From Fence Post Remnants to Beachy Mirror for $5

by 4554290

13 Materials

We put this fence around the perennial bed last year to save my flowers from our 2 dogs. We had lots of cedar posts leftover, just couldn't let them wind up in the chiminea. I needed a mirror for the cottage with a rustic feel. I just love the final product. I posted this earlier this summer but have added some more final touches that give it a nautical feel.
Here's the fence. I used the remnants of our cedar posts. We purchased them from TSC last year.

from fence post remnants to beachy mirror, home decor, woodworking projects

I had my husband cut the logs in 1/2.

Lots of sanding. Then, used a tack cloth to remove any dust. I put a whitewash on the logs by diluting leftover paint with a 50/50 mixture of H20. Let dry. Sorry no picture of the whitewash.

This turned out to be the best mistake I've made. I used a rag an applied the oil based wood stain on the logs. Well, the water based paint and oil based stain don't adhere to each other. So, my stain was chippy and failed to dry properly. I used fine steel wool and removed the chippy stuff and some of my whitewash too.

It is super soft from all the steel wool. I can't recommend mixing water and oil based products together but what a great way to get that beachy/cottage style finish at a fraction of what it would cost in the specialty stores.

I wanted to dress it up a little so I took some rope from my father's sailboat. Then, boiled a large pot of water and added 1/2 a tin of coffee. Mixed well and let the rope sit over night to soak. I dried the rope outside for 3 or 4 days.

The mirror was glued to an OSB board using construction adhesive. On a previous post, a Hometalk reader was concerned that I hadn't used mirror adhesive so should you want to try this, use the mirror adhesive. The issue that could occur is its layers could separate. I'm just going to take my chances.

The frame was glued into position. We put screws in each corner to increase the stability.

I cut 4 pieces of the rope with a utility knife. We burned the edges with a BBQ lighter so that they would not fray.

Then, we put the construction adhesive in each corner. We used a pneumatic nailer to secure the ropes.

The last tip is to have a product like Varsol or paint thinner to wipe off any excess adhesive before it dries. The best part of this project was the price is tag, only $5! I found the mirror at a flea market last year!