Updated Wall Decor for Less Than $15!

Yes, please!

 I've been working on simplifying the color palettes in the rooms in our house, and I found myself staring at this wall in our kitchen with an old brassy mirror and black sconces.  I wanted to give it a clean, updated look, but I didn't necessarily want to spend the money on new decor.  The answer? A lil paint!

 First, I placed the mirror onto some butcher paper on the floor of my garage.  Using painter's tape, I carefully taped off the edges of the mirror.  Next, I cut open some old plastic grocery bags and taped them down to cover and protect the surface of the mirror.  Finally, I wiped down the frame itself to make sure it was free of dust and dirt.

I used this spray primer to apply a very light base coat to make sure that the paint had something to stick to.  I let it dry for about an hour before applying the final layers of paint.

Once the primer was dry, I started applying the paint!  I used this satin finish white spray paint.  I chose satin instead of gloss because I wanted a mostly matte surface to give the frame a vintage-y look.

I did two full coats of white on the frame and let it dry for 2 hours before moving on to the last steps!

The candle holders only needed one coat, but there were a lot of tricky little nooks and crannies, so I did have go to back and fill in the places I missed.

I knew I didn't want the finished frame to be stark white, but I also didn't want it to be too beige.  I thought about doing an antique or distressed finish, but that wasn't quite what I was going for either.  In the end, I ended up buying this small bottle of beige acrylic paint.

Next, I used a new, clean kitchen sponge and squeezed out a small amount of the beige acrylic paint.

Then I smooshed the sponge together so that most of the excess would be spread out across the surface.

I blotted the beige paint onto the frame and then, using the clean section of the sponge, immediately wiped it off and spread it around, leaving just a thin, uneven hint of the top color.

And here's the result.  I really like how this turned out.  I love the stronger contrast against our dark red walls, and it gave the old decor a more updated look for less than $15 in materials!

  Here's the difference in the candles!  They pop out so much more against the wall color now!

The final before and after.  Big difference!