Tiki Paradise Guest Room Projects

I got very ambitious today and tackled two projects I've been wanting to do for the Tiki Paradise Guest Room.  The mirror in the room is one I got from Ikea several years ago.  It worked great with my decor in Seattle but it seems out of place in my 1962 mid century modest ranch.  Thankfully, I kept it because I was able to tiki-fy it for my guest room.  I'm quite proud of myself, so here's what I did.

I wanted to frame the mirror in bamboo to give it that tiki look.  So after much thought, I visited Home Depot and our local (and much loved!) Louie's Ace Hardware for the necessary components.  At Home Depot, I spent a whopping $6 on bamboo rods from the gardening center and at Louie's I spent another $8 for sheets of balsa wood.  I then assembled a few necessary tools from around the house - my glue gun, a tape measure, a box cutter, a Japanese saw, and masking tape.

Here is the victim before tiki-fication and some of the components and tools:

Step #1 - cut the balsa wood to fit over the scrolly bits on the mirror.  I decided to frame out the mirror in balsa for two reasons: 1) I knew there would be gaps between the bamboo rods and I figured the balsa would help mask that and 2) I also knew the bamboo would be difficult to stick straight to the scrolls, so the balsa would provide a platform for the bamboo.  

Step #2 - glue the balsa to the scrolls.  This was trickier than I thought it would be because the scrolls weren't perfectly level but with enough hot glue, I got it to work.  

Step #3 - get husband to cut the bamboo to the dimensions of the mirror.  Following recommendations on the internet, we taped the sections that were going to be cut to prevent splintering.  The Japanese saw worked great to cut the bamboo. 

Step #4 - glue bamboo rods to the balsa wood.  This was a bit harder than I thought it would be.  The bamboo wasn't perfectly straight so it took some patience and finesse to find pieces that worked together and didn't leave big gaps.  FYI for anyone who wants to attempt this, start by gluing the straightest pieces on the inside edge of the frame and then work out from there.  Here's the finished product:

A few of the scrolls still peak out here and there but I think it looks pretty good .  After finishing the mirror, I got even more ambitious and decided to make curtains using the green leaf print fabric that started the whole tiki idea.  I then rearranged the room so that my new bureau was under the mirror.  Currently, the Tiki Paradise Guest Room is more of a Tiki Paradise Corner but at least the project is moving forward.  Here's what it all looks like together: