Kristen from Storefront Life was head over heels for a pricey metal and rope mirror from Restoration Hardware. Kristen already had a round IKEA mirror and figured she had nothing to lose by trying to revamp it into an RH look-a-like.
She was able to achieve all the elements she loved about her inspiration – the “pristine polished look of the mirror mixed with the hard iron and the rough rope.” All for $15!
Okay, but most of us don’t already have a large round mirror lying around. Kristen probably paid for her mirror at one point in time so the $15 is a little unrealistic.
Why?
Because round mirrors are really expensive. That’s just how it is. Kristen’s and her inspiration model from RH have diameters of around 30″. That’s plenty big, which means you can probably get away with a smaller size and achieve the same glorifying satisfaction.
Where to Get a Mirror?
Nothing justifies the hundreds and hundreds of dollars the original rope mirror from RH costs. Someone commented on Kristen’s page that they found the RH product at an outlet location, and it was still well over $400.
We can do much better than that.
IKEA continuously changes out its products. Some do stick around for years, but many are phased out. So…Kristen’s mirror isn’t available anymore. They have one now called LANGESUND that’s a bit smaller at almost 20″.
So for $30 you’re off to a good start in creating this cool rope mirror on the cheap.
There are places online you can order a 30″ mirror with prices starting at around $100.
You can also check discount stores like Ross Dress for Less or Marshall’s and score a round mirror for under $100. It’ll most likely be framed, so just remove that and of course, re-purpose it for another project!
Amazon has this one that is 24″ for around $75.
Measure out different diameters on your wall and see what you can get by with. We’re trying to save money here, right?
Metal…But Not Really?
Of course, the RH rope mirror is encased inside a real metal strap that wraps all the way around. But as with any DIY knock-off projects you don’t always have to match the exact same materials.
If you can just make it look the same that’s all that counts. For Kristen, her “metal” strap was merely a thin and bendable MDF board.
The board encircled the mirror and was nailed in tight to a plywood backing she and her husband made to hold everything in place.
They even came up with a genius way to keep the MDF full secure and hug tight all the way, as it wanted to separate away towards the end.
The MDF approach is nice because it’s easy to nail through. Then just as easy to fill in all the nail holes and join together at the end of the loop – they “fused” together the two edges with spackle, then sanded and smoothed before painting.
Oil rubbed bronze spray paint finished the dull but strong metallic look off well as always.
Kristen was inspired by this Iron and Rope Mirror from Restoration Hardware.
Find Kristen’s complete tutorial at Storefront Life. including more info on the rest of the supplies she used.
She has quite a few tricks that make her mirror look like the real deal, so you can easily pull this one off and save mega bucks!