Tin Ceiling Tile Mirror

I've had several people ask about the mirror standing behind my couch in what was my Living Room and is now, I guess, my Great Room, or Great Room To Be once it's finished.

  That mirror is absolutely one of my favorite pieces ever!

I'll share how and where I found it, but, first, let me tell you how much I love ceiling tins.  I've oohed and awed whenever I saw them in older buildings, and for several years I had the opportunity to live in an old Victorian on Tybee Island with different ceiling tins in every room.  That's when my longtime attraction became a love affair.

  It's no surprise that when I saw a tin framed mirror in Country French magazine that I became obsessed with either making one or finding one to have for my very own.

Country French Magazine, Fall/Winter 2009

Fast forward a couple of years when, out of the blue, a friend called to tell me she had just seen "my" mirror at Scott's Antique Market.  I asked her the details and, after a few minutes of indecision, headed to Scott's.  I saw several mirrors propped up outside the South Building.

One took my breath away.  It was huge.
I measured it.  Looked at it from all angles.  Measured it again.

The color is a dark antique white, almost a tea-stained color, and although the mirror wasn't beveled it had the one element I couldn't resist, fleur de lis.  Eight feet tall and four feet wide mounted on an eight foot sheet of plywood.  With fleur de lis.  I was in love.

After lunch on a Sunday, with the Market closing at 4:00, I didn't have time to procrastinate; it was now or never.  The naysayer in me pointed out a number of reasons why I shouldn't even entertain the thought of owning it:

  I couldn't afford the mirror; it was too late to make arrangements for delivery; I couldn't afford the mirror; I had no way to get it home;  and, I couldn't afford the mirror.

But the more I looked at that mirror the more I wanted it.  The dealer was absolutely wonderful and one of his crew agreed to load it in his pickup and deliver it.  That, plus taking pity on me a really great price, and I bought it.

That poor man.  He almost buckled under the weight bringing it in.  I still don't know how he managed.  I had him stand it up on the long wall behind the couch.  That mirror isn't going anywhere unless there's a small army to help me move it to another location.

Everyone who comes in stares at it.  Just like I do.  It's perfect.  And it's mine.  The color is almost the same as my couch and loveseat, which I couldn't wait to recover but have now fallen in love with again because of that mirror.

The great guys from New York are with Olde Good Things.  They are at Scott's regularly, but not every month.  You can learn more about them ... here.  They told me my mirror was framed with tin salvaged from a building in New York that was 120 years old.  Knowing the provenance is wonderful, but I realized that, for once, I didn't care where it came from or how old it was.  I was in love.  With that mirror.

I have an incredible appreciation for objects that withstand the test of time.  Imagining where an item's been, the families or places it's graced with its presence, if only it could tell the history it's seen.  For now, it's sharing my space and making me smile.

  And, yes, my walls are metallic gold, painted long before I saw the magazine photo.
           I wish I could take pictures like the one from the magazine so you could see the colors.  One day... {sigh}.

So, do you have a favorite find or treasured possession?
Something you just couldn't resist purchasing?
I'd love to hear your story.  Really.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by...