Contractor-Grade Mirror to Custom Framed Mirror

I'm always up for easy, high-impact, inexpensive projects to give our house a little more character. Adding a custom frame to a contractor-grade mirror is certainly one of those things. We had two problems with our mirror. Our mirror doesn't have the plastic "alligator clips" so we couldn't take the mirror down (without tearing up our drywall) and put up a new one with a nice frame. The other issue was that the mirror goes almost up to the wall on one side so we couldn't do a proper frame around the mirror. Instead, we put it ON the mirror. Here is our solution. 

Supplies: 

• 3x1 pieces of wood- get high quality unfinished wood
• Tape measure
• White rags
• Paint or wood stain- we used a tiny container and it was more than enough
• Liquid nails
• Saw

To Do:

1. Measure your mirror length. You'll need two cuts that length. Measure the height of the mirror, subtracting the width of the wood times two. You will want the side pieces to be "sandwiched" between the top and bottom lengths. 
2. Cut your wood to the proper length. 
3. Using white rags, stain the wood to the desired color. Or, paint the wood at this point if you're going to paint it. 
4. While the wood is drying, make sure your mirror is completely clean. 
5. After the wood is dry, do a "dry run" and make sure all of the pieces fit together around the mirror the way you want them to- once you start nailing, it'll be too late. 
6. After everything fits correctly, put a couple strips of liquid nails on the half of the wood closest to the outer edge/wall side. If the glue gets too close to the inside- the part by the center of the mirror- it WILL show in the reflection of the mirror. If you discover that you can see the glue once you've put the piece in place, quickly pull it off, wipe the mirror and the wood and try again. 
7. We found the easiest and best way to put up our frame was attaching the bottom, then the sides and then the top. 

A few notes...

• You can certainly take these ideas & steps and adjust them to fit with some of the other tutorials out there that combine styles of wood to get a 'fancier' look. We preferred the more modern line of the straight wood. 

Before. Yes, the husband took a picture of the bathroom
mirror with swimsuits drying and baby formula out. 

After. We love the added color and character the
frame gives the bathroom. 

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