I am so excited to have Kristin here today! She is amazing and I am sure you will love her quartz tutorial!
Kristin here, from The Hunted Interior. I was thrilled when Cassity contacted me about becoming a contributor for Remodelaholic! I would love to share with all of you a little bit about my design philosophy. As an Interior Designer I adore high end design, but I do not have the budget to match my taste… So I create it myself. I look at everything with an open mind & determine how I can transform everyday items laying around our home into luxurious items that I find in the magazines. Here is a little tutorial where I have done just that.
My Inspiration: Rough Quartz Crystals
Quartz crystal accessories are EVERYWHERE right now. Even though they are one of the most common minerals in the Earth's crust, they can still be a tad { cough cough } pricey… Here are a few accessories I am currently coveting:
Gold Dipped Quartz Cluster Bookends……………. $825.
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| OM Decor |
Clear Lucite Box with Rock Crystal ……………. $2,250.
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| Vivre |
You can pick your jaw up off the floor now. Crazy talk right? Well I took inspiration from these & created a Rough Quartz Mirror Frame using an existing Ikea mirror I had at the house. For less than $75, this is how I created this look for much much less!
I ordered two variety packs of Quartz Crystal points from Rock Creek Treasure's on eBay.
Knowing that I would need a lot more stones, I headed off to Michael's & picked up 6 bags of Beach Glass Vase Fillers.
I then prepped the mirror frame. I taped off the corner I was planning on covering & tried to create an organic edge. I found that using the torn edges of the tape created a more natural line.
Next, I primed the surface. Since the stones & the beach glass are translucent, the dark surface altered the look. Using the primer allowed them to stay bright.
Using my trusty hot glue gun, I got to work. I glued each of the stones down filling in with the Quartz Crystals in the most desired locations. I found that laying the larger stones down & layering in some smaller ones on top gave it a more realistic look. Be sure to vary how you lay the stones. Quartz grow out vertically, so I took some of the Beach Glass & stood it up as well.
Once all the stones were glued down I decided to add a touch of gold on the mirror frame. If the inspirations can have it, why can't I? I used a Krylon Gold Leaf Pen to create another organic border coming off of the stones.
Now we have a custom mirror frame that I think looks like a million bucks (Okay, maybe a couple hundred at least!)
While this might be a little to modern for some people, the same concept could be carried out on a smaller scale using a picture frame, or attaching a few to an existing jewelry box. The point is to think outside of the box & don't be afraid to create what you want!
If you like what you see, I'd love for you to stop by The Hunted Interior to see our other tutorials such as:
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Thanks again Cassity!
The clear Lucite box is definitely a winner. Do you know where I can get these (or a similar product) for a much lower price?
I’m in LOVE with this! I’ve been lusting after a huge mirror to lean against the wall in our living room and this feels organic AND luxe! Love the dichotomy of that!
this is gorgeous!!
Gorgeous! So high end looking!
So beautiful!!! Love it!!
You rock, my dear. Also love your table tutorial.
So much more beautiful than your inspiration pieces!!!! This is fabulous!
Hello, I wanted to let you know that I love your mirror. What are the dimensions for it?
Briss, It is an Ikea mirror, here is the link: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00081591/
Thanks, I’ve been eying this mirror. I currently just bought their Jondal Mirror, but want to up cycle it. Since it’s rather short. How wide is the frame of the Mongstad if you don’t mind telling me.
Beautiful! I’ve got an old framed mirror that I’ve had just laying around for years. I finally know what to do with it… now to convince my husband that I need to buy quartz!
Good Luck with your project Tiffany!
Wow, that looks amazing! Definitely adding this to my never ending project/to do list.
Stacy
So beautiful! Do you think this would hold up in a bathroom? The quartz crystals come in packs of 1/2, 1, or 2 lbs that I saw. Which ones did you buy? Thanks!
Hi Hillary! This was a contributor post so if you’ll head over to the contributor’s blog (linked at the top of the post) then she can answer your questions! Thanks!