We wanted to show you how we framed our large bathroom mirror. Now that we showed you the raised up vanity, it’s finally time for the “how we gave our mirror a custom look”. We had big plans with the mirror that we were looking at earlier in this post, but with the time constraints of the move we had to make some modifications.
Tutorial: Adding a frame to a plain bathroom mirror
So far with our park house master bathroom we’ve shown you the quick before post where we made a few upgrades to live, including ripping out the carpet and painting the floor. After living without flooring for a few years it was time to tile the floor, then we updated the existing vanity by adding 6 inches in height.
For the framed large bathroom mirror here is a list of the tools, materials and total cost of the project.
List of Tools used
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Miter Saw
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Drill
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Caulking Gun
List of Materials and Cost
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(1) 1x6x8’ MDF board – $8
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(2) 1x4x8’ MDF boards – $12
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(7’) 4-1/4 in. x 1/2 in. MDF Crown Molding – $13 (we used scrap molding we removed from our kitchen cabinets)
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(1) Liquid Nails Mirror Adhesive – $6
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Grand Total $219 (mostly the cost was the lighting!)
Here is the bathroom before we did anything at all.
Don’t you just love the little helpers. The first picture is just after we raised the vanity. I removed the light and the the mirror to get started. The munchkins are so fascinated with playing in the water.
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With the mirror on the floor, kitty and Etta had a little fun. It’s always fun to have kitty around in pictures. She loves to be part of the blog.
Kitty did get a little scared seeing herself in the mirror and decided to run and hide behind it.
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We have noticed lately that Etta really loves the mirror. We find her in front of them occasionally, just watching herself make faces and giggling.
Cassity decided that she wanted the mirror to hang above the vanity. Before it was resting on the vanity, and you couldn’t see any of the wall. That little 1 inch gap made a big difference to me in the final look!
We used the same hardware that it was hanging on before. One problem that we had was trying to glue the frame on the glass flush where the hardware was. Because it stuck out, we had to notch out the frame where the hardware was to allow the frame to sit flush against the mirror.
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I used my multi-tool for this and it worked perfectly. Here is the notch in the frame. We planned it out so the frame sat level on the notch to help hold it in place.
We used mirror construction adhesive, to glue the frame to the mirror, on the bottom and the two sides. The frame overhung the mirror on either side by about 2 inches. We also nailed the frame through the over hanging portion to make sure it stayed in place.
Here is the bottom in place and the sides going up. You can see below that we hung the frame over the mirror edge about 1 1/2”. This helped to hide the edge of the mirror, without adding more trim on the edges.
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Now that the sides and bottom were in place. We were able to set the top frame in place. With the top frame, we screwed it in place near the top and where the new lights would go. By screwing it and not gluing it in place, this allowed us to still get to the original electrical box if needed in the future.
With the top frame in place, it was time to add the crown trim.
Crown molding is like icing on the cake. It makes everything look so much better.
Here is a picture with the new lights in place. You can see here, that with the lights hanging down below the frame, it its like adding twice the amount of light, because of the reflection in the mirror. This was so much better than the light fixture that was there before.
And now the final large bathroom mirror framed, painted and put back together!
[pinit align=”center” url=”https://www.remodelaholic.com/framing-large-bathroom-mirror/” image_url=”https://www.remodelaholic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/[email protected]ic-533×800.png” description=”How to build a frame around a plain mirror”]
Find more posts like this here.
And check out these other ideas for updating your bathroom:
How to Build a Floating Mirror + Shelf
Single Sink Vanity to Double Sink
IKEA Hack: How to Build a Small DIY Bathroom Vanity
And if you decide to take out a mirror and replace it, these are great ideas for reusing the removed mirror! How to make a floor mirror, blinging up a floor mirror, door floor mirror, Trumeau mirror.
Brilliant! So glad I found your blog. Love it. I have no questions because I actually read all of everyone else’s and your replies. Cassity, not only are you talented but also have the patience of Job. Thanks for sharing this…going to try it. If I blog about the before and after, can I add a link to your site?
Chris, you sure can link to our site when you post about it. We are thrilled that you love our site. Happy remodeling!
I’m in the process of framing my bathroom following your instructions but noticed that the MDF board you listed as 6″ wide. The light fixture will sit on the board with a 5″ round mount, how did you find space to fit the crown molding and leave space on top and botton of the light mount? The top board looks twice the size of the 4″ bottom and sides… Thanks…
It has been a while, but the crown is only overlapping the board by about 1/2″. Just enough to nail it to the mdf. If you need to go a little wider, you night need to by a wider board. I hope this helps. I would love to see a picture of your final frame when it is done.
Whats the name of the paint color you used I love it!!
I also have an identical situation. My mirror has been glued in place. I am changing out the counter top on my cabinet and not raising my cabinet.
Do I have to remove the mirror to do the framing. In reading your comments it seems that the only reason that you did remove your mirror was because you raised your cabinet? Is that correct?
I didn’t think about putting the larger board at the top with crown. It just makes it more beautiful. I have 9′ ceilings, so I would prefer to install the light above the frame. do you think that would be too high? I will choose a similar lightfixture to yours.
I can’t believe how fortunate I was to see this post. Not even sure how this happened to pop up but it did.
What good DIYing fortune that this popped up when you needed it! Yes, if you’re not raising your vanity and your mirror is at the height you want it, there’s no need to remove the mirror to frame it. Thanks for the comment! We’d love to see pictures when you’re done!
Love this post! I have a question. In the original picture it looks like there is a small side mirror/vanity. Did you just remove that entirely? My bathroom is set up the same as your before with the large mirror and small mirror/vanity on the side wall. I would love to frame our mirror but don’t want to loose the storage from the side vanity.
Great Tutorial, thought many of your subscribers would love to know….
1#. WASHERS- re-attach mirror with washers & screws (not to reuse those plastic clippy mirror holders) this provides a flush, well almost barely flush & still have the security of screwing to the studs. This enables not really needing to Notch Out Hole in the Wood/Trim.
2#.(If weight is know of Mirror… add hooks (upside down v hooks) by gluing either with comm.grade. adhesive or EZ10OO. Then hang mirror using “MonkeyHooks”.
No Worries with the studs – for gals who don’t feel comfortable with stud finding…
3#. Hardware stores sell these long pieces of spacer, or square rods supper tiny pieces but long, easy to cut. Add to back sides of wood (your on &/or add caulking (printable caulking!!!) basically trimming out frame you made – this piece sits flush to mirror no gaps & everything can just be hung for easy removal. These extra tidbits allows for Easy Change Outs, with out annoying your hubbies – which always helps me since I never have the patience to wait for him…. we all get too excited & want to jump in & start (minding that electricity can hurt & even kill with those shocks, so shut light switches off & breakers too if necessary).
Long but all helpful will be returning for more great reads & tutorials! TEXASGALSTOO
Thanks for the tips!
All I can say is WOW!
Thanks, Lisa 🙂
I cannot tell, but did you replace the counter top & keep the cabinet, just adding paint to it? I love this idea for our master bathroom. Our’s looks just the same as in your BEFORE. I would save us a lot of money by just replacing the counter top & the fixtures.
Thank you,
Teri
Teri, the counter top was the same. We made the existing cabinet taller and painted it.
How did you wire 2 light fixtures from 1 junction box? I love the way you added two over the two sinks and that is my situation but I have one old hollywood light.
Kris, I ran the wire from the central junction box to each light. One on the right and one on the left. The best way might be to cut into the wall and run the wire to a new junction box behind each light. It’s more work but better.
Looks amazing, light and bright! I have been looking for a way to dress up that old bulky builders mirror in my bathroom. I would have added a strip of wood trim to make the mirror look like its sitting on the counter. That strip of paint just looks off in some way. Is it just me?
Thanks for the comment Heidi. We didn’t mind the strip of paint, but a bigger frame could have hid it a little better for sure.