Sunday in Suburbia: Transforming a Mirror for Under 20 Bucks

Last week I shared the hall bath nearly complete.  It was just missing the mirror frame as I had the need to revise the design...again.  But this project is now DONE.  Now onto the 1853 more!

Transforming a Mirror for Under $20

To recreate this frame and shelf you can use MDF or wood.  I used wood, mainly because after three different visits to Home Depot and each time the line for wood cutting was forever long.  I've mastered the miter saw, but I'm still a little afraid of my circular saw, and unfortunately I do not have a big table saw for making long rips.  However, I would recommend MDF unless you want to do a stained look rather than the painted I have done here.  If you go with wood, be sure to use flat, un-warped boards.  The quick way is to place the boards on the floor at the store and see if they lay flat or turn up.

I used three 1x4 boards of white oak that were about $3.50 each per 8'-0" long board from Home Depot.  For the center panel I used a precut 18"x36" white oak paint grade board that was about $7 from Lowes {again, didn't want to wait in line for a cut}.  I took the overall height measurements from the top of the backsplash to the top of the mirror, and then the width measurement of wall to wall and mirror edge to mirror edge.  I went 2" taller than the existing mirror in order to attach it to the studs in the wall above.  I used my work program, AutoCAD, to draw it up, but you can sketch it.  I'm just a sucker for precision...but that fell to the wayside half way through.  After cutting each piece I labeled them as they were all very similar in size and difficult to tell apart without measuring.  While I wanted to miter each corner, the ceiling on the left side slants inward, and creates a 45 degree angle at the top corner of the mirror.

Label Boards

If you miter each corner then you can use long screws to join the two pieces of wood discretely rather than using a bracket.  The brackets caused a little headache floating against the mirror, so try to avoid them if they will be up against the mirror like mine.  On the tops where I did not do a miter cut I used Liquid Nails and held it together with small clamps while it bonded.

Liquid Nails and Clamps

For the center shelf, I cut two shelves and equally spaced them on the back panel being sure the lowest shelf was high enough for my towel stand to sit below.

If you have ever had a crooked screw, or trouble aligning the pilot holes you
accurately measured then you probably are not holding your drill level.

After installing the frame as I installed the shelf, I caulked at the countersunk screws, wood seams, and where the wood meets the mirror.  This helped create a much more "finished" look.  You can also install the whole unit as one piece using a cleat which eliminates the exposed screws.  Most of the mirrors and headboards installed at the hotels I design are installed using cleats.  You can use metal french cleat or create a wood one yourself if your semi-handy.  I went the easy and cheap route for this bathroom.

Supply List:

• Wood or MDF for frame, shelves, and back panel (panel shown is 18"x36")
• 2" and 3" wood screws
• Liquid Nails
• Spring Clamps or Angle Clamp
• Caulk
• Paint or Stain
• Level
• Miter Saw (If you're doing the cuts yourself)
• Power Drill 
• Brackets if necessary 
• Metal French Cleat if desired

Link Parties to Check Out:

  

Sunday in Suburbia: The Hall Bath Refresh

Hmm...I may still not have a complete hall bathroom.  And I suppose it's Monday, and not Sunday.  Opps.

It is so close, but we have done a few other things this weekend like drive to Knoxville to pick up our huge new grill from my in-laws.  This thing is massive, and unfortunately it is ORANGE with a huge white T.  We assembled it Sunday - hope to use it this week - and it seems pretty ah-mazing. {Other than the Tennessee Vol part).  But I feel like I'm stringing you along, so I'll go ahead and post the nearly complete bathroom :)

The Almost Complete Hall Bath

Feel free to review the before and the progress updates: Hall Bath Reno Progress but for a quick look at the before here you go:

Sunday in Suburbia: Our Guestroom Suite

Two weeks ago I planned on unveiling our new hall bath.  Four days ago I decided that while we may wait to replace that shell sconce {sad face}, I needed to do something about that 6'-6" long plate glass mirror.  So...I'll show you the hall bath next week! I am super excited about my light bulb moment for the mirror wall, and I think it will make a tremendous impact for only $16!!!!  But for now -

Navy+Teal+Gold Guestroom

Sunday in Suburbia: We have been Delayed

I really wanted to update the progress on the guestroom and hall bath, but we had a small set back around lunch time on Saturday.  There was a small little portion of the stairwell that had not been painted because we did not have a tall enough ladder, but last week we purchase one of those telescoping multi-position ladders so we could finally give the basic step ladder we were borrowing back to my mother.  After two successful position changes, we were setting up for the last tiny bit I could not safely reach in the previous positions.  It is on the actual stairs so one side of the ladder is up a few steps from the lower side.  We went to release the latch to pull the lower side down and the ladder just flew downwards, catching my wrist between two rungs.  Luckily nothing is broken, but I have one more day before I'm allowed to bend my wrist :(.

Sunday in Suburbia: The Hall Bath Reno Progress

I can not believe we are starting week four in the house!  I really can not believe my office is still a disaster.  Well, at least some other areas are making progress...

The guestroom and hall bath were previously, hmmm, no nice way to say it - horrific!  The guestroom was a workout room for the previous owner and the ceilings had black streaks (why? no clue) and the walls were baby blue.  Since this room was secluded from the other bedrooms, near the hall bath, and had a nice vaulted ceiling I decided to create the guest suite in here.

Here's my color inspiration (loosely):

Design Seeds Teal Doors

Let's review these two rooms before we bought the house:

The Previous Owners Work Out Room

The Little Mermaid Hall Bath

So you say, "Why the little mermaid hall bath?  It's blue, no biggy. Your inspiration includes blue."  Well, did you notice the ceiling is also blue?  And not really the right use of blue nor the right hue.  What about that shell light sconce?

Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the light switch plate before my husband broke it and threw it away.  However, it was a more elaborate version of this one:

All these things are well and good for the right person, in the right home, in the right situation.  None of those apply here, so after taking all the towel bars down, taking the blue cover off the shower curtain rod (yes, more blue) and applying a primer and three coats of paint to the ceiling (luckily only one coat to the walls) we are almost to a happy point.  To be honest, the ceiling needs another coat, but I'm about over it right now.

Almost there...

I have decided to infuse my color via the vanity base cabinets.  Primer will be applied today, and the first coat whenever I finally make a decision on the color.  I was thinking navy with some weathered edges and cute little cottagey-looking hardware.  I'm not a cottage design type person usually, but I realized my whole house can't be gray and contemporary, right?  And what better place to extend past my comfort zone than the bathroom I'll rarely use. :)  Plus the faucets lend themselves to a more casual feel, so I'm going to embrace it!  Navy cabinets with teal towels and accessories will liven this right up!  Hopefully I'll show you that next week along with the guest bedroom.

Oh one last thing - had to show you how these towel bars were mounted.  I mean gee whiz!  Are we swinging from it or what?  Two huge anchors and three screws PER END.  Perhaps it doubled as a bar for pull-ups... after all, it was next to the workout room.  That reminds me...I should do something that resembles a workout...