Mirrored Chest of Drawers

From Drab to Fab Make a mirrored chest of drawers by taking a plain and drab chest and giving it a French touch using a distressed paint technique and some mirrors. This project is fairly easy but you will need to get your local glassworks to drill holes in the pieces for the drawers.

You will need

To make

1 Sand the chest lightly with coarse sandpaper. Use a clean, dry paintbrush to wipe off the dust.

2 Rub a candle (press quite hard) on all the corners and edges and, every now and then, on the chest itself.

3 Paint the whole chest and the drawers with two to three coats of white paint. Leave each coat to dry completely before applying the next coat.

4 Once the last coat is completely dry, you can start removing the paint that was applied over the candle wax using a small blade or sandpaper, or a combination of the two.

TIP

For a softer look, start scraping the paint off while it is still slightly damp. If necessary use sandpaper to soften the edges where the paint has been scraped off.

5 Measure the front section of the drawers, as well as the top and sides of the chest and get pieces of 3mm mirror cut to fit exactly. Get holes drilled into the mirror pieces for the drawer knobs.

6 Squeeze glue in a zigzag pattern on the back of all the mirror pieces and paste them in place. Work with one mirror piece at a time and turn the chest and its drawers on its side each time so that the mirror can lie on top while the glue dries.

7 Screw in the crystal knobs once all the mirror pieces are pasted in place and the glue is dry.

GOOD IDEA
Wrap masking tape around the screw-in section of the knob that has to go through the mirror. This will prevent the metal from pressing directly on the mirror and possibly causing it to crack as a result of pressure and friction.

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