Create this fabulous knock-off West Elm wooden framed mirror without any fancy power tools. Just use a 1x6 tongue and groove board which is the perfect fit to insert an inexpensive IKEA mirror.

Today on the Rockstar DIY stage is Kim, with the tutorial to make this beautiful money saving West Elm Inspired Framed Mirror!

Rockstar DIY Series

Kim is the power DIY blogger behind The Kim Six Fix. She shares the belief that there isn’t any project big or small that she can’t tackle. Currently Kim lives in California with her husband and three little ones. But, she used to live practically in my backyard in Durham, NC. Unfortunately we never met before she moved. #MissedOpportunity Because if we had, we probably would have fixed up an entire block of houses together!

Kim Six

Today Kim is here with the genius solution to building a West Elm Inspired Framed Mirror using tongue and groove boards. Those saws have started buzzing, so I know she’s ready…take it away Kim!

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I’m so excited to be here on Brittany’s blog today! I have been a HUGE fan since I first started blogging about my DIY projects and so it is surreal to be actually posting here…  ON HER BLOG!!! Squee!!  Of course I want to thank her so much for this opportunity, and I hope you all enjoy my project.

Okay, enough fan-girling.. On to the post: 

If you know me, you know I am a big fan of knocking off overpriced high priced name brand home decor. There is almost a challenge to it.  And when I saw this simple mitered block wood mirror on the West Elm website I knew I could create the look for a lot less.

Create this fabulous knock-off West Elm wooden framed mirror without any fancy power tools. Just use a 1x6 tongue and groove board which is the perfect fit to insert an inexpensive IKEA mirror.
Now, unlike a lot of the other guest bloggers who have been sharing their amazing tutorials, I don’t yet have a fabulous tool stash (something I am trying to remedy.)  What that means for you is that you don’t need a big tool stash either! We’re in this together!

So in this case, when I saw the mirror had the glass inset into the wood, (something typically achieved with a table saw or a router) I knew I would have to think outside of the box. How could I get the wood to wrap around the mirror without cutting it myself?

A trip down the lumber aisle of the hardware store revealed the answer: Tongue and Groove 2×6 boards  (typically used on walls or floors).  It has a ’tongue’ on one side which insets into the ‘groove’ on the other.  Perfect: A board with a built-in mirror holder!

2x6 southern yellow pine tongue and groove flooring 425
The boards they had in stock at the big box home improvement store weren’t anything super special, and they weren’t very expensive. For my project I only needed two 8 foot boards at $8 each.

Usually these types of boards are made of whitewood (or pine) since that is the least expensive. However, my store actually used Cypress (a whitewood alternative), which was a fun change for me. This was my first project with that wood type and it pretty much acted like pine.. .so I was in my comfort zone. You could do this with cypress or pine (or even hardwood).

Now that I had the boards, I had to get them down to the correct dimensions, and I didn’t want the tongue, only the groove.  The first thing I did was rip the boards down to the width I wanted for the mirror frame.  Now, once again, most people would do this on a table saw, but I don’t have one.  I only have a circular saw, so I used it plus the Kreg Rip Cut, to cut the boards down lengthwise:

Next I sanded them like crazy.  The circular saw doesn’t leave the cleanest cut, and the boards were in pretty rough shape.  Nothing a random orbital sander couldn’t help.

Sanding boards for mirror frame
Here is a good closeup of how exactly the mirror fits in the groove.   You can see where the mirror (a $9 one I picked up at IKEA) fits into the groove of the board. And although it isn’t obvious, each side of the groove is actually shaped differently. On one side it was squared off, while the other was rounded down.  You can use either edge as the ‘front’ of the mirror frame, but just make sure you are consistent!

Channel in 2x4 for framing Mirror
I liked the square edge facing out (I thought it was closest the inspiration piece.)

Also, be aware when measuring your mirror, that it will extend down into the mitered corner.  You can’t just measure the perimeter of the mirror and cut the frame the exact same size.   The frame will actually be slightly smaller.

Inseting mirror into frame groove

I measured by putting the mirror into the notch of the board and sliding the 45 degree pre-mitered corner down onto the perpendicular board (which should also have the mirror placed in the groove.) Where the point of the mitered board hits the perpendicular board is where you should put a mark. Then miter the second board at a 45 degree angle with the longest point hitting that mark.

Measuring and Marking Mitered frame
You want a pretty tight fit because the only thing holding the mirror into the frame will be that channel. If you cut the edges too long, the mirror will want to fall out.  Be as accurate as you can, and make sure you make plenty of dry fitting before you start the assembly process: Read more

Upcycled Cabinet Door Quote Art | Pretty Handy Girl

Upcycled Cabinet Door Quote Art | Pretty Handy Girl

What do you do with an old cabinet door? Besides keep it with your wood scraps for ten years like I did (not recommended.) You can create pre-framed art! Today I have an easy Upcycled Cabinet Door Chalkboard Art project for you. If you have an old cabinet door, some paint, and a stencil, you can have yourself a unique and personalized art piece for your wall! Easy art!

Materials:

Upcycled Cabinet Door Quote Art | Pretty Handy Girl

  • Cabinet door
  • Chalkboard paint
  • Foam brush
  • Sandpaper
  • Antiquing wax
  • Wax brush
  • Clean rag
  • Craft paint or chalky paint
  • Stencil brush
  • Painter’s Tape
  • Pencil
  • Stencil or cut vinyl

Optional: Stain and foam brush

Instructions:

Paint the inside panel of your cabinet door with chalkboard paint. After the paint has dried, lightly sand any imperfections. Apply a second coat, brushing the paint in the opposite direction as the first coat.

Upcycled Cabinet Door Quote Art | Pretty Handy Girl

If you have an unstained cabinet door, you may want to stain it for an aged look.

Upcycled Cabinet Door Quote Art | Pretty Handy Girl

Apply painter’s tape to the inside face of the cabinet door.

Upcycled Cabinet Door Quote Art | Pretty Handy Girl

Paint the frame portion of the cabinet door. Allow to dry and apply a second coat of paint. Read more

Aging and Antiquing Furniture | Pretty Handy Girl

Reclaimed Lumber Farmhouse Table | Pretty Handy Girl

Aging and antiquing furniture legs is an easy task if you want to fake age on a table or chairs. With some stain, paint and glaze you can fool most people into believing that your new furniture is an antique.

There are many ways to age and antique furniture. This tutorial will show you my favorite technique for table and chair legs.

If you’re just stumbling upon this post, I shared the tutorial for building a table last week. The table legs I used are the rope twist legs from Osborne Wood Products. I worked with Osborne Wood Products and custom designed the legs, so you won’t find them anywhere else. I do think they should have named them the “Brittany” legs or “Pretty Handy Legs.” LOL. I’m just excited that they provided me with a set for my table at no charge. 😉

This tutorial works best with unfinished wood, but you can skip the staining step if you have pre-finished furniture.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Instructions: 

Stain your furniture leg with the dark stain. Follow up with a second coat if you desire. Allow the stain to dry.

Reclaimed Lumber Farmhouse Table | Pretty Handy Girl

Paint the legs with white chalky paint. Add a second coat if you need more coverage.

Reclaimed Lumber Farmhouse Table | Pretty Handy Girl

Mix up the Miss Mustard Seed Milk Linen colored paint and brush on a layer of milk paint on top of the white paint. (For more variety, you could use a contrasting color instead of linen.) Read more

Reclaimed Lumber Farmhouse Table | Pretty Handy Girl

I’ve always wanted a rustic wood farmhouse table. I wanted a table that looked worn, well-loved and appeared to be over 100 years old. It’s very hard to achieve that look with new lumber. To get that rustic look, you either need old reclaimed lumber or the skills to stain and distress new wood. I chose the first option and bought reclaimed rafters from The ReUse Warehouse in Durham, NC.

Reclaimed Lumber Farmhouse Table | Pretty Handy Girl

They were very rustic to say the least. I was prepared to plane and glue them together myself, but I don’t own a planer (insert sad trombone sound.) Instead, I brought the rafters to Mark Kegler of Kegler’s Woodwerks. Mark has ALL the woodworking equipment and he convinced me to let him glue the tabletop together since I realized I also don’t have 5 bar clamps (Christmas wish list updated now.)

For fun I thought I’d show you the behind the scene pictures of the table top as it was being planed and ripped. That way you can view the process should you decide to piece together your own reclaimed lumber table top.

Behind the Scenes at the Shop:

First they ran a metal detector over the beams and then removed nails with an extractor.

tool-in-wood-shop

Next, the rafters were fed through a planer to give them all a uniform thickness.

Reclaimed Lumber Farmhouse Table | Pretty Handy Girl

It was like Christmas morning watching the wood as it came out and I could see the of the beautiful grain revealed.

reclaimed-lumber-before-after

Mark and Randy used a straight line rip saw to cut the edges straight with the exception of two rafter edges that would be used for a live edge on the table. I was able to salvage the edges that they ripped off for later use.

Reclaimed Lumber Farmhouse Table | Pretty Handy Girl

The boards were glued with wood glue and clamped together. Then they were left to cure overnight. In the morning, the short ends of the table were cut square.

Back at home I built the table base (the apron and legs).

Finishing the Reclaimed Wood Table Top:

Remember the salvage I kept from Mark’s shop? I used it to cap the table as edge band to hide the end grain. Hold the edge band up against the end, mark and cut the excess off.

Reclaimed Lumber Farmhouse Table | Pretty Handy Girl

Add wood glue to the inside of the edge band. Read more

Spring Foyer Vignette | Pretty Handy Girl

Spring Foyer Vignette | Pretty Handy Girl

My blogging friend Melissa Michaels just published a wonderful new book to help you “Love the Home You Have.” She focuses on simple things you can do to embrace the home you live in. With easy suggestions and achievable goals, she breaks down all the barriers you have when it comes to truly loving your home.

Love the Home You Have by Melissa Michaels

To help Melissa promote the book, I agreed to take on a quick little Love Your Home Challenge. Her book has 31 Small Challenges to help you love your home again. Each one is simple, quick and easy.

Love Your Home Challenge | Pretty Handy Girl

I decided to focus my efforts on our foyer. I still loved the little rustic IKEA hack chest, but the mirror was a little to drab. I’d been staring at the pussy willows all winter and needed an infusion of color.

foyer-before

Originally, I chose to work with the Day 30 suggestion to Paint Something. I removed the mirror and within 30 minutes I painted the wood slats with white chalk paint. Then I used some patina Rub ‘n Buff to give the edges an aged metal look.

Spring Foyer Vignette | Pretty Handy Girl

Much better.

Spring Foyer Vignette | Pretty Handy Girl

To continue adding some cheer to the foyer, I incorporated the Day 11 Challenge by Adding Fresh Flowers.

Spring Foyer Vignette | Pretty Handy Girl

I didn’t spend a dime on my flowers or vase. The red bud branches were clipped from our tree. And I slipped a mason jar into the boot for a fun and quirky vase. I think it’s a nod to the saying, “April Showers Bring May Flowers.”

Spring Foyer Vignette | Pretty Handy Girl

A small collected birds nest and feathers add an additional nod to springtime.

Spring Foyer Vignette | Pretty Handy Girl

I also painted an old frame with blue chalk paint and popped a piece of scrapbook paper into the frame for instant art.

Spring Foyer Vignette | Pretty Handy Girl

My total cost was $0! I can honestly say that seeing this springtime foyer vignette has made me happy.

Spring Foyer Vignette | Pretty Handy Girl

Within an hour, I was able to love this corner again. What can you do for $0 in your home? Read more