There seems to be many different methods for antiquing mirrors. I decided to go with a tutorial from the Jenna Sue Design blog. She provides great instructions on how to antique a mirror. I’ll walk you through the process I used on my own mirrors.
The first step is stripping off the back layer of paint on the mirror. The layer of paint is usually gray colored and beneath that is the reflective surface. I brushed CitriStrip gel stripper in a thick layer over the back of the mirror. You’ll want to let it sit until you start to see some bubbling of the paint layer.
This is a tricky step because you won’t want it to sit too long or it could start to eat through the reflective surface of the mirror.
The most brutal part of the whole project was scraping the paint layer off the back of the mirror. It is important not to scrape too hard or you will leave scratch marks. Every mirror will react differently. I ended up not getting all the paint scrapped off in certain areas.
Once my mirror was cleaned up, I mixed the bleach solution. I mixed ¼ part bleach with ¾ part water in a spray bottle. I adjusted the nozzle on the spray bottle and did a few test sprays before starting on my actual mirror. I only sprayed the edges of the mirror to get a subtle, more natural look. I blotted the bleach solution with a sponge in certain areas and also left some areas alone.
Once I was happy with the results, I dried the bleach solution by blotting it with paper towels. If you hold your mirror up to a light source you can see the areas that have dissolved. At this point, you can get a good sense of what your mirror will look like once the back is painted.
I chose to use Modern Masters Metallic Paint in the Statuary Bronze color. It is the perfect rusty bronze color for an aged look. I applied it to the back of the mirror with a sponge (instead of a brush) to avoid any brush strokes.
After the paint dried it was finally time to flip the mirror over and see the finished product. I could not be happier with the results!
What a simple way to add some character. I am looking forward to getting these mirrors into their frames. Stay tuned!
You can see where these mirrors ended up in my master bedroom reveal post.
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