Oscar Lara

· DIY

Restoring an old mirror

Since purchasing a home last September, I've been able to work on DIY projects. It has always been something that I've wanted to do, and now I have the space and time to do so.

My first project was restoring an old mirror that my in-laws gave to us. They found it on the side of the road, and besides it being scuffed up, the mirror was perfectly fine. So I took a sander and some stain and freshened it up.

Before:

RestoreMirror-start
RestoreMirror-Rough

During:


RestoreMirror-Tape
RestoreMirror-Sander
RestoreMirror-Sand5050
RestoreMirror-SandEdge
RestoreMirror-Sand
RestoreMirror-StainPrep
RestoreMirror_stainSecondCoat
RestoreMirror-taped_afterStain

Completed


RestoreMirror-Final

We love it! If you're looking to do this for any wood piece, here is what you'll need:

  • Sandpaper

  • Sanding block and/or Sander

  • Tape

  • Old Rag

  • Wood Stain


You want to make sure that you tape up anything you want to protect because this stain will get everywhere. When sanding try to go in the same direction of the grain of the wood. Although I had a sander, you do not need to go out and buy one. For this mirror project, I could have done it with just sand paper and a sanding block or block of wood.

This is a great project to do for beginners, and it got me started on my wood working journey.