10 years after we moved into our home we tore the master bath apart and created a new one (which I love!) Here's the thing... like I said, I liked the mirror and wanted to move it to another room in the house, but it had years and years of gunk built up on it so a renewal was required.

Here's what I did.....

First I had to clean it.  I used a mild soap in a bowl of water and a soft toothbrush.  Little by little I scrubbed away the years of gunk.  In some areas the leaf was completely rubbed off but that's ok, I can fix that.

Once I had the gunk off, I painted the whole thing gold with Martha Stewart's Gold Leaf Paint, purchased at Michaels.

I could have left it at that, it was quite beautiful, but my home really isn't a Gold Leaf kind of home.  I wanted to age it a bit.  So I made a simple wash with black acrylic paint and water.  Using a sponge, I dabbed the wash on and gently wiped it off the raised surfaces with a soft cloth.

I had a little tube of silver leaf paste so I rubbed a bit of that on in various spots so it wouldn't look uniform but naturally aged.  I didn't seal this because I'm ok with it getting old and aged again, but you could seal it with a brush on or spray on sealant.

I love the finished project and it is now hanging by the front door over a sideboard table!  Beautiful!