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.
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!
Here are some other ideas of framing a large bathroom mirror.
Black Framed Mirror Tutorial, Rustic Mirror frame, Stacked molding mirror frame, Arched mirror frame
And if you decide to take out the 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.
Huge improvement! I love that you raised the sink level. And wow, what a difference paint and trim can make. Bravo!
Thanks Patricia! I agree that higher sink is a dream!
I think this is a VERY clever solution for not only making the mirror prettier, but adding more light. I think it would also be a great way to provide a lighting solution for those of us whose light boxes are NOT centered with the mirror, and who are sick of those race-track-style lights!
Your whole bathroom remodel is beautiful.
Thanks Korrie! I wish we could have stayed and enjoyed it longer!
We are wanting to do this exact same thing, but our mirrors are glued onto the drywall and i’m wondering did you have to use a hot wire to go behind your mirror to remove it.. or was it attached mainly with clips all the way around? And love the trim around the mirror, that way you don’t have to take off the lighting or tape around it when changing paint color.. Would love to know once you get a chance about how to take mirror off the wall if it’s attached via glue??
We had that same problem, and the only way to get the mirror off is to break it. And vow that you will never Liquid Nails a mirror to wallboard as long as you live. 😉
I love how you framed the mirror by including the lights. That makes it look even more custom! Your bathroom looks great!
Thanks, we like that detail too!
Love it!!! It looks amazing!! Great job 🙂
Thanks Crystal!!!
What a great upgrade! I am going to pass this along to my mom and dad — they have several of these floating mirrors in their bathrooms and what a difference it would make if they were framed out like this! You did a beautiful job, and I love all of the white, too!
Thanks Maria!
Did you put in new junction boxes for the new lights or run them off the old light? Couldn’t tell from pics. Would love to do this with our kids bathroom.
If you can I would put in new junction boxes!
Wow! What a transformation. Beautiful job. I love the clean look and the blue accents. Pinning.
THANKS for pinning! it was quite the change, I am so happy we did it!
Beautiful job! Love the fact that you incorporated the lights right into the mirror frame~~wish I had seen this tutorial before we redid ours or I would have attempted the same thing. Question~~our mirror/frame adhesive has horrible adhesion power and keeps pulling away from the wall. Could you tell me the brand name of the mirror adhesive that you used?
Many thanks!!
It is liquid nails “mirror adhesive” But we also added some nails to the portion of the frame that hangs over the mirror to make sure it is nice as secure! Hope that helps a bit!
You must add new junction boxes. It’s against electrical code to make a junction box hidden without access. Unless new wiring was run from switch or power this will not pass code. And in the new days of so many do it yourselfers inspectors are starting to look for things like this.
It does have access, like it says in the post in the post, you can remove the whole top panel of the frame, we did that on purpose. I do understand what you are saying though.
Is there a way to dress up a mirror with a frame or anything without it being as permanent? My husband and I are renters, but we still want the apartment to feel like home. We are allowed to paint and drill holes as long as they are less than the size of a dime. Any suggestions?
You could build a large frame and hang it over the mirror, and attach it at the top with “L” brackets and screw those to the wall above the mirror…. off the top of my head, that is what I might try.
this looks great and we are considering doing the same. One thing that I’m unclear on from your description is how you covered the gap that would have been created between the moulding and the wall by overlapping the moulding over the mirror glass. Did you have to cut a pocket or groove in the trim pieces to accommodate the edges of the mirror?
We chose not to, we just allowed for there to be a gap. It was only visible on one side of the frame, and since the wall behind the frame is painted the same wall color and the mirror was painted cleanly the 1/4 gap looks fine, Like any other picture you would hang on a wall, there is just a small space, no big deal. (when we nailed, we did add a filler piece of wood, behind the frame to keep the frame flush and laying flat but that was not visible from the side)
THANK YOU for this remodel! I have always wanted to remodel my bathroom and this is perfect. Even my husband said, ” I can do that!”
YAY! Good Luck!
I love this project and want to try it in our master bath but am a little intimidated. You make it look so easy! Yours turned out great. And I love the wall color. Do you know the name/brand? Thanks!!
Brenda, it was Behr, but it was a mis-mixed $5 paint. You could try Sherwin Williams Chip it plugin on an image that you like of the color and see if they have a similar swatch! Good Luck!
Thanks. I’ll defiantly try that! Hope it
Turns out half as good as yours:)
How did you do the lighting? Through the MDF? Looks like you ran 2 wires through the original light location at the center of the mirror. How did you anchor the light fixtures…to the wall or to the MDF???
Okay well the best way to do it, is to run some new electrical wire to two new light boxes in the wall. But you will still have to secure the lights to the MDF because of the height difference.
On the side of mirror where y’all went a couple inches over to cover the edge of the mirror did y’all put trim or just caulk it up? It looks great!
Nathan, there was just a little gap, and we decided not to fill it. The wall behind it was painted all the way under it so looked just fine and was nice and clean. Hope that helps!
Can you tell me more about the vanity?
Amanda, here is a post that we wrote on the vanity. https://www.remodelaholic.com/2012/11/how-to-raise-up-a-short-vanity/
I love this project. I have a question though. I see you glued the frame directly to the mirror and let it over hang the 1 1/2 inches on the side. I am curious as to how you dealt with the gap between the wall and the frame.
Thank you for the great project idea,
Michael and Lisa Wells
Michael, Actually the gap looked fine so we left it. I painted behind the mirror before we replaced it, so the gap looked just like a framed picture you have hanging on the wall would look anyway(if that makes sense). I figured that caulking would look TOO mussy. But if it really bothers you, you could use a small quarter round…
I looked over your list of supplies and am confused. Are the boards on the sides and bottom 4″ wide and the top board 6″?
Yes!!
Do you remember the name of the wall color you used in the bathroom mirror framing toturial?
Erica, it was a mis-mixed paint that I bought for $5.00 I LOVED the color too. Sorry that I don’t have a name or recipe. You might try Chip It by Sherwin Williams they may have a similar color to match it to.
Where did you get your cute turquoise accessories? (P.S. I was married in the SL Temple too. Cute pic and cute family!)
Lindsay, Thank you! I LOVE those pictures too! As far as the accessories go I got them all over the place. The blue glass bowl is from Sam Moon Home in Texas, and the little bird too. The towel I think is from Walmart. The soap dispensers I got at TJ Maxx on clearance.
Great tutorial and the mirror is awesome! I was curious about the electrical portion of the post. One original fixture and then did you splice it? How did you hang the fixtures? Off of the mdf at the top? I am thinking about doing this in our bathroom and want to make sure I dont cause any fires! Lol!
Nancy, make sure that you have an electrical box behind the new light fixture and you can get to the original electrical box. I made my fixtures so that it can all be taken off to get to the original box.
Love the idea! I also have old mirrors that need a frame. Wondering how to have them cut smaller without transporting them, we have a truck, but how would you transport a mirror without damage? I’m guessing y’all bypassed that by moving the mirror up a bit?!
Laura, you could transport it on a cushion under a piece of plywood and drive carefully, to a place that you could have it cut. And yes all we had to do was raise ours up. We are glad that you love it.
beautiful!
What did you use to redo the cabinets?
Thanks, we used wood to raise it up and then painted them.
I love this tutorial and am highly considering doing something similar with my bathroom. I can’t tell you how much alike this vanity is to my current vanity…. even the lighting.
A couple questions:
1) Can you get by without a miter saw? Could you use the Multi-Tool to cut through the wood if need be?
2) Did you raise the mirror from its original location?
3) Did you need to create an additional socket for the electrical (for the two pieces of lighting), or could you run the electrical out of the one, original socket?
Thanks
Crystal, good questions. Answers: 1) yes you can use other cutting tools. Just cut a nice straight line and sand the edges. 2) Yes we raised it up slightly. 3) We used the existing switch. Just make sure to have an electrical box behind your light fixture for the wiring. If you know an electrician it would be best to talk to him though.
I hope that helps. Good luck!
What color of paint did you use in this bathroom????
Amber, it was a gray mis-mix paint that we found for $5. Unfortunately we don’t have a name for you. We love the color though!
I stumbled upon your post on the sidebar of something else I was reading and all I have to say is, it is truly a blessing!!!! I have the exact mirror and have been dying to frame it! I put similar light fixtures above the mirror, but never did I picture doing it this way! Thank you so much for sharing this! This is also my way of saying I’m using your idea, lol. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
YAY! Good Luck Jennifer, I hope you love it when you are done!
What size is the mirror you worked with? I’d like to know what size MDF I’ll need for my project. This looks amazing! Great job!
Courtney, I think that the mirror was 3′ x 6′. Thanks for the comment.
Hi,
I have the same mirror and vanity in my master bath and love how you framed the mirror. I am curious, in addition to raising the vanity, did you also paint it — or is that a new vanity?
Thanks
Linda, we raised up the countertop on the existing vanity and painted it. The existing vanity never moved. It was an easy fix. Thanks for the comment.
I have the very same type mirror and lights (my light have mirrors as well) Doing a Master Bath redo very soon so I’m glad I came across your post! And I like the soft grey on the wall.
Thanks JoAnn! Good luck with your bathroom!
Question…
What did you do about the small gap between the wood and the wall? I assume that there is a small one since the wood was glued to the mirror.
Joy, I talked about this in the post, but I just left it. It just looks like a picture frame hanging on the wall, it isn’t offensive at all, and the paint went under the frame so the line was nice and clean. I was afraid that when we got into patching it and caulking it, that because our walls are heavily textured, I would have never been able to have a clean paint line, so I just left the gap as is.
The project looks amazing, and I’m excited to start a copycat of my own 🙂 my question is how did you do the corners of the crown molding? I can’t seem to figure that part out. And did you end up painting the frame once completed? Or your molding just happened to be a perfect match with the MDF?
Kristi, we pre-painted the moldings before they went up in place. I also had to glue the corner of the crown molding in place, because it was so small. You have to miter the crown corner for a small piece. There is a picture of me gluing the piece on. I hope that helps.
Well, like everyone else I’m going to do the same thing. My question is what size (thickness) were the firing strips that you used? Also for all the electrical questions, just goto your Home Store and get 2 round “old work” and 1 square “old work” junction boxes (these are the ones with the tabs). I like most just had a wire sticking through the wall to power the old light bar. Use the square for your center split to the other rounds. I did have to cut through one stud and just used a 5/8 spade bit to drill the hole for the wire. I’ll try to embed a picture.
Glen, about the firing strips, if you are refering to the frame thickness they are 5/8″ actual thickness. If you are talking about the spacer behind the frame, it was about 1/2″. It just depends on how far off the wall your mirror sits. I hope that helps!
We have almost the exact same set up in our bathroom including that light. I love this idea and would like to do this, too. Was it difficult to rewire one light for 2 lights? (An electrician I am not)
My hubby has done a lot of electrical work and we’ve worked with several electricians over the years…. I think in order to be safe, it might be best to get the help. But the work is not too hard, you just need guidance the first few times you do something. (often times we get help for our electrician friends and trade them for work)
Hi, question about installing the frame. How did the bottom molding stay in place while it dried? Did you use tape? I did this once before, but rested the molding on the backsplash so it wasn’t an issue. I’d love to raise it up.
Wendy, the bottom frame is sitting on the mirror hardware that is holding it to the wall. I also nailed the ends to the wall, because they overhung the mirror. You could use tape if you have too, as well.
Completely inspired by this! Would you mind sharing your painting process? I apologize in advance if I oversaw a previous post that explains this!
Nora, we painted the pieces before we installed them. Then we patched the holes from the nails and painted one last time.
Love this framed mirror look! What color did you paint the walls of the bathroom? I love the color.
It was a mis mixed paint! Sorry I don’t have the color! Maybe try Sherwin Williams Chip it.
Justin and Cassity,
I love your blog! You guys are so talented! Can you please tell me how you made your vanity look so good? Is it oak? I’ve hear that it’s not a good idea to paint oak, so I’ve resisted my urges to paint. But your work turned out so nice that I’m wondering if I should reconsider painting mine. Is there a trick to it? Have you ever regretted painting oak?
Thanks for any advice you can give me, and thanks for all your posts! I love reading them!
Jennifer
Really wish you would have put the shims in the list of materials. Maybe I’m an idiot but we went to do this to our mirror, didn’t realize we needed the shims till too late and now have to wait till the home improvement store is open tomorrow to finish… pretty sure you never even mentioned shims…
Sorry, we didn’t use shims, which is why I didn’t mention them.
MDF in a bathroom? Not a builder, but MDF may not be the best material in a steamy room
Can you tell me how you ran the wires to make one light into 2? I have the same set up an would love to do something like this.
Thanks
you need to run two new boxes from the existing one. the wood covers up the boxes and is removable.
alwayus i used to read smaller articles or reviews which also clear their motive, and that is also happoening with this piece of
writing which I am reawding now.
Wow! Have to redo a client’s bathroom and this just comes in handy. The mirror us a floating one and I’d love to throw a nice frame around it. Thanks a great deal.
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 🙂