Build A Wood Frame Around A Bathroom Mirror, step by step

But first, who framed Roger Rabbit? I dunno. I cannot remember how that movie ended. But as for who framed out our hall bathroom mirror? We did.

Putting a dressed up frame around a plain builder mirror is one of the easiest ways to upgrade a bathroom, especially if you are working with the tile and not doing a total gut job (which we thankfully are in this room since the classic b&w tile is in strong shape). It is in fact kind of crazy that we have not truly tackled this yet (well, we sorta did it here I guess, but this mirror has been naked for the last two years since we moved in).

There are companies out there, like Mirror Mate, who can make it especially straightforward for you – but like the true Hands-on addicts that we are, we opted to try our hand at making this guy from scratch. It seemed like a fairly straight-forward task, despite the challenge of not having much space around our mirror to in fact attach anything. But we will get to that later…

We opted for a especially plain frame. After considering some more ornate moldings or window trim, we chose a flat chunky piece of wood would be best (and it’d match the chunky shelf nearby without competing too much with other more interesting items like our patterned window shade or the new vanity knobs). So first we picked up some 1 x 3″ pieces of pine in the lengths that we needed (I believe our total cost was $14). I was too distracted by the cutie in the cart to save my receipt.

I used my miter saw to cut my corners on an angle, but if you are miter-saw-less you can also do a simpler frame that is kind of like this chalkboard frame that we built instead.

Another challenge of this project was to make the frame rest over the plastic clips that hold the mirror to the wall. No challenge that a little routing could not handle, right? So first I marked where I need to notch out the wood so that the clips would rest inside and the wood could lay flush against the mirror. I chose to be generous with my notches so I’d have some wiggle room when placing the mirror, which is why they are about twice as tall and twice as wide as the clips themselves.

If you rolled your eyes at the word “router” and said “well strong, I do not own no stinkin’ router” – you are in luck. My router broke so I did not have one at my disposal either. So here is the truly plain (but not quite as fairly) way to get those notches:

1. I used a Dremel to make small grooves on all sides of my marked notch, simply so I’d get a relatively clean edge. This step is TOTALLY OPTIONAL. I only did it because I am particular. So if you do not have a router OR a Dremel you are still ok.
2. Use a small drill bit to make some not-too-deep pilot holes, fairly close together (see, if all you have is a drill you are cool).
3. Follow up by going into each pilot hole with a much bigger bit so the holes begin to run into one another.
4. Use a flathead screwdriver and hammer to gently chip or pry away any chunks the drill did not get.

Again, not the prettiest result. But for a plain shallow notch like this (which will not be seen by anyone but the plastic clip itself) it does the job. Oh, and this one goes along the bottom of the frame which is why my notch will not be seen even though it goes all the way to the edge of the wood.

Once all of my notches (four in total) were made, I used my Kreg Jig to make pocket holes and then join my corners together.

And ta-dah, my constructed frame:

Before painting it, we brought it inside to make sure it fit and looked square and everything. This picture below gives you a better sense of how my unpretty notches will fit up against the clips (while still not being visible to anyone once the frame is in place).

It fits!

Fast forward about a day and I primed and painted the frame white (Decorator’s White by Benjamin Moore in semi-gloss, using a small foam roller for a smooth result). While we were at it, we also painted the previously-grey-washed shelf in the background so everything would match (which Sherry mentioned in this post).

I have seen other folks do this project where they simply use some heavy duty caulk or construction adhesive to straight up stick their frame to the mirror itself. But since my last attempt at gluing something to a mirror made me wary of that trick, I hoped to rely on a few strong & secure screws instead. So when we measured and cut our frame we made sure it overlapped the top edge of the mirror (the only edge without a wall, the counter, or some tile in its way). That meant I could drive a couple of screws through the frame and into the wall without being anywhere near the mirror to make sure the frame would not come crashing down on us. The whole contraption was fairly light, so it did not have to be too heavy duty.

And then simply to make sure the bottom of the frame did not flap out or anything, we put a couple of dots of silicone caulk between the frame and the mirror simply to hold it in place (we taped the frame down along the bottom until the caulk dried so it would hold it firmly for the long haul).

That was a few days ago and we have since took out the tape and even given Clara a few baths in there and it is still holding strong. Whew.

When all was said and done caulked and dried, we simply filled those two screw holes with wood putty and painted them so they were not obvious. Then it looked a little something like this.

Is not it such a cleaner and more wrapped up look than this before-the-frame shot?

Even for a not-quite-fancy frame, we are fairly darn pleased with how it polished off that big unpolished beast in the room. And weirdly sufficient, in person it makes the room feel taller since it somehow draws your eye up more than the frameless mirror used to. Which is a pleasant balanced look since we have an extra tall shower curtain on the other side of the room.

So blammo. New mirror frame for a total of $14 and about three hours of time if you count all the building, chipping out notches, priming, and painting.

And since that officially wraps up the last project on this portion of our bathroom upgrade, shall we do a swift budget breakdown? I think we shall.

The total mini-update came in well under our mental budget of $200 (which is mainly simply a random low number that we throw out when we do not feel like calculating a specific budget and we are not doing anything major like replacing tile).

• New light fixture: $61 (from Joss & Main)
• Shelf: $6
• Paint (a quart of Elephant Gray by Benjamin Moore): $24
• Fish art: $30 (from Joss & Main)
• Knobs: $17 (from Hobby Lobby)
• Window shade: $16 for yard of the fabric we used from Mary Jo’s (although we only used $8 worth, so Sherry has leftovers)
• Window frosting: $0 (leftover from other project)
• Mirror frame: $14
• Shadowbox: Already made
• Accessories: Already owned
• TOTAL: $168

*(if you did not already have a shadowbox, window frosting, and some accessories, you might spend an additional $30-40 for a total of 200-ish beans)

If we had to pick the stars of the room, though, it’d totally be the window fabric paired with the fish art. Both simply wake things up and made us feel good about going fairly neutral on everything else.

So there you have it. We can officially close the books on this bathroom for now. Although there is still another untouched bathroom on the to-do list (I am talking ’bout you, guest bathroom).

And now, much like The Talking Dead takes a fond look back at each zombie who is killed (please tell me you folks watch that), we shall take a fond look back at the bathroom that greeted us when we moved in back in 2010 (sorry about the bad lighting, Sherry grabbed the picture right as we pulled up in the moving truck before we carried in about five million boxes).

I have to say, I think this room’s $168 upgrade is one of my go-to inexpensive room redos that we have done here. Does not the after shot nearly feel like it could be a fully new bathroom even though we worked with the original 1960’s tile?

What under-$200 upgrades are you folks doing around the house? Is anyone else making mirror frames or floating shelves or other semi-straightforward projects for the loo? Sidenote: I think Sherry’s go-to line in our whole book was “who does not enjoy a gussied loo?.” So there you have it, a window into my quirky wife’s soul and a post about framing our bathroom mirror.

Update – Wanna know where we got something in our house or what paint colors we used? Simply click on this button: