Mirrored Furniture.....Part 2

Last year in December I had a little girl.  This was cause to celebrate and, of course, redecorate.  French reproduction furniture makes me crazy and I had to have some.....but it costs like crazy too.  I wanted a little armoire that looked something like the photo below, but under $400 not near $3000.

After searching the classifieds for a couple good deals, painting the pieces white, cutting some mirrors and adding a urethane molding accent, this is what I came up with.

To start, I purchased the armoire top from a furniture outlet.  It had a dent in one of the door panels that is now covered with a mirror.  Because it was only the top part of the armoire and it was dented it cost me about $80 I think.  Then I searched the classifieds for a coffee table that matched the dimensions and style of the armoire top.  What you are looking at is two separate pieces of furniture....an armoire top and a coffee table bottom.  

 Then I painted everything with primer and Rustoleum's Heirloom White in the spray can.  I like spray-can painting.  I get good coverage if I go over and over the furniture and if I'm careful, no lines, runs or brush marks.  

After painting you can get ready to cut some mirrors.  In Mirrored Furniture part 1, I discussed cutting mirrors.    Same idea here, except I had to cut some curves as well as straight lines. 

To cut the curves that matched the raised panels on the doors, I started by making paper patterns.  Once I had the patterns right, I placed them on the thinnest glass I could purchase.  Thin glass works well here because, a) the thinner the easier to cut curves, and b) it is stable and strong enough if glued to the thicker wood.  The thinnest, cheapest mirrors around are those door mirrors you can buy at Walmart or Lowes for 5 - 10 dollars.  They have a cheap plastic frame and thin cardboard backing.  Strip off the frame, pull off the glue holding the carboard on and you have a cheap, long, thin mirror to cut.  

To cut the panel mirrors, I cut the straight, side-cut first.  Then I placed my pattern over the mirror and used a glass marker to trace the lines.  I used the glass cutter to trace over the marker lines.  You use the same technique to score and break the scored mirror as mentioned in my earlier post.  This takes some practice.  I went through about 8 mirrors to get my cuts right, good thing they only cost me $5.  

Then, to top off the project, I added a urethane molding accent I ordered from crown-molding.com.  It was similar to the one pictured below and cost me about $28 dollars. 

These paint easily.  Once painted, I just glued it onto the top of my armoire.  

So what do you think?  Please ask me a question here.  For once, a question (from an adult) might be nice.