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    Repurposed Furniture » Mirror Jewelry Armoire

    Mirror Jewelry Armoire

    Published by Gail | Published November 20, 2018 | Updated February 22, 2022
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    How to make a jewelry cabinet using a reclaimed thrift store mirror. Build a box, add jewelry accessories, and voila, you have the perfect jewelry cabinet. #MyRepurposedLife #repurposed #upcycled #thriftstore #mirror #jewelry #armoire #diy via @repurposedlife

    I'll show you how to make a jewelry cabinet out of a thrift store mirror by making a simple box construction to attach to the mirror.

    how to make a jewelry armoire wall cabinet from a thrift store mirror

    Pin It!

    I love to pick up old dresser mirrors at thrift stores for 5-7 bucks. There are so many options. I’ve made them into chalkboards, and sometimes, I just update their look with some fresh paint. Many of these mirrors are plastic faux wood. This one happens to be real wood. They are all VERY heavy when you leave the mirrors intact.

    This project was suppose to be a quick and easy makeover. It took much more time and effort than I ever imagined it would.

    Years ago I made my daughter Jamie a jewelry armoire that hangs on the wall. I made it from scratch and bought a mirror for the front. That project inspired me to make this repurposed mirror jewelry armoire.

    repurpose old dresser mirror

    I think this wooden dresser mirror was around $5 at the Peddler’s Mall. It is very heavy.

    How to Construct a wooden frame

    dresser mirror cabinet

    I made a simple box by ripping some 1x6’s down to about 5”. I cut some shelf boards. This is where I got totally mixed up and added all those pocket holes thinking that I needed to attach the mirror. Well, I KNEW I was going to hinge it, but for some reason I drilled all those holes (that I later had to patch)

    Need more details on using a Kreg Jig? See my article How to use a Kreg Jig Pocket Hole System

    Cut Piano Hinge to Size

    how to cut a piano hinge

    I purchased a piano hinge at Home Depot, but it was too long, so I used my jigsaw with a metal blade to cut the hinge down to the right size.

    At this point, this was still an experimental project. The mirror is so darn heavy, I wasn’t sure the piano hinge would support the weight.

    Add supports to jewelry armoire for hanging

    add support brace for jewelry wall cabinet

    You can see I’ve begun to patch all those pocket holes. I knew that this cabinet would have to be secured very well on the wall, so I decided to use mounting rails just like the ones that hold your kitchen cabinets on the wall. I attached those mounting rails at the top and bottom of the box with more pocket holes.

    If you use your Kreg jig to make pocket holes and don’t have one of those handy Right Angle Clamps I highly recommend that you pick one up.

    repurposed dresser mirror jewelry cabinet

    At this point I mount it to the fence to make sure that the hinge will indeed support that massive mirror. Using the mounting rails at the top and bottom of the box really will hold this thing on the wall! Smile

    how to secure jewelry cabinet to wall

    Here’s a close-up so you can see how this jewelry cabinet installs.

    jewelry cabinet from dresser mirror

    Looks good eh?

    Paint Jewelry Cabinet

    paint and poly jewelry cabinet

    Time for some paint. I mixed up some DIY chalk paint, and gave it a few light coats, then sealed it with my favorite Minwax Polycrylic.

    black jewelry cabinet made from dresser mirror

    I hung the jewelry cabinet back on the fence so I could do some more work on the inside.

    Add hooks to hanging jewelry cabinet

    add wood strips to hold hooks

    I ripped some small pieces of 2x6 on the table saw to give a little thickness on the door. I had to be very careful installing these into the door so that I didn’t break the mirror. It took a little trial and error to get the perfect size. They needed to be long enough so the Ryobi Airstrike nails/staples would go into the “meat” of the mirror, but short enough on the right hand side to allow the door to actually close.

    add L hooks to jewelry cabinet

    I purchased these on L hooks (100) on Amazon. If you want to get some, follow the affiliate link. On the top row, I spaced them 2” apart on the even numbers.

    l hooks for jewelry armoire

    For the next row, I spaced them 2” apart on the odd numbers. I did this so that long chains or necklaces will hang in between the hooks below them and not get tangled.

    You can see that I pre-drilled small pilot holes being VERY careful not to go too deep and break the mirror.

    Look closely and you can see how I attached those little pieces of wood with a staple on the edge.

    jewelry wall cabinet with L hooks

    I did that on all four sets of hooks, never placing any directly above the ones atop of them

    Hack for screwing in L hooks

    installing L hooks

    You may think that all that installing of the L hooks would make your fingers sore….I found a hack! I used the small piece of piano hinge that I cut off worked great to turn all those hooks into the wood with no problem at all. AGAIN, being very careful not to turn them in too deep, so that I didn’t break that mirror. I had worked way too hard on this project for that to happen!

    The back of the cabinet is a piece of thin plywood that I attached with my nail gun.

    black jewelry wall cabinet made from a thrift store mirror

    Here she is hanging on the fence for yet another test drive. My poor fence sure gets put through the ringer with holes, screws and nails! But that’s better than testing it in the house on my WALL!

    Plenty of hooks for necklaces and bracelets and such, with lots of shelving to hold earrings and other trinkets.

    black jewelry wall cabinet

    And again, I’ll say nooooo it’s not meant to hang on a fence. I simply use the fence for staging purposes in order to get good lighting for photos.

    MyRepurposedLife-mirror-jewelry-armoire-repurposed-dresser-mirror-2

    So, all in all the cost breakdown is about $40 for everything. The piano hinge was the most expensive component, but I honestly don’t think regular hinges would have supported that heavy mirror.

    gail

    See more dresser mirror ideas here

    See more jewelry organizers here

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    1. Leslie

      May 26, 2022 at 8:57 am

      Love this! Have been looking for something similar and have an old mirror similar to that one. Gail do you think this could be free standing without mounting?

      Reply
      • Gail Wilson

        May 26, 2022 at 3:31 pm

        Leslie,

        Thanks so much for your comment! Freestanding? I guess you could make a pedestal to hold it? Sort of like a (floor) quilt rack? The legs would of course stick out. Maybe you do something like one of these? https://www.google.com/search?q=freestanding+mirror+armoire&newwindow=1&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS934US934&sxsrf=ALiCzsYYZvH9mJlONMoj1U8p3nFEjRN5dw:1653593466507&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjc4LHZ8_33AhUMj2oFHe3mAa4Q_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1536&bih=722&dpr=1.25
        🙂
        good luck!
        gail

    2. Jennifer

      April 29, 2022 at 3:08 pm

      Ive been after one of these damn jewelry armoires for years I thank you for being clever enough to hack this....I. cant wait to give it a try....also extra thanks for the honesty about all the lil "f" ups along the way!!!

      Reply
      • Gail Wilson

        April 29, 2022 at 4:08 pm

        Jennifer,

        I'm so happy you found my project. I'm so excited for you to do it yourself!!! I always try to be honest with my friends about what goes wrong. So many influencers make everything look perfect, and that's not real life.
        have fun, good luck!
        gail

    3. Ka

      January 21, 2020 at 4:08 pm

      Hi Gail. I just discovered this post and it's a wonderful project, just like the one I was looking for ! So thank you and hope you keep on doing smart things like this one or others for you and your daughter (just like me! )

      Reply
      • Gail Wilson

        January 21, 2020 at 6:14 pm

        Yay! I'm so happy your found this! I'm always repurposing something--it's what I do!

        Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment on this post. I read each and every one.

        gail

    4. williamsone132

      July 03, 2017 at 5:47 am

      Hi there! I have a similar one! Love it and keeps my jewelry organized, plus having a mirror is great! Mine is attached to the door. Nice idea to pass along E!

      Reply
    5. Missy Bryant

      June 12, 2016 at 10:51 pm

      This is a great step by step! I was looking for something to do with a pile of mirrors that was left in the house we just bought, and interestingly enough, I have the EXACT same mirror that you used for this project! Finally, I have the solution for at least one of these mirrors. And you're right, it certainly is a heavy mirror! Lol. Thanks for the tutorial.

      Happy Crafting!

      Reply
      • gail@myrepurposedlife.com

        June 13, 2016 at 2:59 pm

        How fun is it that you have the very same mirror! I've also used these kind of mirrors on hall trees. So happy you found My Repurposed Life!

        gail

    6. Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co.

      December 13, 2014 at 8:44 pm

      Wow Gail, another awesome project! Look at all that storage. I think you can pretty much build anything!

      Reply
    7. Holly

      December 08, 2014 at 8:18 pm

      I love how this turned out! Such a great way to reuse that mirror. 🙂

      Reply
    8. Holly

      December 08, 2014 at 8:17 pm

      I love how this turned out! Such a great way to repurpose that mirror. 🙂

      Reply
    9. Mindi

      November 26, 2014 at 5:10 pm

      This is a brilliant idea to repurpose a mirror! Very useful and pretty! That stinks you had to fill all those pocket holes, I hate it when I do stuff like that, but I totally do! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Gail!

      Reply
    10. Trish

      November 26, 2014 at 12:06 am

      That would make a great gift...Happy Thanksgiving.

      Reply
    11. Pam

      November 25, 2014 at 4:33 pm

      That turned out really nice.

      Reply
    12. Catherine

      November 25, 2014 at 11:42 am

      That turned out great and I luv the jewelry hooks (as opposed to tiny cup hooks I've used)--guess I'll be ordering some!
      Catherine

      Reply
    13. Laurel Stephens

      November 25, 2014 at 11:03 am

      Any woman would want one of these. What a fabulous project!

      Reply
    14. Korrie

      November 25, 2014 at 10:04 am

      Great idea! I'm sure this was a project that tested your patience. 😉

      Reply
    15. Anne@DesignDreams

      November 25, 2014 at 8:29 am

      Sweet idea! thanks for the inspiration!

      Reply
    16. Bliss

      November 25, 2014 at 7:57 am

      I see mirrors all the time and not once did it occur to me to do this. Your mind works in amazing ways.

      Reply
    17. Christina in Cleveland

      November 25, 2014 at 6:22 am

      Gail, this is absolutely stellar! I adore your blog... your creativity knows no bounds.

      Reply
    18. Diane Cash

      November 25, 2014 at 6:08 am

      Very clever!

      Reply

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    Hi, there! I’m Gail Wilson, the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. I’m obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believe that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again—myself included! I hope you’ll enjoy the journey and pick up a few tools along the way… literally!

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