I have a lovely vintage mirror however it was a really rough looking gold, I wanted to update it and customise it so I opted for the worn out painted look…
Mirror in its original state
In order to achieve the “French Patina” look you will need:
- 1 tub of white acrylic paint
- 1 tub of light grey acrylic paint
- 2 flat brushes, 1 large and one small
- 2 cotton clothes
- 1 small grain sand paper
- 1 large grain sandpaper
- 1 tub of furniture wax
And a lot of Patience!
My frame was a 19th century wood and plaster so I carefully sanded down the paint on the wood only as I did not want it to damage the delicate flowers made of plaster.
I then applied a first layer of white acrylic paint over it with my large brush, waited for it to dry for 12 hours, and reapplied a coat until it looked covered and white enough. I would recommend applying minimum four times a white coat over to get a pure limpid white.
Frame after applying 1st coat of paint
My next step was to mix my grey acrylic paint with the white paint to give a soft and gentle contrast effect onto the embossment to enhance the detail of your item. I would recommend one teaspoon of white paint for two of the light grey so the shade is not too overpowering.
When you have found the right shade, paint with your small brush over the detail you want to enhance, I personally chose to paint the flowers and the leaves other this particular frame and tiny touches on the inside guild.
Enhancing the detail with grey
Then with a tiny amount on your brush paint some of your light grey over the rest of the mirror and quickly wipe it with a cotton cloth to make it a lot more subtle. However it is important that you do keep some plain white parts to play with the shades. Wait 12 hours for it to dry.
Last step, if you want to give it a more worn out look, sand a little with the fine grain sandpaper wherever you like randomly to give this natural distressed look and show some of the wood grain. For this frame I chose to skip this step as the frame is wood and plaster it would not have look right but if it had been made just in wood, it would have looked great.
To give the “French Patina” look, dab a little bit of wax on your cotton cloth and then apply on the top of your paint work to give that satin finished effect… Et voila, you have a gorgeous brand new unique recycled and customised item with the pleasure of having made it yourself!
The finished article
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