Thrifty Vintage Thingies - "Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall"

.

It's THAT time again!!!! Vintage Thingies Thursday over at Coloradolady and Thrifty Thursday at Bloggeritaville.














Be sure you click on both of the icons or links above to check out what everyone else is posting.

Today I'm showing you some mirrors in my home.

Before I do that - - - I want to make this little disclaimer. I hesitate to "bring you into" my house. I do not "do" decorating. My decor style, like my blog, is very eclectic. It is driven by four criteria:

1) Need - - - you know, I "need" this or that to fill this or that space.

2) Comfort - - - the things I bring into this house have to feel warm and comfortable, or they aren't coming in.

3) Likability - - - if I like it, it's coming in and it will fit with my decorating style, because EVERYTHING fits in eclectic.

4) Premodern - - - sorry girls, I HATE the boxy, minimalist, modern look. To me that stuff is cold, uncomfortable, and uninviting. It's fine for an unemployment office or police station, but it just doesn't say "HOME!"

So - - - my house isn't "decorated," it's "collected."

Having said all that - - - - please come on in, and leave your shoes on if you want to - - - you can't hurt my carpets.

Now back to the SUBJECT of this post. Mirrors. Nope, not really this one, although it IS a mirror in my home, and I do love it. I only show it today because of the DRESSER to which it is attached, and which I've blogged about before. And I only show the dresser because I got the first two mirrors at the SAME antique mall where I got this dresser, and that's about all the STORY there is to go with them.


I think this one is quite old because of the beveled glass, which is spotty and obviously old. The frame is rather rough cut wood with only the one embellishment at the top.

Someone who owned it before me painted it (they probably belonged in the same "spray paint league" as a bunch of YOU) with gold paint, which has probably lessened any value it ever had - - - other than the premodern, necessary-for-that-entry-way-wall, comfortable, likability value that it has to an eclectic nondecorator like me.

As you enter my home, leaving your shoes on, you are greeted by this mirror. You see your own face in it and think to yourself, "My, the people in this house LOOK very friendly!!!"


As you walk on down the hall toward the kitchen, you pass this mirror on the wall. I only hope it distracts you from seeing the mail piled on the kitchen island and the dirty dishes in the sink.


It too has been the victim of someone with gold spray paint. I think the glass in it is relatively new because it isn't beveled nor spotty, though the frame seems to be quite old. The cardboard on the back looks antique. It may have more value than the mirror itself, I don't know. I just know I liked it, brought it home, and invited it to live with us.


This is a closer look at the detail on the frame.

The books in front of it ARE antiques, btw, they are part of a Mark Twain and a James Fenimore Cooper set - - - but perhaps those will be the subject of a future post.


This mirror is both very old, very storied, and a very THRIFTY find since it was given to me.

Here's the part of its story that I know. It was part of an old, broken down dresser that was in my parent's cottage at Burr Camp. The dresser has the same beautiful embellishments on the drawers that are on the top of this mirror, but it's original marble top was missing.

Mom and dad used it, with plain boards laid on top and then covered with a dresser scarf, in their cottage for years. One of my mom's sisters, being a lover of antiques and very good at restoring them, took it home to restore it for them. She finished the mirror, but never got started on the dresser.

In the meantime, my parents moved from Wisconsin to Indiana. Later I moved from North Carolina to Indiana. On one of my trips to Wisconsin to visit Burr Camp, my Aunt asked me to bring the dresser back to my parents in Indiana.

Somehow, through that process the mirror became mine. The dresser is still in my dad's garage waiting to be restored. The hold up is that top. I don't want a marble top, I'd rather have wood. Dad is also a genius at restoring old things - - - but I think the dresser is rather lonely and forgotten in a sad little corner of his garage.

The mirror, however, in all its beveled spotted glory, is hanging above the mantle in my family room because it too is full of premodern, necessary-for-that-wall-above-the-mantle, comfortable, likability value that is so important to an eclectic nondecorator like me.
.