BUT nothing ever works out according to plan when I'm involved with a craft project... So, you can guess that this project got just a little messy ;]
We found that it was a lot easier to work with a rough surface when you intend to glue mirrors onto a wood bar. We then proceeded to break the laminate with the nail-removing part of the hammer- *DO NOT DO THIS* it hurts and it's dangerous; you should most definitely find a better way to remove laminate if that it the case.
Once the laminate was removed, we called over my cousin's boyfriend, who proved to be a great asset, seeing as the two of us didn't have a mechanical hand-sander. He also helped us a great deal in replacing the edging of the bar (which we accidentally tore off during the laminate removal).
We then proceeded spending an annoying amount of time trying to find little mirrors that look like so:
AND
You can find them at Michael's, Joann's, and online. I suggest ordering them online because the stores never really seem to carry a bunch, and that way you can order more of a variety than just having to rely on what the stores can supply.
While waiting until we thought we had enough mirrors, we sanded down the front of the bar (which is wood-paneled) and got a black stain. We would have stained it further, but my grandmother and aunt (they own the house) didn't want it any darker.
Here's the best shot I have of the stain.
If you look closely you can see the wood paneling on the wall that we didn't stain. The color isn't a HUGE difference, and when you're in the house you don't even notice that wall, but you can definitely see a difference. I still would like to stain it darker one day.
In the picture you can also see our replaced edging. Originally the edging didn't go all the way around the bar, when we redid it we made it continue all the way around, and painted it with a glossy black lacquer. It looks absolutely stunning on the bar. We attached the edging BEFORE we laid down the mirrors, and I definitely recommend doing it that way. I think if you tried painting it after you laid the mirrors down, it would be difficult to avoid painting the grout and mirrors.
When we finally found enough mirrors that we could finish the job, we began gluing them on. At first we were going to do all round mirrors, and then toyed with the idea of doing a mosaic of colored tiles (I.E. blue and green tiles, four tiles deep, alternating colors creating a checkered pattern). So, it would have been a colored border instead of the square mirror border, but in the end everyone decided that we liked the square mirror border the best.
We didn't use exact measurements, we said: "Okay, we'll leave a space at the edge that's three square mirrors thick... Okay, now use that same distance between all the square mirrors now."
And that's basically how that worked. We tested it first, using Scotch tape so that it would leave a residue (like Duck Tape would). The round mirrors really didn't have any set spacing, we mainly went off how much space we thought looked good.
We then glued them down, using Amazing Goop craft glue (works wonders). Let the glue dry at least 24 hours. Now time for the Spackle! We got white (? I believe if I remember correctly), but Ace Hardware has TONS of colors. We almost got black, but we didn't know if that would look good (does it look good?). Once your glue is dry, spread grout between the tiles with a spackle knife (which are also at Ace, very cheap in price). Make sure you get the grout in between each and every tile and near the edge of the tabletop, bar top, etc.
When the surface is covered with grout, get a sponge wet with cold water. This will help you smooth the grout in between the tiles as well as wiping off the mirrors. (Mirrors will have grout residue on them afterwards. But you can clean it off after the grout has dried. Don't worry if you don't get the grout to cover all the spots, you can always go over it a second time to cover those holes :]).
And TA-DA:
There's the finished project! This was an awesome project to work on. I learned a ton about how to do things, and most definitely how NOT to do them (taking off the laminate was a perfect example of that). This took us around three weeks. It honestly shouldn't have taken that long. I would maybe give it two, tops. If you don't mess up the whole surface area (like we did) it should take you two, three days depending on the size of your surface areas. Message me if you have any questions, I understand that some of this isn't exactly clear. Hope you enjoy it, please feel free to share!
Ingredients:
- A Surface (table, night stand, bar, etc, etc.
- Mirrors (square, round, circular... You can even use colored mosaic tiles!)
- Amazing Goop craft glue
- Bathroom-tile grout
- Medium-grit sandpaper
- Spackle knife
- Sponge
- Cold water
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