My Cheapo Mirror Gets Gilded

My posts this week have been dedicated to projects accomplished during Mom's visit last week--all of which enhanced my guest bedroom. Today's project didn't happen while Mom was around, but if you ask me it does improve the guest room quite a bit!

I picked up the old rounded mirror (below) from the local Habitat for Humanity Restore for $2 sometime during 2011 for the desk in my guest bedroom. The shape and the worn silvering of the mirror really spoke to me. That kind of age you just can't find on a new piece.

I lived with the matching tone-on-tone mirror and desk combination for a year, but decided last week that it was time for a change. A gold change, that is.
Inspiration came from this vignette from Lonny that we've all gushed about:

(via Lonny)
That means I got to gold leafing, again. I never thought I'd use this medium again after the long (but successful!) gold leafing process on my living room barcart. Well, never say never, my friends. My second experience with gold leafing was significantly easier than my first go-round and the whole process took about two hours from start to finish.

The thick coat of sealer that I applied dried within an hour and the mirror soon returned to my guest bedroom, though this time it was practically royal in all its gilded glory.

I can't believe I waited as long as I did to revamp this piece, but I'm so glad that I finally did.

The mirror is so versatile that I can see it greeting guests on an entry table or in many other spots.
Something that cost $2 never looked better!