The reason we undertook this project is the same reason we do most projects. We wanted something specific for our house and in the end couldn't find it anywhere. We wanted a large, at least 36" x 60", vintage leaning floor mirror. We wanted the wood to be worn with time, have a few gouges, a few stressed areas, and just overall have an early 20th century character.
So, we started our search and it was not as easy as it sounds. When we did found something close to what we wanted it was astronomically priced or no longer available. For instance, I found one I really like but it was $8,900.00. So, that was a non-option.
After our search continuously come up empty we decided to look at reproductions at various home decor stores. When it comes to these reproductions leaning floor mirrors I will just tell you I was far less than impressed. They were just too shinny and appeared to be made by some giant mirror cookie-cutter machine. So, purchasing a reproduction became a non-option and I began planning how to build my own mirror.
So, I began googling how to build mirrors and how to artificially age wood. I watched countless video, read many blogs , including Young House Love which was very helpful, and added them all together to make this process. I have done the leg work so you don't have to. My timeline moved up quickly when I was lucky enough to find a large flat plan mirror someone was throwing out.
The first step was to cut down the wood to the size I needed. This is where I encountered my first problem. It should have been a clue when I encountered a problem so early. My problem was my miter box will only hold 4" wide lumber and I had 6" wide lumber. So, I got out my jig saw and tried my best to cut at an angle. It is far less accurate, but I had to work with what I had. (In hindsight I would not join the corners at an angle. Instead I would just bunt them together perpendicularly. I have seen a few done this way and think they look ok.) I cut the lumber at a 45º angle. Make sure when you measure the size of your mirror (the actual glass piece) that is going to be the inside measurement for your lumber. So, if your glass piece is 24" you measure 24" and then cut your miter out from there. I used the angle ruler to measure out my 45º angles.
After I cut the wood the length I needed it was time to give it some character. I did this in a couple of ways. First, I took my sander and removed all the square edges on all the lumber and on random spots I touched the sander to the face of the wood to just give it a different texture.
The sanding got rid off the straight edge corners, but I still needed to give the face some more character. I got some great tips from Young House Love on how to give wood some character from a post they wrote about building a entertainment center. I banged (that's a technical term) a bag of screws against the front to make tiny notches. Then I took a hammer to make larger dents on the surface.
The next step for giving the wood some character was to put some fake looking nail holes around the corners. I did this with a nail punch and a hammer. I put three triangularly placed "nail" holes on both ends of each board.
I also wanted the wood to look like it had been bumped up against by some hard edge and I thought the easiest. Give it the loo that it had been lived with over time. This was another trick I learned from Young House Love. I had a small piece of lumber that I placed the edge of on the mirror wood. Once I had the edge placed on the lumber I hammered the top of the small pice of lumber I had. It left a small linear dent. I did this a few random times around the mirror.
Next I used the corner brackets on the back of the mirror to connect the lumber together. This was going to be the only joining plates I used but I didn't think it was quite enough once I got it together. So, I used straight minding plates on the front. These were galvanized mending plates 1" wide and 6" long. I put them diagonal on the 45º corners. In the end it added a very cool look to the mirror and gave it a look like it had actually lived over time. I actually added this after I stained the front.
I took a new approach to staining than I have before with other projects. Instead of just brushing on the stain and letting it dry I wanted something that would look a little more worn. I put the stain on with a brush, but then quickly took it off with a clean lint free shop rag. I made the staining take longer but it gave the look that the stain had been applied over time. It also helped the stain set into the crevices, notches, and rough spots I put into the wood.
Once the stain was dry ( I waited two days) I turned the frame over and laid the mirror on it. I then placed the mirror clips around the edges. I put 3 on each side and an extra 2 two on the bottom.
