Maison Decor: Mirror

Showing posts with label Mirror. Show all posts

Saturday, June 9, 2018

How to make a French Trumeau Mirror

The ultimate in French mirrors, is the Trumeau mirror.

Trumeaus were made in France in the late 1800s, and were made to go on walls between windows.

A rectangular mirror with two sections, the lower with a mirror and the upper had a decorative carving or a decorative painted scene that was the focal point of the mirror.

I have long admired these mirrors, but authentic French Trumeaus are very pricey.

This large and gorgeous Louis VI period blue and gilt Trumeau was

sold on First Dibs at just under a very pricey $15,000.

So imagine my delight when my blogger friend, Jamie Lundstrum,

( So Much Better with Age blog), penned

a DIY book about all things Vintage French style.

And inside Jamie's book, was a how-to for making a French Trumeau mirror!

It is among 70 projects for adding Vintage French decor to your home.

It was time for a change in the dining room, I had even been contemplating wallpaper.

After taking everything off the walls, we headed to Home Depot to get supplies.

I followed along the instructions and got an MDF board along with

some trim pieces for the top and sides. I decided to use an existing mirror I already had that was

in an ornate carved frame. In the book, Jamie frames out a cut piece of mirror,

but I figured by using a framed mirror I already had, it would be less expensive and easier!

The point is you can do it either way and end up with the mirror of your dreams.

The top of the mirror can be made two ways, one with a crown molding like the one here and

the one in Jamie's book. But I enlisted my husband to do the cutting of the moldings

on his fancy saw. One can also use a plain piece of flat backed molding for the top,

as many of the original Trumeaus were made this way.

Note the lack of moldings on the bottom, and the simple molding on the top.

The focus is on the mirror and the decorative carving.

There are so many ways to design your

own mirror, and that is really the fun part!

The colors and styles are endless, which makes it perfect for personalizing your home.

You could add French wallpaper or fabric instead of a painted scene for your focal point.

After hubs and I cut the molding and laid it out on the 24" x 48" MDF board, he went to take a nap

and I got out all of my Annie Sloan paints. I was hoping for a grey, but there was none to be had.

So I decided to do a turquoise color and then soften it up with some aging techniques.

A pastoral scene would go in the top decorative part of my Trumeau. I wanted to add a bit

of lavender color to the sky scene so it would pull in my purple transfer ware dish collection.

Next, I painted most of the trim and the entire mirror using

Matthew Mead's Metallic Gold paint by Fusion.

The gold was making it look so French and amazing!

At this point I was getting very excited!

The molding was attached using a staple nail gun. The mirror was attached

using construction grade glue I applied with a caulking gun.

All of these instructions are outlined in Jamie's book.

While not making the exact same mirror Jamie made,

I created my own version using the bones of her instructions.

And I think that is the best thing about creating and decorating~

making it YOUR OWN!

I stood the mirror up against the wall ( before I glued on the bottom mirror)

and realized I should probably change the entire room! GAH!

Paint the walls and change the curtains!!

One little change can have that effect you know...

The next day while Reeve napped, I ripped apart my King sized duvet cover from

Ballard designs and turned it into four panels. On her next nap I painted the wall behind

the mirror and it seemed when she awoke she noticed the changes!!

Look at her cute face during lunch time staring at the mirror!! hahah!

She is my little unwitting decorating apprentice.

Without further adieu, I show you the completed mirror!

Layers of white, olive and pale green paint were dry brushed over the turquoise base color.

A vintage drapery part in the shape of a Fleur de lis was glued to the top area of the

mirror for an extra flourish. Personalizing my own Trumeau in this way,

with the little painted scene and the drapery part finished it off.

A pair of old iron candle sconces were embellished with some blue opaline

macaroni beads and some aquamarine Creative Candle tapers.

The mirror has added a beautiful focal point to the dining room,

with the French Vintage style I adore.

The pale green buffalo plaid curtains give it the Gustavian look I LOVE.

To celebrate I broke out my opaline goblets and found the most amazing bottle of wine

at the local liquor store. It looked just like blue opaline! If you are interested search for

Gemma di Luna Pinot Grigio. It is about $15, and just the bottle is worth that all day long!

The antique gilded ballroom chairs were put into service around the table after I

noticed how perfectly they complemented the gold in the mirror.

Someone may not be as excited as I am, but I have to say, this has been one of the most

fulfilling day projects I have done in a long time!!

Yes, it only took me one day!!

Well, maybe the second day I did fine tuned the paint color

by dry brushing on a bit more paint....

Get inspired to create when you turn the pages

of Jamie's French Vintage Decor book.

From Trumeau mirrors to lavender sachets,

there are simple to medium skill level projects included in this book.

Preorder your copy French Vintage Decor from Amazon here,

due out June 12, 2018! Happy decorating peeps!!

Our Florida trip: the tale of the Venetian Mirror and saving our dog and phone from the pool.

Getting through a New England winter is easier if you can escape to a warm and

sunny destination. So hubs and I planned ahead last fall, and scheduled a trip to Florida.

Since we travel with Colby, we always look for rental homes or hotels that accommodate

dogs. We weren't too picky about the area, just that it would be nice to be near the airport

at Fort Meyers, because my parents live in Naples, and we wanted to be able to see them on our trip.

Dave drove down with the dog and met me, my mother in law and our 15 year old son at the airport as we flew. He stayed in dog friendly hotels along the trip down the eastern seaboard.

A main requirement on our house list was that the rental needed to have a pool inside an enclosed lanai. Colby is very good about not going through screens. Dillon, our last dog, would barge right through them. I imagined that all of us would recreate around the pool and the dog would be able to have free reign, without being tethered. And that is exactly how it played out. We had a marvelous time in the lanai, and Colby loved looking across the lawn to the water way.

We picked up my mom and dad from their home in Naples and brought them back to our rental home in Coral Gables for an overnight visit. They are officially "snowbirds", as they leave the winters behind and head to Florida every year. In their 80s now, they haven't skipped a beat.

The enclosed pool got a lot of use. Colby swam with his flotation vest on a few occasions, although he was wary of getting into the pool because of his first frightening experience. The first night we arrived at the house, Colby walked out onto the pool cover, not realizing it was a body of water and he started to sink! The pool cover started to swallow him up. Luckily, hubs was able to grab ahold of him by the scruff of his neck and pull him out. Phew!

Right after that, I dropped my iPhone into the pool, and watched it sink to the bottom.

OMG

My 15 year old jumped into the pool to get it, then hubs turned it off and shook the heck out of it, water droplets spewing. Next, we put it in the oven (which I had preheated to 170 degrees for a few minutes) to dry it out. We googled advice of what to do, but we kind of came up with our own plan. And it worked!! After leaving it in the oven for a few hours, we put the phone inside a container full of oats (you could use rice but we didn't have any). The oats would absorb the moisture we figured. Then we didn't turn it on for 2 days. That is key to recovery. Let it dry out.

Happy to say that my iphone 6 completely recovered!

( The iPhone 7 is waterproof, but not earlier models.)

For the most part, our vacation was all about family time hanging around the house and the pool. However, the thought of those awesome consignment shops scattered about Florida kept lurking in my mind. We don't have these kind of shops up North. And when one rainy day came along, I asked hubs to take me out to look at a couple of shops for a treasure hunt. Not looking for anything in particular, but hoping I would find something that I couldn't resist. As I turned a corner in the shop, I spotted it. Oh boy, look at this old Venetian mirror!!! It was beautiful and old and had gold etching in a neoclassical motif. Tiny glass rosettes covered the screws. The mirror had mild foxing (the term for aging and wear on the mirror which makes it cloudy or blackish), which I happen to LOVE. Meanwhile, hubs was quickly roaming through the rooms of the shops, and I waited in front of the mirror to beckon him for a look.

Hahahh! I love this shot I took of him as he approached.

Look at his face!!! Hahahha!!

He was likely thinking, "you have to be kidding me! Another mirror?"

Oh Dave, look at this mirror. Its old, and its Venetian and I love it!! I told him the price was a steal and we had to get it. No, he told me it would most likely break on the ride home (he drove down with the dog, while our son and mother in law flew with me). Having a car meant I could bring it home!! But he was saying it might break. "But you are the expert packer of all things"..... he was trying to suggest I find anything else but a mirror. But I had my heart set on it. I asked the girl in the shop if the price was solid or discounted?
She looked it up in a book and then said the magic words:

"THAT MIRROR IS HALF OFF".
What??? "Honey, its half off, that is the second sign from the Universe
that it is meant to come home with us!!"

And so it came off the wall and out to the car! I loved the back of the mirror

almost as much as the front!! Squealing with joy inside, I was a very happy girl.

The first sign from the Universe about the mirror was this:

Just that morning I was looking at my phone and saw this amazing Venetian

mirror photo posted on Fifi O'Neill's instagram account. This set me to thinking about

how beautiful old Venetian mirrors are...and I had one reproduction mirror several years

back that I sold in my shop, Maison Decor. Other than seeing some for big money

at the Brimfield Fair, I had not run across any antique Venetians. How do you

explain this turn of events? I say it is the "law of attraction" or a "sign from the Universe".

This kind of thing happens to me a lot, where I think of something and then POW, it presents itself.

Does this ever happen to you?

Anyway it does to me and now hubs is driving home as we speak

with Colby and the Venetian Mirror.

Our beautiful home on the Cape Coral waterway,

with the heated enclosed pool is now a fond memory in our family scrapbook.

And where will the new mirror go?

The dining room is where I imagined it to hang, but until it arrives I

can't be sure. What I am sure of, is that it is going to look great where ever

it ends up. And that every time I look at this old mirror, I will see a memorable

family vacation, with an incredible husband, son and parents.

Oh, and before I go, I saw this yesterday at Lowes. My home on the cover!!

If you read my blog, you know I had a photo shoot with Fifi O'Neill and she chose

my home to be the covershot for Romantic Country. Well it is still on news stands but

not for long. I was amazed to see it at the Lowes Home Improvement magazine section.

Just a heads up in case you might want to grab a copy before its too late.

My Cottage Kitchen

Welcome to my cottage kitchen, I am excited to show you around!

Its a very tiny space and so "Cottage Style" works best.
I love French style, and so let's say its French Cottage Style!

I am joining some French Country bloggers in a one room home tour,
which is such great fun. Check the links at the end of the post!
My kitchen is the room I rarely share, and so
I hope you enjoy getting a peek at it today.

It is in the center at the back of our home and is connected by three

hallways which makes it a busy place.

From our front door you can see our kitchen at the end of the hall

where I recently hung up some vintage botanical prints.

The butcher block island by John Boos company is the workhorse of the kitchen,

and its where we do most of our meal prep and also where I like to display things,

like fruit and vegetables in pretty dishes, like this purple transferware.

Part of my transfer ware collection is in an open cabinet space above the kitchen stove.

Various collections are found in our kitchen, like these vintage fruit

and vegetable molds that I bought at the Brimfield Antique Fair last year.

By the way, I will be a vendor at the Brimfield Fair this year with my son,

Justin Power, and I hope you come see us at the New England Motel Field #40

if you plan to be headed there this May10-15, 2016!

You can find all kinds of awesome things to decorate your own home with,

like I have done over the years. Although our home is newer, I switched out

our sink for an old drain board style porcelain sink, and I think it is one of

my favorite improvements that Mr. Maison Decor and I ever did.

Our countertops are the Formica FX brand that looks like marble, but isn't,

although I wish they were....

And lastly, my kitchen cabinets are maple, and I painted them 5 years ago

with Annie Sloan's Old White Chalk Paint and then I clear waxed them

and they have held up very well indeed.

Our dining room is on one side of the kitchen, and that doorway you see

leads to our basement where we have an apartment that our various kids

have lived in over the years. There is one unpainted section of wall next

to the door that has all of our son's heights and names with dates.

I cannot paint over it...its too meaningful of course, and its fun to see how

much our youngest in particular is growing these days!

Then to the right you can see the front hallway again and the room to the right

of the photo is our family room, which is really "man town". A room filled

with leather couches, a giant tv, burlap curtains, a dog kennel and

lots and lots of cowboy hats hanging on the walls.

Its a hop and maybe a skip, but not a jump to come into the kitchen

to cook popcorn on family movie nights!

Our newest addition to the kitchen area is this fantastic farmhouse style mirror.

I am in love! Its called the Reproduction Louisville Mirror
and I got it from AntiqueFarmhouse.com.
They have home decor accessories
with so many things for your pretty cottage or rustic farmhouse look.

I have a thing for mirrors and use them for wall art, more than any other kind of item.

Big statement mirrors are so versatile, and while I first thought I would put it in the dining room

I decided it looked perfect with my white kitchen cabinets and its rustic distressed finish.
Statement pieces are usually large items that denote a decided style to a space.

I can see putting seasonal wreaths on the mirror during holidays,

or just tiny accents, like this cute burlap and moss bird.

See how our kitchen is tucked into the connecting hallways?

You can see into the dining room from here, where we just added our French doors.

And my fun new addition, the old French day bed that is waiting to

be put out into the courtyard....but that is for another day!

I hope you enjoyed this tour of our tiny but charm filled kitchen.
When you don't have grand rooms, makeup for it with charming
and personality filled accessories. That's what I do!

To visit the Antique Farmhouse online shop, click here.

It was so much fun to join with my design blogger friends for this

French Country Blogger's House Tour.
I am off to see what rooms they are highlighting today,

and you can visit them as well by clicking on the links below.