Upcycling  Dressing Table Mirrors. Part 1.

 Upcycling  Dressing Table Mirrors. Part 1.

It is one of those things that seems obvious, but nobody seems to do it.

Triple dressing table mirrors have been a mainstay of bedroom decor for over 100 years now.

With sides that swing in and out and the central mirror tipping up and down they are incredibly convenient and practical.

At auctions and around markets you see so many of them in what can best be described as in a lame condition.

Because of the way they are made which is basically three mirrors attached to a mainframe, they are quite easily broken and discarded.

The brass axis points where the mirror pivots and adjusts are prone to wear and break.

Unlike a wall mirror which stays out of harms way, these mirrors are accidents waiting to happen.

You often see, around markets and fairs, lovely wall mirrors that were clearly once the central domain of a triple mirror.

But I am writing this article to say ‘Save The Side Mirrors!’

Over all my years trading I always save the side mirrors. I currently have a number for sale in my Etsy shop. The normal long rectangular side mirrors look no different and serve the same purpose as the central mirror…er….a reflection, yet they are always chucked.

All you need to do is is unscrew the hinge, stick some filler in the redundant holes, add an eyelet to the back. Or simply apply a screw to each side and tie some string or garden wire thang. I know, it is annoying when writers assume we all have every necessary handy accessory at our disposal! A theme you will learn about with my advisory blogs on upcycling etc, is I assume the reader does not have a huge wealth of tools at their disposal or a huge bank balance to go out and buy tools and other accessories that you only need for one thing. Of Cool so you can over complicate things and get a better result but the end of the day most of us are not actually perfectionists!

The ones I am showing here are from a triple mirror I bought but did not realise one of the side mirrors was missing a bun foot. So I took the two side mirrors off and have already sold the single mirror and stand.

Customers love quirky and unusual, and I have filled the screw holes and the holes where the bun feet were, added eyelets and wire and will sell them for £50 each.

There is such a narrow mindset that if something does not look right or was part of something it is of no use. Fortunately, these days many people upcycle and have a more enlightened outlook to their discarded homeware. Before you chuck something out, it is simple, just think can I use it rather than tip it?

These old ‘off cuts’ are far better being reused than sitting in a landfill sit.