About catherine
Catherine is a CPA-turned-creative entrepreneur. She is the founder of Beginning in the Middle. an interior designer, photographer, writer, and business schemer.  She loves being cozy at home, miniature everything, and has a not-so-secret dream of living on an island one day.
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DIY $19 Sunburst Mirror

DIY

I’ve been on the lookout for something large to fill the space above the bed in the guest bedroom, but had a hard time figuring out what.  Shelves?  A picture (or pictures)?  An accent wall?  

Guest BR Blank

I do love sunburst mirrors and have been seeing lots of photos of DIY versions made with paint sticks, twigs, and all sorts of other materials.  When I came across this one from Thrifty Decor Chick’s blog, it really caught my eye. Turns out it’s easy to make AND inexpensive.  Sold!  

Image

Here’s what I used to make it:

3 Packs of big 14″ cedar shims (Home Depot contractor section has them!) – $4 each
1 8″ Mirror (JoAnn) – $3
1 Small can of Minwax 22761 Wood Finish Wood Stain Classic Gray, 1/2-Pint – $4
1 Bottle of wood glue (had it)
1 Piece of white chalk (had it)
Square piece of really sturdy cardboard or wood for the base (had it)
Mirror glue (had it)
Piece of steel wire for hanging (had it)
Picture hanger or nail(s) for hanging (had it)

Total project cost: $19

The tutorial on Thrifty Decor Chick’s blog is super helpful.  I followed it step by step up until the staining part.  To get the color I wanted, I used a gray stain.  I didn’t go crazy with making it even and perfect because I wanted it to look distressed.  After letting it dry for a few hours, I drew over the whole thing with white chalk and smudged it to give it a rustic soapstone look.  Once that was done, I attached the mirror with mirror glue and let it sit for a few more hours.

photo 3 (2)

Bryan helped secure the wire onto the cardboard in the back of the mirror with his staple gun.  This is what the back looked like before we hung it.  I think it’s safe to say it will never fall down?

photo 1 (2)

Here’s what the guest bedroom looks like now, with something filling the big blank wall.  I’m loving it!

photo 1
photo (2)

Before & After. What do you think?

IMG_4020  image_1

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  1. Joan Bardot says:

    Beautiful mirror, looks beyond incredible for the price!

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About BEGINNING IN THE MIDDLE

Catherine & Bryan Williamson moved from NYC to Columbus, OH in 2013.  Beginning in the Middle is a journal of the couple's design and renovation projects, real estate investment and Airbnb hosting journey, travel, and other life happenings.

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I grew up in New Jersey and always had a dream of living in New York.  There was something about the energy of the city that drew me inOur journey started unexpectedly in 2012, when we decided to make a big move from New York to Columbus. The glamour of climbing the corporate ladder was wearing off, and we knew that renting an expensive small apartment and dealing with crowded subways everyday was not going to work forever. We wanted to start creating something for ourselves, and although we didn’t know exactly what that something was, we knew NYC wasn’t the place for it.

We decided on Columbus because Bryan grew up here, and we were intrigued by all of the development going on in the downtown area at the time. We drove through many of the neighborhoods and admired the boarded up old houses, most of which were built in the early 1900s, and started dreaming about the things we could do here.

I'm Catherine, and I'm the founder of Beginning in the Middle.

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