It is possible to imagine a living room or hallway without paintings, vases, figurines and other pretentious accessories, but without a mirror - no way! Indeed, this object is necessary in any home, not only in order to look at one's own reflection, but also in order to decorate the entourage. Often, factory mirrors look faceless, unable to reflect the individuality of the room.
Fortunately, do-it-yourself mirror decor helps to solve the problem of facelessness. Let's take a look at the most unusual ways to decorate.
3 tricks for aging a mirror
A mirror with a touch of antiquity looks solemn and tasteful. Naturally, such an item is in perfect harmony with the classic or vintage style - in a modern setting, it looks lurid. How to create the effect of artificial aging at home?
Technique 1 - chemical etching. To form plaque, it is necessary to purchase a tinted or silver base, etched with a chemical composition. The resulting patina does not diminish the reflectivity, so the mirrors retain their versatility.
Reception 2 - eglomise. The decor of the mirror using the eglomise technique is rather laborious. It involves the imposition of thin sheets of gold leaf with a gold or silver coating on the base. The main advantage of this technique is the ability to insert a photo between layers for greater decorativeness. Such a mirror acts as an independent art object, but its reflectivity is rather low.
Technique 3 - aging with craquelure / acrylic. To achieve the archaic effect, it is not necessary to process the entire surface of the mirror - it is enough to age the frame with your own hands. To do this, you need acrylic paints or craquelure varnish. Paint the frame with silver acrylic, and once dry, apply a mixture of blue and green paint to the surface.
Stucco frame ideas
One of the main features of styles such as baroque, empire and retro classics is the use of stucco. The mirror is no exception. For decorating a mirror with your own hands, both a gypsum mixture and plastic are suitable. Stucco moldings can be bought or made by yourself using ready-made molds.
The base frame itself is made of MDF sheets, painted white. After drying, the stucco elements are attached to the frame using silicone glue. Then the remnants of the glue are removed with a sponge, and the finished molding is painted with white (gold, silver) acrylic paint.
Decoration of mirrors with moldings
An easier way to make an original mirror frame is to use ready-made moldings / skirting boards. Styrofoam skirting boards are available in a wide variety of variations, imitating the more expensive plaster moldings. To decorate the frame, you need an MDF sheet that protrudes beyond the edges of the mirror. Moldings are attached to the protruding part of the plywood. So that the frame does not look cheap, it is covered with acrylic paints; the joints are sealed with putty.
DIY wood mirror frame
Nothing looks more harmonious in the interior than wood. In addition to excellent physical characteristics, this material has aesthetic appeal, which is why it is considered an excellent tool for creating an original mirror decor with your own hands. It is customary to frame square and rectangular mirrors with simple wooden borders, but you can experiment with rounded products.
A sun mirror looks very unusual in any interior. To make it, you will need wooden blocks (tree branches), a plywood frame according to the size of the product, a primer, a glue gun, wood glue, spray paint, sandpaper.
First, we lay the blocks in wedges around the perimeter of the frame. To simulate the sun's rays, it is necessary to alternate short and long bars. Apply glue to the frame and hold each branch for 15-20 seconds. After drying, remove the remaining glue with sandpaper, apply a spray primer and leave for 1 hour. After that we cover the sun frame with paint or transparent varnish.
You can use regular wooden clothespins instead of sticks. Just a few minutes - and the mirror frame is ready!
Stencil painting on the mirror
In order to decorate a mirror, you do not need to be an artist or a hand-made master. It is enough to buy stencils and apply them to the canvas. Everything in order.
We apply the finished stencil to the mirror surface, and then carefully glue it using a roller, preventing air from entering under the film. Apply matting paste to the stencil (not on the coated surface), gently distribute it over the entire film and leave it for 15 minutes. After that, the paste should be removed, and the mirror should be washed under running water. Finally, carefully remove the film from the stencil.
A mirror in the house is not only a necessary and convenient household item, but also a beautiful component of the interior that can expand the space and fill the room with light. The mirror itself does not stand out with any aesthetic appeal; the frame makes it spectacular.
A mirror with a frame should harmoniously fit into the overall style of the house and can become a unique interior decoration. Framed wall mirrors can be made unique and luxurious if you decorate them yourself.
Showing imagination and using simple improvised objects, you can create an amazing decoration for the mirror, in which a piece of the soul and the warmth of your own hands are put.
Frames from kitchen products and household utensils
An aged mirror, with or without an unsightly frame, can be decoratively decorated using various, sometimes the most unexpected, everyday objects. Their use in an unusual role creates an amazing effect that can change simple and accessible things beyond recognition, breathing new life into them and filling them with a different meaning.
Decorating with products
Various kitchen foods are used as material for the frame: pasta, coffee beans, peas, beans, lentils or cereals.
To make a spectacular mirror frame with their own hands, they take pasta of various sizes and shapes, and carefully stick them around the perimeter. To create a certain pattern, the pasta is laid out, evenly distributed along the surface, if desired, you can randomly distribute them or give any chosen shape.
To create an original decor, spray paint is used. To do this, first, the surface of the mirror must be closed with a cloth or masking tape and sprayed with paint.
A charming do-it-yourself mirror frame is ready, other kitchen products or mixtures of them are used in the same way.
Household items for decor
For small mirrors, you can make a frame using cardboard, plywood or chipboard. Any selected frame configuration is cut out of one of these materials, the size is larger than the dimensions of the mirror. On the resulting configuration, mark the location of the mirror or glue it. The rest of the stencil is decorated with a variety of household items: buttons, shells, fragments of broken dishes, remains of jewelry or mosaic tiles, eggshells, egg trays and much more.
The variety of used household items is unlimited, personal imagination will tell you which of them can be used to create unique products.
The decor of the mirror with the use of beads, bugles and glass stones looks sophisticated and impressive.
To fix such materials, a colorless aquarium silicone glue is required, which reliably fixes the elements on the surface of the mirror and does not damage their transparent structure.
Disposable tableware decoration
A decorated frame for a mirror with your own hands using disposable spoons can look like a delicate and graceful chrysanthemum.
The handles of the spoons are cleanly cut off and, starting from the extreme row, the configuration is tightly pasted over with the resulting petals, creating a flower.
The outer row should overlap the configuration so that its edges are not visible. With paint of one or different nuances, they create a color scheme for the resulting chrysanthemum, which will be combined with the general decoration.
Massive frames
For a large mirror, wealthy and massive frames with a complex pattern are better suited. They will become an organic finish and a chic edging that can turn a mirror into an exquisite piece of furniture. Wooden frames are made for rectangular and square mirrors, because it is impossible to bend a rigid material into an oval or a circle.
Wooden frames
The material is wood, making a heavy mirror in a wooden frame. The ability to cope with basic carpentry work will allow you to use a wooden door casing to make a simple and concise frame.
You need to make four elements for either side. In order for the corners to join correctly, the platbands are cut at an angle of 45 degrees.
The length of the inner edge of each segment should be one centimeter shorter than the sides of the mirror. To accommodate the mirror sheet, recesses must be made on the seamy side of each plank.
Triangles are used to connect the strips and form corners, they will also serve as holders for the canvas.
A wooden frame for a mirror with your own hands can be decorated with any decorations. For a restrained interior, it is painted with varnish or paint of any nuance.
Ceiling plinth frame
Imitating a tree, you can use a ceiling plinth, of any pattern and width, subject to your personal vision of the future product.
It is recommended to fix the mirror on a sheet of plywood or chipboard, this will give rigidity to the product and will allow you to correctly fix the fasteners for placement on the wall. The sides of the frame are cut from the ceiling plinth, just like the wooden planks, connecting the corners. The length of the inner edges should be equal to the length of the sides of the mirror. A glue gun is used to connect the elements into a single frame. The resulting frame must be covered on all sides with a layer of putty, which is diluted to the thickness of sour cream.
After it dries, work on the decoration of the baguette is while away, for this they use paint or varnish. For aging, the surface of the painted frame can be treated with a sponge with golden paint.
A frame for a mirror with your own hands from a ceiling plinth can become a unique and luxurious part of the interior without weighing down the product.
Stucco
The presence of stucco details in the interior prompts the use of these elements for decorating mirrors. Such decorative elements made of plaster or plastic can be acquired, and from them you can make amazing compositions that decorate mirrors.
The base frame is made of a dense material with a size protruding beyond the edges of the mirror. It is painted white and the canvas is fixed on it. Stucco elements are distributed over the base in a deliberate order and fixed with silicone glue. The stucco molding can be left snow-white or using acrylic paints of any color, giving the desired nuance.
The video shows in detail the process of making a frame for a mirror from a ceiling plinth:
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If you need to arrange a mirror in the country or a suburban area, then the option with the construction of a frame made of wood is the most preferable. If you wish, you can make such a structure for an apartment, the main thing is to master the workflow and understand its main features. Wooden mirrors look great in a wide variety of environments, as long as they are neat and reliable.
- Next, you need to prepare a mirror, you must know its exact dimensions in order to assemble the structure using these parameters. As a rule, mirrors are purchased in specialized stores, where they can be cut to the size that you give yourself, but you can also use old products that were previously in cabinets and other structures.
- The next stage is cutting wooden elements at an angle of 45 degrees, in order not to be mistaken with the corners, we strongly recommend using a special device called a miter box. With its help, you will achieve a perfect match of the joints without any modifications, the work is done simply: a board is placed in the miter box according to the marks, a hacksaw or bow saw is inserted into a special slot, and the element is cut.
Important!
Do not forget that the dimensions of the cut elements are determined by the inner part of the future frame, and it is also necessary to take into account the size of the selected quarter, the mirror should ideally be located with a gap of 2-3 millimeters from the edge.
Assembly and finishing
At this stage, you have to perform the following work:
- First of all, the elements are combined to check the geometric correctness of the design, be sure to try on a mirror to make sure that all the elements match... If necessary, you can carry out revision in order to start assembling with peace of mind.
- It is not difficult to assemble the frame, to ensure strength, we recommend using this option - the ends are lubricated with carpentry glue, and a flat corner for the frames is attached on the inside, this is the easiest way of fastening... To ensure the best strength, you can make cuts at the corners and insert dowels, they will securely fix the position of the elements and prevent them from moving relative to each other.
- You can decorate the frame with curly cutting, for this a certain pattern is drawn on it and cut out using, you can simply apply a pattern and cut it out with a chisel, the simplest ornaments are simple and in execution, but the final result looks very attractive.
- To protect the material and give it a certain effect, it is necessary to treat it with a special compound, it can be either paint or impregnation or glaze, which gives the material a certain shade. You can use special compounds that create a patina effect and artificially age the surface, the instructions on the package will tell you how to use them.
- If you do not know how to glue a mirror to a tree, then just ask a special composition in a hardware store- liquid nails for mirrors and glass - which provides excellent fixation reliability and retains its properties even in high humidity conditions. Additionally, several studs can be hammered into the groove from the back side, they will prevent the mirror from falling out.
Output
Making the simplest frame is not difficult, but if you want to get an original product, you will have to spend some time and effort. The video in this article will help you understand some of the features of the work in even more detail.
- What can you make a frame from?
- Manufacturing process
- Taking measurements
- Oval mirror edging (no wood
- Frame made of branches
- Advice for a novice master
The frame for the mirror is not only a part of the design of the mirror sheet, but also a decorative element in the composition of the room. Framing can become the accent of a room, blend in with the surrounding space or get out of it with its originality. The frame can be any... Its shape, size and appearance depend on the dimensions of the mirror and the imagination of the master. Here are some master classes that will help you implement your idea and create your own unique frame.
What can you make a frame from?
The creation of a mirror frame is a creative process. It is made from anything:
- Wood is the most common material. They use slats, old and new boards, cuts of trunks. The variety of solutions is limited only by the author's imagination.
- Polyurethane foam ceiling skirting boards are another option for creating a classic frame that works well for decoration.
- Metal moldings and forging are organically combined with a mirrored surface. These materials are used by craftsmen who know how to work with metal blanks, forging and welding.
- Remains of any building materials - plasterboard, slats, ceramic tiles, chips, etc.
The main thing in manufacturing is an idea that should be well thought out and implemented, then the mirror composition will give aesthetic pleasure and complement the interior.
Decor is an equally important stage in the design of the frame and baguette. If the frame is made from a ceiling plinth, it should be supplemented with decorative elements or covered with paint, enamel, since the plinth itself is often white and impersonal. The same goes for plastic slats. It's different with wood: the material already has a structure, a beautiful pattern, a shade... It is enough to cover wooden moldings with protective paint or varnish, but you can always add accessories to the frame.
Requirements for framing mirrors for different rooms
When choosing materials for creating a frame and its decor, it is important to take into account the specifics of the room in which the mirror will be installed:
- For the bathroom, it is imperative to use materials that are resistant to corrosion. It can be wood treated with an antiseptic or galvanized metal, polyurethane will do.
- Near the heating radiators, in the kitchen, in the room opposite the window, they hang a baguette made of heat-resistant materials that are not subject to linear expansion (it is not recommended to use plastic).
- The frame opposite the window must be resistant to ultraviolet light, special compositions are used to cover the frames.
- Ease of maintenance is an important requirement for framing and decoration.
In addition to practical qualities, the frame should be combined with the surrounding space, in harmony with the interior and in accordance with the style of its decoration.
Manufacturing process
The most convenient material for making mirror frames is wood. Natural raw materials are suitable for almost any interior style: from classic to modern. For manufacturing, you can use different forms of wood:
- longitudinal cuts of trunks;
- cross cuts (circles);
- ready-made slats;
- wood materials (chipboard, OSB);
- thick and thin branches.
The tree does not need additional decoration, but if necessary, you can do anything with it: paint, tint, glue applications, etc.
Taking measurements
The first thing to do before starting work is to correctly measure the mirror sheet. To do this, measure the length and width of a quadrangular product, and a diameter of a round product.
When creating a rectangular frame-baguette, it is necessary to take into account that the mirror will partially go beyond the frame (1-2 cm) from the front side. When preparing rails, measurements should be taken along the inner shelf, if any.... When gluing the mirror to the base canvas, this allowance can be neglected and the actual dimensions can be transferred.
Master class: composition from slats
The easiest way to design a rectangular or square mirror is to make a frame from ready-made wooden or ceiling polyurethane slats. You can buy them at any building supermarket or baguette shop. The width of the blanks is determined by the artist's aesthetic preferences:
- It is necessary to cut out blanks from the slats to the size of the canvas. It is important to take into account the size of the inner shelf so that the mirror does not move in the large frame.
- Then you need to cut the slats at an angle of 45˚, clean the sections with sandpaper.
- Now on the table we fold the corner frame to the corner, to the outer ones we attach the metal corners.
- We take one piece at a time and coat the ends with wood glue.
- When all the blanks are missed, we again attach the metal corners and pull the structure with a rope to fix the position of all components. It is important to pull the rope as tight as possible so that the glue will take hold.
- After a while (see the instructions for the glue), remove the stretch. The frame is ready. It is necessary to strengthen its corners - we put the brackets with a stapler.
The video shows the process of assembling a frame from ready-made profiled battens.
Then you can decorate the front side: paint, paint the resulting frame, make an applique.
- To fix the mirror in the frame, cut 4 corners from plywood.
- We insert the mirror into the frame, attach the corners to the base. This is done with glue or a stapler. It is better to combine these methods.
- We attach a suspension loop to the frame.
Instead of a profiled rail, use a regular one. Then the profile can be made on carpentry tools, if available. If skill allows, glue joints are replaced with grooved ones... To do this, in the angular planes, it is necessary to make a spike and a groove, which are subsequently coated with glue and firmly connected to each other.
Another option is to connect the rails at an angle of 90 0, not 45 0.
We use a vertical cut of the trunk
Sometimes nature itself creates masterpieces that you just need to see. For example, an old driftwood or a rickety tree can have an interesting shape and become the basis for an artistic frame for a mirror:
- We take a trunk of any diameter (depending on preference).
- We make a longitudinal cut, set the thickness of the workpiece.
- We process the board with sandpaper, soak it with antiseptics.
- We connect the planks at a given angle.
- To fix the mirror, we attach plywood corners on the back of the frame.
- We mount the loop for hanging the structure.
Round and oval mirror framing
To design an oval or round mirror, you will need a plywood substrate for an oversized canvas. Making the basis for decorating:
- A mirror sheet is attached to the base with glue.
- On the reverse side, a loop is mounted for suspending the structure.
Oval mirror edging (no wood)
It is not easy to enclose an oval or round mirror in a frame, but it is easy to decorate with a border. For example, cable car:
- For glass, you need a base of the same shape, only of increased size.
- A rope or rope is taken with a length equal to the circumference of the fabric to be drawn.
- We attach the mirror to the base with thermal glue.
- We put the edging around in one or several rows, lubricating it with hot glue along the entire length.
- We hide the edge of the rope under decorative elements. You can do the usual cross-dressing with the same string.
The made base goes well with beads, marine theme accessories.
Frame made of branches
Branches can be found everywhere: in the park, forest, square on the way home or to work. Why not use them to decorate your mirror frame?
- The collected branches must be thoroughly cleaned of microflora: remove the damp and disturbed bark, treat with boiling water or an antiseptic, which makes the shade of the wood more saturated.
- It is necessary to prepare a cardboard base for glass.
- We press the processed branches to the base tightly to each other, having previously impregnated with hot glue.
- If necessary, paint the composition. It is convenient to do this with spray paints.
Most of the master classes are based on the use of a mirror support, to which all elements are attached - mirror cloth, decor, suspension loops. Otherwise, no difficulties - enough imagination, and the result will certainly delight you and your loved ones!
Mirrors are an essential element in any apartment. Whatever shapes and sizes they are, they all need a high-quality frame: a frame that matches the style. You can build it yourself without resorting to the services of a baguette workshop. Besides the fact that this will reduce material costs, such a frame can become a truly unique part of the decor.
Today, there are so many materials from which you can make a frame for a mirror that among them everyone can definitely find an option to their liking: from classic plaster and wood to more non-standard trifles like broken glass, shells, etc. The choice often depends on the style of the interior, where the mirror will be, and also what area needs to be processed.
For example, creating a frame of small plastic flowers on a 2 x 4 m mirror by hand is rather long and irrational. In addition, such a design will not look very impressive on a large object either. But this option is good for small mirrors (20 by 30 cm), located in a group. The width of the frame will also be selected depending on the parameters of the mirror: the smaller it is, the narrower the frame should be, otherwise the object will lose all its functionality. At the same time, even for large wall mirrors, it is not recommended to make frames with a width of more than 5-7 cm.
For small mirrors, cardboard frames are ideal, which are subsequently decorated with any small objects: beads, buttons, broken glass. It looks especially interesting if a mirror is of a square or round shape, measuring 10 by 10, and its frame has the same shape and width. Such mirrors are more of a decorative function, since they are too small for their full use, but they can become an excellent interior decoration. For this purpose, 3 sheets of thick cardboard are prepared (the color is chosen at will), whose height and width are 30 cm each. In addition, you need glue in a stick, a glue gun (for decoration) and decorative trifles themselves. It is also recommended to think over in advance the pattern that will be laid out on the surface of the frame.
The 1st sheet of cardboard is the "backdrop", it can be temporarily put aside, the 2nd - the front part of the future framing. It is required to cut out a "window" in the center, the dimensions of which will be 0.5 cm smaller than that of the mirror, so that it does not fall out. And the third sheet will become a kind of "spacer" between the previous ones: a "window" is also cut through it, but already completely in the size of the mirror. All sheets of cardboard are glued together, and they are given time to dry completely under the press - so that no deformation occurs.
As soon as the basic frame blank becomes completely dry, a drawing is outlined on its front side with a pencil, and hot glue is applied over it, in small drops from a glue gun. It is recommended to work consistently, in limited areas, immediately setting decorative elements on the glue. When the entire frame is framed, the product is carefully turned upside down to check if all the parts are fixed. If yes, then this completes the work on creating a frame for a small decorative mirror.
The original frame from the ceiling plinth
For large wall mirrors and baroque interiors, massive, thick frames with a complex pattern are ideal. They are mainly made of wood, but it is quite expensive, and the weight of such a frame is not small. At home, you can make an imitation of a ceiling plinth, which, after a few simple manipulations, will look no worse. But it should be noted right away that this technology works best with rectangular and square mirrors - for an oval one it is impossible to bend the plinth around the entire perimeter.
To start making such a frame, you will need to choose a ceiling plinth that suits you in terms of width and pattern, the length of which will be equal to the perimeter of the mirror without any additions. The decoration will use putty, acrylic white paint, furniture paint in brown and gold colors (or black and silver, depending on the color scheme of your room), as well as acrylic varnish, a sponge and auxiliary tools - scissors, a boot knife, a corner ruler, glue gun. If you want to make additional mounting on the mirror, you will need to purchase a sheet of plywood and special glue for mirror cloths, as well as thick twine.
The starting stage is working with the frame of the frame. The plinth is applied along the perimeter of the mirror and cut into 4 parts exactly according to its height and width. Then, from each end, you need to remove the parts that interfere with the correct addition of the parts: for this you need a corner ruler. Thanks to it, the plinth is cut diagonally, so that it looks like a strongly elongated trapezoid, in which the long base is the outer side, the short one is the inner one, directed towards the mirror. If everything is done correctly, all 4 parts will easily fit into a rectangle with no gaps. At the joints, the ceiling plinth is fixed with a glue gun. The frame is then removed from the mirror.
When the glue has cooled down, work continues with the skirting board. The putty must be diluted with water so that the resulting mixture resembles sour cream in its density, after which the frame is carefully covered from the outside and inside. For drying, it is recommended to keep the product in an upright position, it can be a little at an angle: it will take several hours, but until the putty is completely seized, you cannot move on.
Now comes the stage of the frame design. Brown acrylic paint thickens the entire skirting board, including its inner zones, and it is again given time to dry. If your interior is in cold colors, you can use black paint. Then, using a smaller brush, the frame should be covered with acrylic varnish, which should also dry well. Then comes the turn of golden paint, applied with a sponge - this will create the effect of flying around the gilding, which means it will add “age” to the “tree”. After a new stage of drying, you will also need to fix the result with varnish. Now all that remains is to sit the frame on the mirror and fix it as you wish.
Let's complicate the task: a frame made of wood
Making wooden frames for mirrors yourself is the most difficult thing, since working with wood requires a large number of special tools. In addition, for mirror sheets with a large area, it is important to create protection against possible damage, which also implies a special technology. Therefore, in the absence of the necessary skills, it is recommended to start experiments with frames for small mirrors - wall or desktop.
The easiest way, of course, is to use the same blank as in the case of the ceiling plinth - the door casing. For a large mirror, this is the perfect frame, which you just need to sand and cover with paint and varnish, carefully drying each layer. For smaller ones, you can purchase thin wooden profiles, which are available in any baguette workshop or hobby store. The dimensions are selected so that the resulting "window" inside is less than the perimeter of the mirror itself by at least 2 cm.
By analogy with a ceiling plinth, wooden profiles along the outer edges are cut at an angle of 45 degrees, so that later all 4 parts can be combined into a rectangle. The places of the cuts are sanded, after which they need to be connected and fixed. This is done either through corner clamps or a rubber band. For small mirrors that have almost no weight, a glue gun can be used. In the end, all that remains is to sandpaper the entire frame and arrange it according to your taste: varnish, paint, add painting or other decorative elements.