Bye-bye Builder Grade...AKA How We Framed Our Mirror

We bought our 9 year-old home almost 3 years ago.  Like most new construction, our house has lovely "builder grade" mirrors in all of the bathrooms.  (What I mean is that there really isn't anything special about them!)

I saw this amazing idea on pinterest and we got to work framing the mirror in our downstairs bathroom.  

Here's a "before."

First, we went to Lowes and purchased 2 pieces of wood moulding for $22 total.  We borrowed my father-in-law's power miter saw and cut 45 degree angles to create a frame the correct lengths for each side of the mirror.  (You could also do this with a miter box.)         

Then I spray-painted both side of each of the four cut pieces.

And, yes, if those pieces look dark green and not black (like we intended) you are correct.  In an eager hurry to start this project I grabbed "Charleston Green" paint by mistake.  This was just to prove that we are NOT DIY-ers at all!  Overall, not the worst mistake.    

After painting the trim BLACK, we were good to go.  

We piped liquid nails for mirrors on the back of each piece of trim, staying in the middle of each piece so nothing would reflect in the mirror.  And let me say that this stuff was awesome.  It securely held each piece of trim from as soon as it was in place.  We did not even need to use tape, etc. to help hold the trim up while it dried.  

Everything dried easily and then we used paintable caulk on the corners to hide the seams.  

I went back over with a foam brush and painted over the caulk.  (Just sprayed some of the paint on a piece of cardboard and it worked just fine.)  

And...all finished!

We are pleased with how it turned out!  And for about $30, not bad for a "custom upgrade."  

Now to tackle the other 3 bathroom mirrors in the house....

PS - In case you missed it before, we found our directions here.  

Linking here.

betweennapsontheporch.net

todayscreativeblog.net