Faith Family Friends

Celebrating the Joy of Living & Home Making ~

Baking, Cooking, Decorating, Tea Time, and taking Inspiration from those I love and the world around me...

A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

...with a wee bit of whimsy added.

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Calling All Divas of Decorating!

Hi there! First of all, I would like to say a big Thank you to all those of you who participate in my tea parties. I love seeing all your tea things and I enjoy receiving all your nice comments. I feel like I'm getting to know most of you!

Like many of you in blogland, I am trying to make my little cottage into a place of beauty and relaxation which brings me to my cry for help!

You see this mirror? I love it, but I have been debating whether to paint it or not. All of the wooden furniture in the main living room are white except for one small side table which also may get a coat of white paint yet! I've cleaned off the mantle so you could get a good look at the mirror. It is very ornate as you can see.
Stereo stand and coffee table.I adore white and romantic decorating. Would the mirror look better in the room painted white or left as it is? Would the mirror painted white, be too much white? What would you do? Leave it or paint it?

A little aqua blue chest I use as a side table which I love the way it is. There is another side table which is brown that I may paint white! I also have this grouping over the sofa. As you can see, there is gold in the frame of the picture and the scrollwork above that.
They say that there should be a little 'black' in every room to ground it but I don't know whether these fit or not. I have brought more and more white into the room since I hung these a number of years ago. I thought about taking the picture down and hanging it in the family room and spray-painting the plate wrack white. I could find something 'white' for over the sofa. All of the pictures in the room have gold frames.

I'm open to all suggestions and advice. Thank you ahead of time and have a beautiful day.

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

26 comments :

  1. Dear Sandi: I love your mirror - it's very striking and if it were my mirror and your room was my room then I would paint it!
    Lisa@SuburbanRetreat

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  2. I say it can go either way...you have gold already so it would fit in and you have a lot of white. Your aqua table? If that is the one you are talking about painting? I would leave it as is for myself...love the color...what a beautiful room!

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  3. I love it all my friend. Simply beautiful and that mirror is absolutely amazing!

    xo~Rebecca

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  4. HELLO....

    THAT MIRROR IS STUNNING!!! I SAY PAINT IT :)
    BUT WHICH EVER WAY YOU GO IM SURE IT WILL BE BEAUTIFUL :)

    XOX~MARI

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  5. Hello Sandi.
    You have a nice room with a beuatiful mirror.
    Have a good evening.
    Greetings Marga

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  6. I must admit I would paint it but then I do like white :))

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  7. If it were mine I would paint it white to match the mantel. I think it would then appear to the eye as one unit. I can't see the whole room but my guess is when you walk into the room your eye goes to the gold mirror first and not the mantel.But no matter what you do that is one awesome mirror.

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  8. My vote is to paint the mirror white. Everything is just lovely in your room Sandi. Keep us posted on your decision!

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  9. Hi Sandi,
    I love the mirror, I think painting it white would be lovely and then sand around it to bring out the under gold tones. Either way its a beautiful mirror and will look great!
    Have a sweet day, Elizabeth

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  10. G'eve Sandi ~ I just went thru the same dilemma ... vintage gold mirror ... to paint or not. Your mirror isn't that unlike mine, too.

    After chatting with a couple of blogettes I decided to leave it alone & see if it grows on me or now. I think you may view it last weekend on my blog in our m. bath redo. We have so much white that it actually is growing on me to leave alone.

    I love your like it is. Your decor is gorgeous.

    Have a lovely eve ~
    TTFN ~ Hugs, Marydon

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  11. I think the black picture frame is fine. It's only a small accent in the room and it does work well with the picture. A while back, I painted one of my picture frames white for a shabby chic type picture and it looked bad. Still trying to figure out something that works. Since the black looks good, I'd keep it.

    I think the mirror could go either way. You alreay have a lot of gold, so it could work, but I think maybe it's the casual birdhouses next to it that kind of throws the gold off.

    If you are going to paint it, I actually think the white would be an overkill because there is so much white in the room. I would consider painting it more the greenish blue color of that side table just to balance that color around the room more.

    Very pretty room. I love the colors in your sofa.

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  12. I think you need to give us a distant shot so we can get the big picture before we jump in and give advice.

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  13. Like the comment before mine, I would like a wider shot of the room but I painted one of my gold mirrors white and left the other one gold. I do like the white look and if that is what you are going for then, paint it. It is going to look pretty no matter what.~Hugs, Patti

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  14. Hi Sandi,
    this is my first time to visit you.
    I love that beautiful mirror and I can picture it in my minds eye white,
    but it is also beautiful the way it is and you could leave it gold as well, if you just add some gold or brass pcs. in with your white pcs. on the mantle.
    I do that all the time. I have a picture that has a gold frame and in the spring and summer I use all my white wear on the fireplace but I include some gold pcs. as well on the mantle and it looks great.
    Love the color of your blue table.
    You have a lot of really cute accessories, I like them all, and that picture of the lake is gorgeous.
    Sure enjoyed my visit, nice to meet you here in blogland.
    Blessings, Nellie

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  15. Dear sandi,

    I am so delighted to have you partake with my little corner of, 'Tuesday And Wednesday Tea Time In Blogland'!.., Your post with the mirror and white pretties are just delightful!

    And my oh my.., those pink , butterfly and floral chintz from your tea party this week are so fabulously gorgeous Sandi!~ Thanks so much for sharing them with us!..,

    My Wednesday teaparty is now up if you'd care to share another 'cuppa'; I'm so delighted to have been able to post some pics of when my dear friend Pam of,'Breath Of Fresh Air', blog recently visited!..,

    Have a marvelous week!

    Cheers and hugs from Wanda Lee

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  16. Hi Sandi - that mirror is ornate and lovely indeed. For my two cents, I think the gold is too much of a contrast between your white fireplace and every display you have around it. You either have to have more gold on your display, or finish the mirror with a softer color than just one solid gold. Maybe you can color wash (layer) it with a transparent antique white paint.

    Can't wait to see what you end up doing.
    -marie

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  17. Oh boy, I probably should stay out of this discussion. I think that when everything is white...it is too much. We need layers of depth and color in each room. If everything is white, there is no depth...if you have to paint the mirror...do it in a color! It will pop against the white...I will shut up now!!

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  18. I agree with Elizabeth. I would paint the mirror white, but sand it a bit accent the lovely shape with the gold beneath. I like aqua and white. How about repeating a bit of aqua in the room as an accent. Not too much, just a bit.

    Love,
    Susan and Bentley
    xxoo

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  19. No doubt you will be more confused after so many comments.
    I personally would leave it as it is, but there is a happy in between. These days there is this white wash paint. But then again, if you try it and you are disappointed you can always bring it back to its original features?
    Success!
    Have a happy day!
    Jacoba

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  20. rose, I loved your furniture accessories, you're cool ;)
    And please add me your network. byee

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  21. Hi Sandi,
    Okay, I'll throw my two cents in!
    I would leave the mirror the color it is now. I might lightly sand it around the edges a little to shabby it up a bit.
    You might play around with moving it to different places to see which you like the best.
    I noticed that you have a gold pediment over the black frame.
    I would paint that white and maybe the plate rack.
    I agree that we need to see a photo showing the room more.
    Whatever you decide will be lovely, I'm sure.

    hugs
    Sissie

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  22. Hi Sandi,
    One more thing, since you asked....
    I would group all of your birdhouses together for a bigger impact and then put something on the mantle that has gold, like some big candlesticks with white candles.

    I'll shut up now.
    hugs
    Sissie

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  23. I think your room is breathtaking--I wouldn't change a thing!!! Oh, also I have a drawing going on for a "tea" themed altered art piece if you'd like to enter it.
    Hugs,
    Cindy

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  24. Sandi
    this is so funny, I sprayed a silver tray white today, and I made a lampshade for a pink lamp almost like your Pretty pink hobnail vase. Are we thinking alike? Your Blog is so pretty, I'm so glad you stopped by today.
    Have a wonderful Wkend.
    hugs
    marian elizabeth

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  25. LOVE that mirror, and you KNOW I sell antique and vintage mirrors all the time on eBay (the ones that don't find their way onto a wall at my house!). I'm really liking the gilded ones just as you find them right now. Your room is absolutely beautiful!

    BTW, I sooo adore those sweet lil pink and white sugared pumpkins on your previous post!


    Big TX Hugs,
    Stephanie
    Angelic Accents

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  26. I was thinking about painting some gold frames white, like you I was unsure, so I got out my Rachael Ashwell book, Shabby Chic, and it had gold and vintage metal sconces and mirrors and so forth. They weren't shabby chic because they were white, it was their patina. Just a thought. I do like Elizabeth's idea, too.

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I am delighted to have you visit me and I read every comment. Please forgive me for not being able to visit you all as there are so many of you lovely bloggy friends now. I will visit as much as possible. I wish you a day filled with JOY!

Also, due to the amount of spam I've been getting, I have had to set Comment Moderation. ~ Sandi

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