Our recent run of mirror projects has left me running low on new mirror puns, but the guest bathroom was next on the list. After swapping out the medicine cabinet in our master bath, we decided the guest bath deserved a similar refresh—especially since guests don’t really need a medicine cabinet.
The old metal cabinet was still functional but looking tired—the interior was starting to rust and we suspect it may have been the original, making it nearly 50 years old. The plain silver frame also felt dated, so we pulled it off the wall. Two screws and a few minutes later, the mirror was removed and ready for a replacement.
It wasn’t an elaborate swap—our replacement was a simple Target mirror we’d had for a couple of years—but it was free and clean. Once we paint the walls (we’re leaning toward a muddy gray to complement the yellow tile), the white frame should pop and coordinate nicely with the trim, sink, and toilet.
We also removed a large metal shelf and towel bar that made the small room feel cluttered. You can see the shelf gone in the photo below. Instead of that bulky fixture, we’ll add two sleek hooks to the inside of the bathroom door for guests’ towels and hang a piece of crisp artwork to soften the utilitarian feel.
We also decided to remove the full-length mirror on the inside of the bathroom door—not just to make room for towel hooks, but because its placement created an awkward sightline. If someone were using the toilet, they’d get a pretty uncomfortable reflection of themselves.
Taking the mirror off was simple. It wasn’t glued to the door—just clipped in place—so I removed one clip and slid the mirror out, then removed the remaining clips. Below is an in-progress shot of the removal.
Here’s the door now. We still need to putty over the screw holes left by the mirror clips and install the towel hooks, but the door looks much cleaner and will feel less awkward for guests. We dodged what could have been an uncomfortable moment for anyone using the bathroom—especially if they happened to be named John.
We still have another full-length mirror on the master bathroom door (on the outside), and we almost removed that one too. For now we’re considering leaving it and possibly upgrading it later by adding a framed molding to make it look built-in. We’ll decide as the rest of the bathroom comes together.