Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Mirror, Mirror on the...Floor

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.

I was feeling rather pleased with myself, because I'd finally found a mirror to fit over my dining room buffet. Here it is sitting (heavily) on the dining room floor...


And here is my buffet over which I plan to hang said mirror:


I started worrying today when I saw that it took two delivery men to carry the mirror into my house. It's 52" in diameter, carved solid hardwood and very heavy. And let's just say it didn't look quite as imposing in the consignment warehouse as it does right now. Uh oh.

My blooming orchid


As feared, my dh took one look at the mirror and said there was no way he could hang it himself. I thought, "No problem, I'll just look up "Mirror Hangers". Ha! Several unsuccessful phone calls later, I'm not feeling so pleased with myself. It's a mystery how I'm going to get this thing up on my dining room wall.

My blooming Oxalis

If any of you know someone who can safely hang a zillion-pound framed mirror in NW Austin Texas so it actually stays on my wall and doesn't fall & kill man or beast, I'd be very appreciative to know their name & number.

Thanks!

But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often through the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot;
Or when the Moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed.
"I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott. ~
The Lady of Shalott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892).

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Dawn! I just wanted to pop in to say thank you for the beautiful words you left for me! Thank you so much! I am loving this mirror, it's perfect! I can't wait to sit down and read more of your posts! I love your style and your way with words! Until next time!
xoxo
Judith~

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What a beautiful mirror. Call a handy man/woman that does small repairs. Or a carpenter. It won't take but a few minutes.

Pam/Digging said...

Good find, but it does sound tricky. I think a piece of wood bolted to the wall studs (not the drywall) would be the right sort of support to hang the mirror from.

Dawn said...

Thanks Paris Atelier,
And welcome to my blog. I was so happy to discover your lovely site. You've certainly created a beautiful place in cyberspace.

Hello Lisa,
You're right, it probably will be a fast project for the person with the right tools. :-)

Dear Pam,
You have a great idea; to bolt a piece of wood to the studs as an anchor for the mirror. I just need to find someone who can manage the heavy lifting for me.

Cheers!
Dawn

Chuck Dilmore said...

what a beautiful site!
love your photographs, and
your love of & interaction with nature!

bravo!

thanks for sharing all of this beauty!
peace,
Chuck

marmee said...

hello dawn,

thanks for coming by and visiting me at "things i love." that is a huge mirror. hope you can find somebody to hang it for you. love love love the buffet. i love antiques.
have a happy weekend.

Frances said...

Hi Dawn, what a beautiful piece. I love the carvings and am sure it will be a focal point for the room with that huge size. The photo does not tell the story, but the 52 inch size sure does. Good grief, how did you even get it home? Pam's idea sounds best with the board into the studs, it might be the only way, in fact. Hope by now it is already done. :-) Boo to hail.
Frances

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Mirror, mirror on my wall,
who's the one for Dawn to call...

but, I think their weight is a reflection of their worth--no pun intended!

Teena in Toronto said...

What a cool mirror!

Happy blogoversary!

SweetAnnee said...

Oh I didn't notice the Bob Cat
It does look like that..
I am sure if it's true, the Park will take
care of it.

Poor Kitty

Deena

Chriss Blagrave said...

Hi Dawn,
What a beautiful blog you have. I have enjoyed reading a few of your posts and look forward to your future entries! Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today at the shop, (S & H), it sure was a pleasure to meet you!
btw I love, love, love the mirror!
Chriss

SweetAnnee said...

Hey sweetie, I totally LOVE nature!!
smiles, Deena

Dawn said...

Thanks Chuck,
Glad you dropped by. Good luck with your novel. :-)

Dear Marmee,
I finally found someone to hang the mirror. Hurrah! I love antiques as well. Going to consignment shops is one of my guilty pleasures.

Hello Frances,
It really is huge; too big to fit into my little car, so I had it delivered professionally. Pam does have a great idea. I will watch to make sure the mirror-hangers use the studs next Tuesday when they put it up.

Hi Nina,
Great poem! I feel lucky to have finally found a mirror company that is willing to do this for me.

Thank You, Teena!
I've been blogging for two years now. It's been fun.

Dear Deena,
I'm sure you're right, that the Park people will keep an eye out for the animals there.
Best wishes to you as well, Deena. My thoughts are with you this week.

Hello Chriss,
Thanks for dropping by and for the follow add. :-) It was certainly a pleasure to meet you at S&H as well. You have a lovely blog. You're a very creative lady.

Cheers!
Dawn

Anonymous said...

Hi! I just started reading your blog. I love your water gardens. we just moved back to Austin and into a house where I think the majority of the digging and gardening was done when the house was built 30 years ago, so I'm going slowly, but eventually hope to have some sort of water feature. Anyway, I've got a very heavy mirror hanging on my wall as well. I nailed two nails up near the ceiling, where the upper part of the frame can usually be found. I then got a heavy but decorative gold chain from the hardware store and hung the mirror from that at eye level. It would definately work with yours, but I'm not sure if it would detract from the lovely carvings on your mirror. Mine is plain wood, so it actually added a neat touch to the mirror. To hide the nails I hung a simple bow on them.

Anonymous said...

The mirror is gorgeous! The contractor that just finished my kitchen is doing odd jobs like this right now, and I highly recommend him. You can see kitchen pics on my blog. I don't want to put his phone number here, but you can email me if you want. The company is G&G Berry in Austin. Jamie Grigar is now my "go to guy" for everything manly!

paris parfait said...

It is a beautiful mirror and a beautiful buffet. Call a carpenter who has a heavy-duty drill. He'll be able to put it up in ten minutes and it won't fall down.

Dawn said...

Welcome Leah,

Water gardens are a lot of fun and attract plenty of wildlife. I'd recommend visiting Hill Country Water Gardens in Cedar Park to get ideas before you start.

Sounds like you found a nice solution to your heavy mirror. I'm still hoping to get mine installed soon.

Hi Robin (from getgrounded),

Thanks for the tip! I may need to contact your go-to-guy if this mirror company doesn't come through. It's wonderful that you've found someone you can depend on. :-)

Merci Tara (from paris parfait),

Ten minutes would be terrific! In my fantasies that is the way this project would work out. Unfortunately I've already had a couple guys out here and they couldn't even find the second stud in the wall (using the "tapping method"). After they left I used a stud-finder and found the second stud myself. Ahem.

Cheers!
Dawn