HOW TO CREATE A GOLD MIRROR GALLERY WALL FOCAL POINT

As much as I love to make seasonal decor changes in our home, sometimes I'll find that one change I like so much, I keep it. One such change I made here in our living room is the focal point behind the sofa. Last year, I had changed the images from NYC images, to coastal images in Summer, to horse images for Fall. But for winter and holiday, I was looking for a more simple approach and decided to create a gallery wall of collected mirrors. Most of the mirrors I already had (from HomeGoods & JCP), but I needed a few to bridge in some gaps and fill the wall. Thrifting for those last few mirrors at GoodwillAZ and Savers thrift helped to fill the gaps while staying on a small budget, but I was really wanting all the frames to be the same: gold. Although some mirror frames were already gold (and I left them that way), the ones that were black or silver I painted antique gold. This one small change made a huge difference and I haven't had to change the wall since...

 

Love the look of the gold mirrors on the dark grey wall.

Here is how I made my mirror gallery wall....

 

I started with a vision and a plan...

 

I used the garage floor first to layout the mirrors - like a puzzle...

 

I double checked the width to ensure it would fit in between the windows and above the sofa plus table...

 

A 'quick' spray of antique gold in the back yard...

 

A quick clean up with mineral spirits and a razor...

(Sometimes pre-cutting paper and taping takes too long and some paint comes through anyways) After soaking the mirror with mineral spirits, I was able to scrape the excess paint off with the razor - and not scratch the mirror + come close to the edge for a crisp clean finish.

 

Good as gold!:)

 

Ready to bring inside to hang...

 

Supplies all pull together on my work tray (old cookie sheet)

Chalk (because my walls are dark), level, tape, nails -- and yes: nail hole filler and paint to repair prior holes (remember: I'm renting)... 

 

Space cleared and I used some foamcore boards to re-layout the composition I had done in the garage...

 

Started from the top and across... then worked my way down the wall...

 

I really like the mix of gold shades vs being all one...

It was nice with the B&W images of NYC for a while, especially since we had just moved to AZ from the east coast. But as in Florida, I've since relocated the NYC to the home office (another time when something just worked and felt right.) Here is a look at the subtle changes, mostly coming from switching pillows on the sofa, but all working with the gallery wall focal point -- especially the mirrors...

 

Spring 2012 

 Mirrors mixed with images..

 

Summer 2012

 

Autumn 2012 

 Holiday Home 2012 plus see more photos at

Holiday Home Tour 2012

Spring 2013 

Bold B&W prints with Tribal Maze and Houndstooth...

Autumn 2013

Yes - in Florida I did more with color, but here in AZ, it just feels right mixing plaids (windowpane, glen plaid, and houndstooth) - especially in Fall paired with leopard...

 

Autumn 2013 

I'll probably go back to greens and whites for holiday this year, maybe with a few touches of red, but I really liked the green and white last year. Since it does get really cold here in the winter, many leaves die off tress and everything gets REALLY brown and overcast. Funny how three of these mirrors started off gold (back in the 90s) and I painted the silver (remember "JOY" for the Christmas bedroom I did?) and now they are back to gold. 

Everything old is new again - except me - I'm just getting older!! lol

Thanks for stopping by...