DIY Bathroom Mirror Frame

During our half bathroom makeover, I debated & debated whether or not to take down the builder grade mirror & replace it with a new one or to frame it in. In the end, the idea of taking it down scared me… I’m not great at wall repair & did I mention I started the whole bathroom project 4 days before we were hosting a 4th of July BBQ?! Yeah maybe that wasn’t my smartest decision, but I felt inspired & I thought the deadline would give me the push I needed to complete the project in a timely fashion. Good news is the project was finished at 1:00 a.m the morning of the party. So our guests got to enjoy full use of our brand new bathroom!

I decided that I wanted the frame to have a farmhouse vibe & be as easy as possible to accomplish. I stumbled upon Christina’s awesome Bathroom Mirror Post and decided this was the way to go! The only difference is that she bought her mirrors and framed them in & I had to frame in a mirror that was already hanging up.

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Supplies: 

• Pine Boards  (1x2s & 1x3s)
• Stain (Minwax Classic Gray&Pickled Oak)
• L Brackets 3in (I used these)
• Black Spray Paint (if your brackets are not already black)
• Adhesive

Now Let’s Get To Work:

1. First, measure your mirror & decide whether for not you want the frame to sit on or around the outside of your existing mirror. I originally wanted mine to sit around the mirror. Due to some very very very silly measurement mistakes (I call this blonde moment #1) I had to go with framing on top of the mirror.
2. After I bought the length I needed I came home & cut the 1x2s & 1x3s with my miter saw. The 1x2s will lay on their side on top of the 1x3s. My mistake came from how I measured, for some reason, I only measured the length & width of the exact size of the mirror, I don’t know why I didn’t add in extra length & width so the frame could sit outside of the mirror. I blame the deadline pressure & working with only one cup of coffee in my system. Some of you are probably thinking, why didn’t I just go buy more wood & start over, which I would have done but again, the deadline & I really hate wasting good wood.
3. Once the cuts were made, I started staining. I started with of the pickled oak, brushing it on & letting it sit a few minutes. Then wipe it off with a cotton rag (I dropped the ball on the picture portion for this project, whoops). I probably did two coats with the pickled oak, letting the wood fully dry in between each one. Then, I started staining with the classic gray, same process as above, probably three coats total. My advice is to just mess around with the stain until you are happy it with!
4. I started assembling the pieces once the stain was dry.
   

   Place the wood like this:

     Because I don’t have a Kreg Jig yet, (but it is on my birthday list, someone please remind my husband in case my daily hints aren’t enough) I had to attach the frame together with glue & nails….. I will be a professional someday I swear it! Start by piecing the 1×3 frame together. I glued the short 1×3 edges to the inside of the long 1×3 side pieces. Then, I assembled the 1×2 frame separately by gluing the short pieces to the inside of the longer side 1×2 pieces (don’t forget the 1×2 pieces are flipped onto their sides, not lying flat, 1in side facing up towards you). Once it set a little, I used the nail gun to reinforce the 1×2 frame together. 

 5.  After both frames were assembled separately, I placed the 1×2 frame on top of the 1×3 frame & used the nail gun to attach the two frames together.

6. Next, I spray painted my L brackets with my satin black spray paint. I let them dry and then attached them to the inside corners of the 1x3s. This gave the frame a nice rustic look, plus provided extra support since they are only glued together. This is where I made my second whoops or blonde moment #2. Even though Christina mentioned in her post spray painting the screw tops I still forgot. So I just followed her lead & used a black sharpie to color them in!

7. Now it was time to hang the frame to the mirror. This is the part I dreaded, If you made your frame to sit outside the mirror then you can just nail the frame up, make sure you hit some studs, & you are done! If you are like me & need to glue the frame to the mirror itself, then here we go: I used an adhesive that is a little unconventional because in the past I have tried to use liquid nails & the frame was falling off within the week (sigh). I did not want to deal with that drama twice, so I used THIS multi-purpose floor adhesive. Use whatever you trust to hold, this has been holding up perfectly for a while now & still going strong! After you apply your adhesive to the edges of the frame, have someone hold the frame in place while you make sure its level. I held it tight for about 5 minutes, while Justin worked on bracing the mirror with tape and long 1x4s.

I let the bracing sit overnight and included it staying in place in my prayers. In the morning I removed the bracing, tape, & held my breath in order to make the frame stay in place (if you’re not breathing, the frame won’t fall, solid logic folks). After 30 seconds I couldn’t hold it any longer, ( I’m not Michael Phelps) I exhaled & the frame remained in place! Cue the happy dance! I am so in love with this mirror, it turned out even better than I thought it “wood”! 

If you have any questions, comments, or your own DIY mirror pictures you want to share, drop them in the comments! I love hearing from you guys!