When we visited Deric's brother and sister-in-law for Labor Day, they asked if we could use an old builder-grade mirror they had sitting in their garage. I said yes, although at the time I wasn't quite sure what we could do with it. But I'd seen plenty of blogs where people used crown molding to frame mirrors (like here and here) so I figured we could give it a try. The mirror sat in our garage until I got Deric on board with the idea, and then until we had a free evening to work on it.
We bought 2" crown molding at Lowe's, mirror adhesive, and wood filler. To cut the molding at an angle, we went to a friend's house and asked him to cut it with his saw. (I don't know what type of saw, but it was fancy.)
At home, Chad and Deric decided to put the frame together before they attached it to the mirror. I left them to their measurements and plans ('cause I'm no good at math) and cooked dinner so they'd have the energy to keep working on my project.
They glued the frame together at each corner and used wood filler to fill in the cracks. We let the mirror sit for a day or two to let the glue adhere completely, then Deric and I attached it to the frame with the mirror adhesive, which bonded in just a few minutes. But we left it for another day before we set it on the mantle, and that's when we realized we hadn't thought this through entirely.
Problem #1: The fan is reflected in the mirror. And at night, the light is pretty blinding. Mirrors are usually used to bounce (natural) light around the room and make it appear bigger, but I'm not sure this mirror does that.
Problem #2: I think the mirror may be too big for above the mantle. Maybe not-- it could be that the small objects on either side make it look even bigger. I'd rather the mirror be too big than too small, however, so I'll make it work.
Those two problems aside, I'm glad we framed the mirror. It turned out really well and the knowledge of how to do it will probably come in handy in the future. I should probably learn the name of the saw we used, though. That'll probably come in handy, too.
grt
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