Here is the screen. We tried fabric behind it and it looked great. Then Gordon suggested we try a mirror behind it and Wow. But real mirrors are heavy and expensive, particularly if cut to fit. How to do it?

By coincidence I happened to see a "Painted House" episode using "Mirrored foil." I started searching the Internet and finally found "Reflective mylar" which was readily available from out local hydroponics store. It was cheap. It's the stuff they make those shiny balloons from. It's like a giant roll of aluminum foil but it not so wrinkly.

At Home Depot I had them cut 1/4" oak plywood into six panels to back each section of the scroll work. I got some spray glue and a 99 cent squeegee and I was good to go.

Here are the backing panels and the mylar.

I cut the mylar in to sheets bigger than the panels and glued them on. It was very easy. The mylar is sturdy and not wrinkly like kitchen foil.

I trimmed the excess mylar with a utility knife.

I temporarily taped the panels into place to see how they looked.

Pictures don't do it justice! The screen was pretty cool before. The mirror foil adds a luminosity that changes as you walk around the room. It sparkles. If we get tired of it, we can always remove the panels or cover them with fabric.

Did I mention that we've completely trashed the room, even removing the carpet?

Ugh.

When we redid the house in 1988-89, we intended to refinish the floor so the painters were kind of sloppy. The budget forced us into carpet and we forgot our floor for 17 years. Time for comeback. Do we paint the floor? Refinish it? Put the carpet back down? Time to call A. L. Thomas for an estimate.