How to Paint a Mirror

Paint is magic in a can, and you won’t believe how it can transform simple objects, like a mirror. Today I’m sharing how to paint a mirror.

I’m in the midst of making over our front hall. You may remember I shared my inspiration here.

In that post I mentioned that I might paint the mirror. That mirror used to hang in the entryway of our family restaurant so it has special meaning but the paint isn’t original. It had a painted brass color before and I painted it when we lived in our old house. This is how the mirror looked last week:

Oh, I’m planning on selling the pendant light as we’re replacing it with something else. If you’re local and you’re interested let me know.

I decided to paint the mirror BLACK.

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I usually share more advanced painting tutorials on the blog, but if you’re a beginner or want to just change up the look of a room, a mirror is a great thing to paint!

For this project I decided to use Annie Sloan’s brand new black called Athenian Black from my friend Nancy at The Sea Rose Cottage. This paint is jet black in comparison to her Graphite which is a soft black. You can see my comparison of Annie Sloan’s Neutrals here.

It is reminiscent of the black silhouettes on Ancient Greek ceramics. I have plans to paint something else with this but just couldn’t wait to paint in this color.

How to Paint a Mirror

Step 1 – Clean your surface. I cleaned the mirror and wiped down the wood frame.

Step 2 – Stir can of paint thoroughly. I often, tip the can upside down for a half hour before painting to help mix the paint.

Step 3 – Tape mirror to prevent paint from getting on it. You want to make sure the tape is pressed down.

Step 4 – Using a Purdy brush apply paint. In sections of detailing, stipple the brush to get in the nooks and crannies. Allow first coat to dry.

Step 5 – Paint second coat, apply paint in detailing the same way.

Step 6 – Sometimes it’s hard to see spots you missed when it’s wet. Go back with a fine detail brush and paint those sections. Allow to dry.

Once dry, hang your mirror. As this is hanging on the wall and won’t be handled I didn’t apply a top coat.

Here’s how the mirror came out:

I love how it gives the mirror a modern look. The black paint is going to coordinate with the vintage vinyl floor cloth. Eek! I’m so excited to share the reveal photos with you once it’s done!

I also love how the black is picking up the mud cloth pillows in our living room and also the black milk paint desk.

This was a pretty easy tutorial but I hope it shows the magic of paint. The only thing that changed in the before and after is the color of the mirror. Well, I guess I did add the ironstone pitcher, too.

If you’d like to learn more about painting and see more of my tutorials, you may want to pick up a copy of my eBook.