• Home
  • Projects
    • Room Makeovers
    • DIY Home Improvements
    • Decorating Ideas
    • Organization
    • Furniture Makeovers
    • Crafts
  • Holidays
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Fall
  • Printables
  • Recipes

How to Nest for Less™

How to Frame a Bathroom Mirror

in DIY: Build It, HOW TO Tutorials on

Sharing is caring!

7809 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

It’s time to start cracking down on some DIY projects in our new place. So today I’m showing you how to frame a bathroom mirror.

While I have some wallpaper on order that should be here some time this week, I wanted to get a jump start on the bathroom and trim out the bland builder grade mirror.

how to frame a bathroom mirrorThe bathroom is extremely small… only the width of our vanity. Yeah, small. But at least that meant that framing out the wall mirror would be a super quick and easy project.

How to Frame a Bathroom Mirror

frame out builder grade bathroom mirror

Measure, Cut, & Paint

I measured for my pieces of trim and crown and purchased the wood from my local hardware store. Then, I painted the wood including the back sides of everything since the edges could reflect in the mirror.

painted wood for mirror trim

Start Gluing

To adhere the first piece of trim to the vanity mirror, I used Elmer’s ProBond Advanced. This heavy-duty strength glue will bond any Mixed Materials, like wood to metal or ceramic to drywall or wood to mirrors, without any of the foam residue. Plus it has a translucent paintable finish.

elmers purebond glue for framing mirror

Secure with Painter’s Tape

I put a generous line of ProBond Advanced on the back of the wood then pressed it along the bottom of the mirror on top of the backsplash. To hold it in place I used some painter’s tape.

frame out bathroom mirror

Check for Levelness

Next I added the side boards. Start with one side: add a little bit of glue and clamp in place with painter’s tape. Next hold the other side in place, but do not glue yet. You want to make sure that the two side pieces are the exact same height and that the top board will be level once in place.

how to trim around bathroom mirorNow it’s time to add the top piece. Since I didn’t want to apply too much pressure while nailing the crown into the top board after I adhered it to the mirror (yeah, I could just see the entire mirror breaking into a million pieces in my head), I went ahead and pre-nailed the crown to the top MDF board BEFORE gluing on the mirror.

trim out bathroom mirror

Glue and Clamp

Then I went ahead and glued/clamped in place.

frame around builder grade mirror

Wait 24 Hours

I waited 24 hours before removing the tape. Then it was time to caulk and putty the nail holes in mirror frame. And then stand back and admire your new framed bathroom mirror!

powder room framed mirrorI was completely stunned at how fast this project went along once I had the wood purchased and painted. Only took an hour to get everything glued and clamped in place. Not bad for turning a builder grade mirror into something with a little character.

SEE THE ENTIRE POWDER ROOM MAKEOVER HERE.

how-to-frame-a-bathroom-mirror

popular-projects
« Chocolate Peanut Butter Gooey Butter Cake
STL Vintage Market Days »

Comments

  1. Kim Weir says

    at

    I’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time but was worried it wouldn’t look right! I love the way yours came out!! One question though, did you remove the clear tab thingys that hold the mirror up first? I was just wondering how it would lay flat if you didn’t.

  2. Candace says

    at

    I had the same question about the tabs that hold the mirror!

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      Ours weren’t that thick so the wood is almost flush to the mirror. You can’t even tell where they are!

  3. Pam says

    at

    Did you paint the back of your frame black, or leave it the wood color? I can’t tell from the pictures, does the back of the frame reflect in your mirror? I had my old mirror framed and found I could see the back of the frame so I had them paint the back black and it disappeared when you look at it at an angle.

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      Yes, the back of the wood will reflect a little bit so I painted it white. Great idea to use a store bought frame!

  4. Melissa says

    at

    I’ve seen this done, but never with such a great tutorial! You made this doable for me! Thanks!

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      You’re welcome Melissa!

  5. Debbie says

    at

    This is a great tutorial, but being the perfectionist that I am, I would caulk in the edges to make it look more professional. But it is really nice!

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      Thanks Debbie!

  6. Natalie Jones says

    at

    Where did you find those hangers for the mirror? I can’t seem to find any that lay flush like what you’re talking about. 🙂

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      Ours were not flat. They stuck out a bit but the wood over it laid pretty flat and wasn’t an issue. Hope that helps!

  7. Hannah says

    at

    Great look and easy without having to own a miter saw. What was the trim used for? And also, does collect above the crown molding? I wonder if you created a little shelf, or add a piece of wood on top so it doesn’t collect dust, does that make sense?

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      We ended up not having to use the trim for this project! We didn’t create a little ledge above but that is a GREAT idea!!

  8. Teresa says

    at

    I saw on another pos that for the plastic holders, you can get very thin washers and replace the plastic holders with the washers. It worked great. Love this look. Tks so much.

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      Thanks for the tip, Teresa!

  9. Kristy says

    at

    I want to frame out a mirror but it has a small trim around it already. Do you think I would be able to frame on top or need to pull that frame down first?

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      Depends how thick it is and what it looks like. To be safe I’d probably take it down though!

  10. sherry says

    at

    Beautiful! Thanks for the tutorial!

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      You’re welcome!

  11. Courtney says

    at

    Hi! Are these 1×4’s around the mirror or what type of lumber did you use? Has the glue still held up well? Hoping to do this, this weekend!

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      Yes, just 1×4 boards. Glue held them up perfectly. No issues whatsoever!!

  12. Dawn says

    at

    Just wanted to offer a tip. If you clamp the two side pieces together before you cut them, it will guarantee that they will be the exact same length (plus you will only need to cut once, not twice).

  13. Kathy says

    at

    One side of my mirror is against a wall the other side,there is no wall it’s open space.How do I close the opening up top where the crown molding bows out?

    • Sarah says

      at

      Kathy, I have the same set up in my bathroom. Did you ever find a solution to “close” the area?

    • helen cook says

      at

      Crown molding corner kits

  14. Sophia Rodriguez says

    at

    Love this, I want to frame the mirrors in our bathroom. As I was reading I thought, I want to pin this. Hope you add the “pin it” button to your blog.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

We love to conquer DIY, home improvement projects, and room makeovers. We're not experts; we just try to design on a dime.

Follow us as we try to update our latest house one project at a time. Check out our archives for over 1,000 DIY and home-related projects. Enjoy! Read More…

ARCHIVES

Copyright Policy

All text and images on this site are copyright of How to Nest for Less, LLC. Unless otherwise noted, you may not use this content without written permission.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

How to Nest for Less is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Privacy

Copyright © 2025 · glam theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2025 · Glam Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

7809 shares