DIY Distillery Mirrors

I have been looking for two floor-length mirrors to finish off our master bedroom. The Pottery Barn Distiller Arched Metal Mirror was the perfect option, but to get two of them (at $799 each) was not going to happen. I decided to use the Pottery Barn version as my inspiration to create my own mirrors. 

To start, I tried searching antique stores in hopes of finding two identical large window or door frames. I didn’t have any luck, so I decided to have a face frame cut by a local wood shop. I supplied a sketch of what I was looking for and they cut it out with a CNC wood router machine. The overall mirror is 78” high by 29” wide. The wood shop used ½” paint-grade plywood for the face frame. Here is my sketch and the final CAD file they supplied me with. 

Once I got the face frames home, I primed them and then spray painted them with my favorite paint combo, satin black and oil rubbed bronze. They are primarily painted in satin black and then I like to lightly spray over the black with the oil rubbed bronze. I think it creates a nice black iron/metal look. It is important to paint both sides of the face frame, otherwise the raw wood side would be visible in the reflection when placed on top of the mirrors. 

Next, I ordered the glass mirrors through a local glass company. It was much less expensive to order them in two pieces rather than one large solid piece. I had them cut a 28” diameter circular mirror in half for the top pieces. I also ordered two rectangular mirrors at 63” high by 28” wide. The mirrors I ordered are slightly smaller than the face frame, which gave me some wiggle room to assemble everything. 

Before assembling everything, I decided to antique the mirrors to give them a little more character. You can find the entire process here. 

I cut some plywood down to use for the back of the mirrors. The plywood is the exact same outline/dimensions as my face frame. 

I mounted the mirrors to the plywood backs with a construction adhesive specifically made for mirrors.

After letting them dry, I attached the face frames with a very thick bead of liquid nails construction adhesive. I carefully placed the face frames on top and lined them up with the plywood backs. I wiped up any excess adhesive and let them sit to dry again. 

I decided to try a wood veneer edging to cover the exposed sides of the mirrors. It was surprisingly easy to apply, but it just was not working. It wasn’t really the correct size I needed and it was creating a ripple anywhere the face frame and plywood back did not line up perfectly. 

So my “Plan B” was to use duct tape! I found a 1” wide roll of Gorilla Tape and it was a perfect fit. 

Lastly, I painted over the duct tape with a matte black paint. 

At last, the distillery mirrors are finally DONE! I am excited to get them moved into our master bedroom. 

You can see where these mirrors ended up in my master bedroom reveal post.

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