Turn A Basic IKEA Mirror Into A Vintage Work Of Art With An Easy DIY

Sometimes, when buying furniture for your home, you may stumble upon a piece that you love but could also see manifested in a different way that would suit your vision better. Rather than forfeit the item, you can buy it and transform the way it looks. Vintage mirrors are amazing statement pieces for any room, but they're not always easy to come by. Thanks to TikTok woodworker and DIY enthusiast Jess, you can learn how to bring the 1800s out from a basic $15 LILJETRÄD IKEA mirror. You will, of course, have to purchase the finishing design items, which include decorative wood appliques, half-round pearl strings, and black spray paint. The great news is that the $52 DYI cost looks a heck of a lot better than the expensive price tags on vintage mirrors online.

If you love buying antique furniture for your home but happen to be on a tight budget, then this is one DIY upgrade you need in your back pocket. If you don't know what kind of decoration you want on your vintage mirror just yet, you can scour social media sites like Pinterest for inspo until you find one that catches your eye. Then, simply tailor your extra purchases to meet that design.

Once you have a good enough idea of the kind of vintage mirror you want to replicate using IKEA's LILJETRÄD mirror, you can follow TikTok creator Jess's guide to get that perfect Victorian finish. To prepare your materials, cut one of the appliqués in perfect half using a saw. These two pieces will go on the bottom part of your mirror to add some pizzazz to the framing. Once this is done, you can spray-paint the wood and the pearls black to give them an old feel. Don't worry if the paint is uneven and looks strange. Just trust the process.

Paste the wood appliqués onto the mirror using wood glue with the largest piece at the top center and the two smaller pieces at either side of the bottom. Clamp them in place until they dry and then glue the pearls all around the inside walls of the mirror. Your mirror is almost done, but it's not over until you add that final touch: a gold wax finish. Snag an $8 tube from Walmart and use a hard-bristled brush to apply the gold finish to the areas you spray painted. This will give it that burnished brass imitation look that would convince anyone you fished the mirror out of your great-grandmother's attic.

This DIY vintage mirror upgrade is amazing work, but you don't have to stick to the same long IKEA mirror if you have something else in mind. If your ideal vintage mirror is smaller and circular, swap out the LILJETRÄD mirror for an $8 HÄNGIG instead. This miniature white mirror is perfect for the antique vibe you're going for.

Using the same appliqués and pearls but this time with white paint, you can recreate the perfect vintage mirror for your small closet or as an accessory. Paint the appliqués and pearls white and follow the same procedure of gluing and clamping them down onto the mirror. You don't have to slice the second appliqué in half with this round mirror. Instead, glue each appliqué on opposite sides and lace the pearls around the perimeter. Then you can have a classically white vintage wall mirror that would be fit for a princess.