Mirrors tend to be an issue in our household and our upstairs guest/Colin’s nautical bathroom are no exception to the rule. Before its recent remodel, this bathroom had a tired builder grade unframed mirror that was covered in black spots and not salvageable. After a failed attempt to replace it with another unframed mirror we found on craigslist, we ended up purchasing two frame-less mirrors from Lowes. We had company coming to town and we were down to the wire to get some sort of mirrors up before their arrival.
While we have been quite pleased with the overall renovation, particularly our DIY open shelf vanity, we knew the time would come that these mirrors got a little TLC. I drew upon this mirror for all my inspiration.
Apparently, Nate Berkus at one time had a wonderful tutorial available for making a similar mirror, but the link was no longer active, so I relied on a little help from from this guide from 80 Miles to Brewster. I was quite nervous after reading their turtorial that I was taking on more than I could chew, but it wasn’t TOO bad, and I’m ecstatic with the results
Supplies:
Rope (I chose Manilla for its color, but Sisal is “prettier” and more often used
Mirror: Any size or shape will work
Jute Rope
Gorilla Wood Glue
Tape that is easy to rip such as duct or painters tape
First thing I did was remove the mirror and laid it over an old sheet on the table. Then I took out my rope and attempted to measure my pieces.
I wasn’t having a lot of luck getting the lengths right, so I just glued the rope on and cut my ends as needed. I chose to start from the middle point about 1/2 in from the mirror. While gluing down my very first section I started to question if this project was going to be too difficult as the rope did not want to stay in place. I found using small sections of painters tape (which I ran out of and ended up using duct) worked well to keep the rope in place and I starting used heavy objects like cutting boards and pots and pans to keep to apply pressure.
I kept the bottom section free from glue so I could later wrap the ends with my jute rope.
Once I made it around the mirror, I was able to go and better work the starting pieces in place. The Gorilla Wood Glue was SO easy to work with in that it would stick within a matter of 15 minuts or so, but not be so stuck that I was able to wiggle it a little for correcting lines. I worked around the rope over and over in a circle lining up the rope as I wanted it and placing my heavy pieces on it to keep it in place until it was just the way I wanted it.
The first strand was for sure the hardest, the second was much easier.
For the 3rd strand I attached it to the perimeter of the actual mirror so none of the edges would be exposed.
Once everything was glued down, I gathered the edges and wrapped them in duct tape and wrapped them with jute rope.
Then I took a knife and scraped off any excess glue. I was nervous about having a lot of exposed glue under the rope, but the gorilla glue dried surprisingly clear and its not the slightest bit noticeable. I took this shot of the mirror hung with the flash-on so it would pick up any imperfections. As you can see the reflection of the rope in the mirror is quite clean.
Then it was time to hang it using the same old clips I had used before. I just pulled the rope away from the necessary sections and re-glued it once the mirror was screwed back on the wall. The rope frame covered the clips beautifully.
I finished off some of the exposed mirror corners with small pieces that I just tucked under behind the frame.
The most difficult part of the project was that as soon as I was finished…
I realized I had to do it again…..
Have you worked in any rope into your decor? Did you find it easy or tough to work with?I’d love to hear all about it.
Giveaway update:
Congratulations Deb G on your free pillow cover from Soeur à la Soeur. Thank you for all who entered and please be sure to check back for future giveaways.
(the winner was chosen using Random.org)
I liked the Two Sisters pillow covers on Face Book. They have such wonderful pillow covers. Very unique.
Thanks Ann Leigh for entering the giveaway and for become a fan on facebook. Deb was our lucky winner this time around, but please continue to check back for future giveaways! Have a terrific weekend!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! You are a girl after my own heart. You and I share an affinity for all things nautical. That said, I think the scale of your mirror could use maybe another row of rope and an over-sized nautical knot at the top. Just my initial reaction, but you can certainly ignore my suggestion, as you are a woman with a vision and a great decorating eye.
Thanks Christine. I thought about adding another row of rope, but I wanted to keep as much of the mirror “mirror” as possible. I feel like a lot of times, projects look better in pics than they do in person, but in this case, the mirrors actually look better in person than they do in photographs. I see what you mean in the photos as I thought the same thing when I saw them, but in person, they really fit the space perfect. As always thanks for your comments, hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Christina,
What a clever improvement. The mirrors really look nice. Your DIY talents and ideas never cease to impress me.
Karen
Thanks Karen! I love them. It really gives the room that little something it needed. I feel like while they are nautical, they can really be done in any casual bathroom.
Christina,
Your creative ideas continue to amaze me. Love it all. Mom
Thanks Mom! I appreciate the compliments! I get a lot of my nautical inspiration from my conch-mom.
Luuurve it! I love working with rope, too. The thought, I should wrap that in rope! curses through my mind quite frequently.
I, too, am a lover of all things nautical…but we’ve established this before. And I’m always on the lookout for big, chunky rope…can you get it at home depot / lowe’s? I also delighted to see that you use Gorilla Glue. Mark swears by that stuff.
The finished look turned out loverly. I’d never want to stop looking in the mirror! Ha!
Me too! I got this particular rope from Lowes, I believe its 3/8 inch, 50 feet for $9. They do sell much thicker rope,its beautiful and super chunky, but its sold by the foot and I believe was 42 cents a foot..which for this project I didn’t want to spend so much. Having worked with the thicker rope (on Colin’s name sign) it doesn’t bend well (would have been hard for this project around the corners) and its VERY heavy. But I certainly prefer the look of the chunky stuff for smaller projects.
Wow! I can’t believe you made this awesome mirrors if I didn’t see the step-by-step!!!! You are truly talented dear. Thanks for stopping by my site too, Will be following you back.
Thanks Vel! They were a little tedious to make but once I got the first strip done, it became easier and easier. Your blog is wonderful, I am so happy to have found it!