Nursery Progress: Let’s Reflect For A Bit
We’re back to share how we painted our $39 Marshall’s mirror so it’s a bit less upscale-formal (in black) and a smidge more playful and nursery-ready (thanks to a few coats of deep asparagus green paint).
It was a super straightforward process, although I’m not gonna lie- all those curvy openings definitely took me a bit longer to work around than a basic mirror frame would have. But it was totally worth it in the end. As in, I’d do it again ten times without a second thought. We just love it!
We were inspired by the deeper green tones in the leaves from our curtain fabric so the color that we decided on for the mirror was a nice deep-ish green tone called Behr’s Scotland Isle (we got it color matched to an inexpensive quart of Olympic’s No-VOC Premium Paint in a semi-gloss finish). We passed on using any primer since our mirror was already painted (not stained) so we didn’t worry about anything bleeding through (and we wanted to avoid the primer fumes if at all possible). But we did rough it up with a bit of high-grit (350) sandpaper before picking up a paint brush. Note: if you’re not prego and not making over a mirror for a nursery, you could easily use a spray primer like Kilz followed by a few thin and even coats of spray paint in your color of choice for a perfectly polished finished product- just be sure to spray in a well ventilated area because those fumes aren’t great for anyone- pregnant or not.
So as I mentioned, I passed on the spray paint approach and resolved to do the work with a small craft brush instead. I left my usual 2″ angled paint brush in our tool drawer and reached for a tiny less-than-one-inch brush from Michael’s from my craft drawer instead- just to get into all those nooks and crannies. Two coats, and about two hours later, I was looking at a gorgeously green mirror that appeared as if it had always been that color. Not an ounce of black paint bled through the paint or peered around the cut outs thanks to my tiny brush. Oh and I painted the mirror on a flat piece of cardboard to catch any drips and make it easy to spin around so I could access it from all sides (which was crucial to ensure that I didn’t miss any of the many edges that needed green paint to cover the black).
Then I sat back and let everything fully dry (I didn’t even attempt to hang it for 24 hours, just to be sure it was fully cured) and used a simple straight edged razor to scrape the small amount of paint that had dripped from the frame onto the round face of the mirror in the middle. Then we used two heavy duty anchors to securely fasten it to the wall in the nursery. We intentionally hung it across from the only window in the modestly-sized room to reflect lots of light and make the space feel more open and airy.
We love how the color works with the tones in our curtains. And of course we adore all the fun little shapes that it makes on the wall (that we’re sure the beanette will love to stare at). We especially enjoy the four little hearts around the mirror’s perimeter that we never even noticed back before we painted it green.
See how smooth our paint job came out just from applying two thin and even coats of latex paint with a small craft brush? Painting a frame or a mirror is really one of the most simple and rewarding projects that you can take on (how about painting a bunch of them in a bold punchy color and hanging them in a grid above your sofa?). Easy peasy. Especially if they’re less ornate than this guy.
So there you have our latest little nursery project that we completed with just one cheap-o brush and a quart of colorful semi-gloss paint. Oh and we should mention that we do realize that when the beanette gets bigger and eventually can stand up in her crib (even though we’ll be lowering the mattress at that point) hanging the mirror even more securely on the wall will be in her best interest. At that time we plan to screw right through the frame and into the wall (we can countersink, putty and paint the heads of the screws to hide ‘em) so the mirror can’t even be yanked off the wall by a hulking adult. Stay tuned for all those little childproofing adventures that we’ll take on as Baby P grows and becomes more mobile towards the end of 2010…
And before we forget, did you notice that we snagged an awesome aqua colored 100% organic crib sheet? We actually ordered two of them (we’ve heard that it’s easier to always have a spare on hand) and also grabbed two 100% organic changing pad covers in the same color. We love the pop of happy hue that it adds without being too busy (we considered some patterned options but realized that with the scrolly mirror and the printed curtains it might be a bit too much).
Best of all? After sleuthing out about twenty organic crib sheet and changing pad cover options, these were the cheapest and the color happened to be perfect- plus they even offered free shipping so we couldn’t have been happier. Not bad for $18 and $15 a pop respectively. Of course we did that thing where you cross your fingers that the color n the monitor is close to the real color, but as soon as they arrived we breathed a sigh of relief. Now we just have to pick up about a million other things (waterproof mattress cover, changing pad, dresser, side table, lamp, art, cloth diapers, toy baskets, etc). Not to worry, we’ll get ‘er done.
Psst- Wanna see our nursery progress from the very beginning? Here’s our painting post, our big shopping spree, our crib hunting rundown, our curtain-making tutorial, and our fun little chair search.
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Comments
I know you’ve gotten tons of comments on the cloth diapers thing, but I just wanted to give another shout-out to gDiapers. We use them for our 8-mo-old and LOVE them. We also use a Bum Genius/Happy Heinies hybrid (loveydoodle.etsy.com) that is a pocket diaper, but can be used as an all-in-two (similar to g’s). We use cloth soakers in our g’s, but I usually have a couple spare disposable flushies on hand just in case we are going somewhere that it would be inconvenient to carry around 86 billion yucky soakers all day. The flushies are compostable and degradable, which is really nice.
For a while we were needing to use a disposable at night because my daughter would leak through the layers and layers of cloth I would put her in. For the sposies I found Nature Babycare (naty.com) and really preferred them. They are soft, degradable, and compostable. Even the packaging is made from chalk, so it is plastic-free and degradable also. Bonus: they don’t have annoying cartoon characters on them!
I also second the cloth wipes business – LOVE my cloth wipes. Don’t forget you will also need wet bags and a washable pail liner (we use a Diaper Dekor pail which is easy to fit a washable liner). I use the wet bags and liners from hannahstoybox.etsy.com. And finally… I predict a diaper sprayer tutorial in the future! http://misseireann.blogspot.com/2009/11/diaper-sprayer-tutorial.html :)
I’m sure that you guys will come up with a system that works best for you, but I thought I would mention sheet savers, two in particular to check out:
The Ultimate Crib Sheet: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&sku=118730
The Quick Zip: http://www.cloudsandstars.com/
Also, I thought I would share a few sites offering DIY wall decor:
http://www.wallnutz.com/
http://www.whatisblik.com/
http://www.wall-pops.com/
As for cloth diapers, there are a couple of sites online that offer test packs, so you can sample a variety of brands at one time before making a large investment of one kind. In general, I’ve heard great things about Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz. Isn’t it great that there are so many cloth diapering options nowadays? Good luck!
Went to Home Goods, 2 hours away, and found the same mirror already painted the same color of green but with distressing on it. Love it!
I’ve read your blog off and on for some time, but haven’t been moved to comment until now. The thing I love about this blog is that many of the ideas are inspiring even to those who don’t necessarily share your exact decorating style. My own taste runs a bit quirkier than yours, but even so, I often find things I love here. This mirror is a perfect example: simple and brilliant, yet really different. I’m now thinking of doing something similar for my own baby girl’s room. I’ve done lots of research on nursery decor/blogs and this room really stands out, both for all the DIYs and the lovely colors. What a lucky little girl! Thanks for sharing.
Just bought a mirror from home goods with the intent on painting it just like you guys did. I was just about to dive in and thought: WAIT! do i have to sand this puppy? Let me check YHL to be sure! Thanks so much for posting all your DIY projects with step-by-step instructions. Off to go sand my mirror now! :)
What about using a spray paint? Just curious, and it seems with all the angles it may be easier. I am thinking of spray painting a mirror frame with a silver color any special tips? Thanks for your blog it is a life saver for my husband and I as new home owners =)
Oh yeah- just like we mentioned in the post, spray paint would work wonderfully (we just wanted to avoid VOCs since the mirror will hang in our nursery). Just sand things a bit (or use a spray primer like Kilz) and then apply a few thin and even coats of spray paint in the color of your choice. Should work like a charm. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hi Sherry,
I was just wondering where you guys ended up getting your mattress pad cover, and changing pad. I’m having trouble finding reasonable organic options in these categories :) Thanks!!! The nursery looks wonderful!
-Marcie
Hey Marcie,
Buy Buy Baby has been the best! It’s the main place we registered since it’s a lot more eco friendly than most chains (like Babies R Us) and they even accept those 20% coupons from Bed Bath & Beyond (they’re owned by the same company) so that’s always nice. Here’s a link to the organic changing pad (which admittedly is still a bit steep- but great if you can register for it and some people can go in on it together) and here’s our organic waterproof mattress cover. Oh and we ordered a few organic fitted sheets and changing pad covers from diapers.com since we wanted something bright and fun (which is surprisingly hard to find while sticking to organic options). And the prices are awesome. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hey Sherry,
Do you have any ideas on creating my own ‘pop-art? I have a picture of our cat, that I thought it would be fun to put in my daughter’s room.
Angie
Hey Angie,
Check out our How To page (see that tab under our blog header?) and scroll down to the Artsy Ideas category for lots of DIY ideas. There’s a pop art pear painting that we whipped up that comes to mind. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
P.P.S.
We actually DID just have a freak earthquake a very short distance away from the center of it- up in the Midwest. We felt the shake- it woke us up with the noise of rattling around- but nothing tipped over or came off the walls. And we had some artwork dangling on tiny nails. I’m sure when you babyproof with anchors, that mirror will be just fine (as you already know :)