Are you wanting learn how to frame a bathroom mirror but can’t figure out how to get around those pesky mirror clips? In this post, I’ll show you how to DIY a bathroom mirror frame the EASY way…without ever messing with those plastic mirror clips!
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So a couple of weekends ago I decided to do something that I’d been wanting to do for awhile: frame our builder grade bathroom mirror. I’ve been putting it off for so long because, honestly, I was intimidated by how much work I thought it would be. One thing I kept reading when researching how I wanted to do it was “This was the easiest DIY I’ve ever done!”
Ok, this DIY bathroom mirror frame wasn’t the easiest DIY ever…but it wasn’t hard. There was just a little bit of a learning curve and a few things I had to improvise on (curse you plastic clips!)…which I will share with you and hopefully will make this the easiest DIY ever for you!
DIY Bathroom Mirror Frame (without removing the plastic mirror clips)
Ok, if you’ve been considering making a frame for your bathroom mirror, then you’re probably here for one reason…and one reason only. How do I get around those stinking plastic mirror clips?
Probably like you, I’ve read many different DIYs on how to navigate around this clip problem. And let’s just say I went into this project with one plan (involving Liquid Nails and glueing the frame right to my mirror), and I ended up going rouge and doing something totally different (and wayyyyy easier).
Basically, those clips were ruining everything! I couldn’t get my frame to lay flat against the mirror so I could glue it on….because of the clips. So I went a completely different direction, got rid of the whole “glue frame to mirror” plan and instead ended up hanging my frame over my mirror.
That’s right. The frame is literally….a frame, simply laying on top of the mirror, and is not attached to the mirror in any way, shape, or form. Basically with the help of 2 sawtooth hangers on the back of the frame and 2 screws in the wall right above the mirror, I just hung the frame over the mirror like I would hang a picture on the wall.
Clip crisis averted!
Honestly, I felt like this was the easier way to go. And I’ll take you through step-by-step showing you exactly how I did it. But first, let’s look at some before and after pics!
Before and After
So the before: nothing special. As in, just your standard builder grade bathroom mirror.
It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes in our guest bathroom! Love! Oh, and spoiler alert: we made a huge one for our master bathroom too. 😉 You can see that at the very end of this post.
Mirror Frame Supply List and Costs
For the frame:
- 4 pieces of 1x4x8 wood: cut and measured to fit your mirror (see below to see how I measured) $5/board=$15 **You can find cheaper wood, but you’ll most likely have to do a ton of sanding.
- Wood stain or paint (I use Dark Walnut on pretty much all of my projects!) $7…and you will have TONS left over for projects to come!
- Staple gun: Nothing crazy…just a hand-held one like this.
- Sawtooth hangers $2
For the brackets:
- 4 L corner brackets (this is not just for decor…it actually helps hold the frame together) $1.70/bracket=$6.80
- Black spray paint (I had this on hand)
Get the Stuff
How did I measure?
Ok, so the one thing you want to make sure of is that the edge of your mirror doesn’t show once you hang your frame. I’ll show you how I measured mine to make sure that didn’t happen. Also, I did not miter the ends of the wood….which eliminated a whole step! I also got all of my wood cut at Home Depot with my measurements in hand.
Horizontal Boards (←→)
To get the wood measurement for the 2 horizontal boards, I measured the width of my mirror and added 1 inch.
So my mirror measured 28″ across, and I got 2 pieces of wood cut at 29″.
Vertical Boards (↑↓)
To get the wood measurements for the 2 vertical boards, I measured the height of my mirror, added 1 inch (just like I did for the horizontal boards), and the subtracted the width of the two 1x4x8 boards that I would be using for the horizontal boards (about 7 inches). (See picture below for reference).
My mirror measured 42″ high, I added 1 inch to get 43″, and then subtracted 7 inches (the width of two 1x4x8 boards) to get a measurement of 36″.
So my final cut pieces of wood for my 42″x28″ mirror were 36″(2)x29″(2).
How to Build and Hang Your Bathroom Mirror Frame
Like I said earlier, I got all of my wood cut at Home Depot…AND I didn’t miter the edges. So that eliminated a few steps already.
I also did almost 0 sanding… mainly because I hate it and have no time for that nonsense. 😄 The wood I chose was just common wood (cheap), and it was already smooth on one side…so that’s the side I used for the front. I did sand the ends of the wood a little bit that were rough from being cut.
1.Lay your boards out and fit them together face down how they will be assembled.
2. This step is easiest with 2 people: have one person hold 2 of the pieces together while the other uses a staple gun to attach the pieces together. Keep going until your whole frame is put together. Remember: You are stapling the back of your frame.
Note: I originally hadn’t planned on going the staple route at all. I first used wood glue to hold the pieces together, but once I tried turning the frame over, it just came apart. That’s when the staple gun came out!
3. With a partner, CAREFULLY turn the frame over to where the front of your frame is facing up, and the stapled part (the back) is face down.
4. Now it’s time to stain! (or paint…your choice). Dark walnut is my go-to stain, and it was super easy to apply. I did 3 coats, allowing just 15-20 minutes of dry time between each coat because it dried quickly in the sun.
Note: I held off on staining the edges until after I put the L brackets on. Since the only thing holding the frame together at this point is the staples on the back, I tried to move it as little as possible.
5. While you’re waiting for your stain to dry between coats, you can go ahead and spray paint your L brackets. The type of spray paint you use isn’t really that important since they won’t really be getting wear and tear sitting on your frame….just make sure you don’t get the cheap bottom shelf kind.
Note: You’ll also need little screws to attach the brackets….these come with screws! If you can find black screws to match your spray painted brackets, more power to you! Otherwise, you can spray paint those black as well!
6. Once your stain is dry, now it’s time to attach your L brackets. I literally just eyeballed the placement and screwed them in with the small screws. Again, this is actually what’s helping to hold the frame together. So don’t skip this step by just gluing the brackets on.
7. Once you have all 4 L brackets screwed in, you can move your frame around freely! It should be sturdy! Now you can stand it up and stain the edges of your frame.
8. To hang the frame, I nailed 2 sawtooth hangers to the top back of the frame. Now it’s ready to hang!
Honestly, this was 100% the worst part for me. I’m not good with the small details…like measuring, lol! So measuring the placement of the hangers, the screws in the wall, and all that mess took me forever. It’s not that it’s hard…it’s just that the fun part is over and now I have to adult and do annoying stuff like measure, level, etc. And like I said: I’m more of an eyeballer. I got it done this time, but luckily our friend and neighbor hung our big master bathroom frame, so I didn’t have to deal with it.
And That’s a Wrap!
Y’all…that’s it. Once you have your cut pieces of wood in hand, putting the frame together is simple. And hanging it is SOOOO much easier than messing with those mirror clips.
A few days later I did the same thing and made a frame for our large bathroom mirror in our master bathroom. The only thing I did differently is skip the wood glue and start right with the staple gun. Oh, and rallied my neighbor to hang the frame for me. 😄 I love it!
Complete the Look
Ok, have I convinced you yet?? If a DIY bathroom mirror frame has been on your to-do list, just do it! You won’t regret it, and you’ll be surprised how easy the “hanging frame” route is! If you follow this tutorial, I’d love to see the finished product! Tag me on Instagram @herhappyhome (and follow along while you’re there!) to show me how awesome it looks!
Beth Ferlazzo says
Can I send you a picture of my mirror
Sammi says
Hi! I am planning to try this- probably in all three bathrooms – soon! This idea is so smart!!
Is there any reason I couldn’t stain the boards before I staple them and then get the brackets on right away?
Can’t wait to try!!
Her Happy Home says
I think that would work just fine! I hope it goes well!
Denise says
OMG!!!
I followed your directions and my frame
came out beautiful!!!!
Her Happy Home says
Oh yay, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for sharing!
Christie says
Hi, I totally want to do this in our master bath. Did you do anything extra for hanging a larger frame? I want to be sure it doesn’t fall
Her Happy Home says
Hi! I put 3 of the hangers across the top to hang the one in our master bathroom. I also made sure they lined up with the studs in the wall.
Alina says
Bad day for me, I got my mirror broke accidentally.
April says
I made a mirror like yours as well. I attached my mirror with heavy duty velcro. The velcro was about the thickness of the plastic strips so it was just right.
My problem was on each corner of my mirror I had a decorative 2 inch by 2 inch mirror on each corner of the big mirror that kept my frame from laying flush. My solution was screwing a wood strip about 4 inches wide to upper and lower backside of frame. Then I put 1 part of the velcro on that strip(s) of wood and the other part on the mirror. Worked great! My husband was impressed.
zendegy says
Brilliant!
Chelsea says
Is that added inch on the length and width enough to make sure you’re able to hang the top of the frame above the mirror without any mirror showing on the bottom?
erum r imam says
I dont have clips on mine. Can I just glue the frame on the mirror instead of using sawtooth hanger
Her Happy Home says
Personally, I haven’t tried glueing the frame so I can’t really give you any feedback on that. But there are lots of tutorials out there from people who have glued the frame and had good results. I hope you can find something that helps!
Belanie Cruz says
If you have spacing on each side I suggest finding a piece of food the same thickness as your mirror and nailing that into the wall. Then glue the mirror to that. We are doing this just in case we decide to sell the house in a year or two. I don’t think we will but then we only have to worry about the whole in the wall instead of a whole mirror.
Belanie Cruz says
Wood not food.
Karen says
This worked perfectly! I wasn’t crazy about gluing the frame. I tried using washers in place of clips and wasn’t comfortable with that. I hung the frame like a picture. Worked great! Thank you.
Her Happy Home says
Hi Karen! Yes, both of those methods I wasn’t crazy about either! I’m so glad hanging the frame worked out for you!
Carrie says
I’ve been looking for a solution to those pesky plastic clips FOREVER! This is amazing! I’m just wondering if the clips keep the frame from sitting flush against the mirror or if you can see them or the gap they leave?
Her Happy Home says
Hi Carrie! The frame doesn’t sit exactly flush with the mirror, but you can’t see the clips and (in my opinion) the small gap it leaves isn’t noticeable at all. I hope this helps!
Brenna says
Love this look! Can you show the back of the frame where you put the brackets? I have tried this diy before and gave up but you’re giving me the motivation to try again!
Deseri says
Hello! Where is the shelf with hand towel rod from? TIA!
Her Happy Home says
Amazon! You can find everything linked here: https://her-happy-home.com/builder-grade-bathroom-updates/
Sara says
Hi! my mirror is up against a wall on each side. Will this still work if I don’t add an inch to the sides? Thanks!
Her Happy Home says
Sure, it should still work!
Priscilla Barczyk says
Hello, love this mirror and want to do something similar to a bathroom in a vacation home rental so it needs to be pretty durable/won’t get knocked off the wall… do you think this would hold up vs. gluing a frame on?
Her Happy Home says
We’ve had ours up for almost a year, and it’s never even come close to getting knocked down. We also have one in our kids’ bathroom that has stayed put, no problem. 😉
K says
Hi!! Thank you so much for this! I am currently working on getting my materials together. One thing I don’t understand(math is not my favorite) is where the 7 inches to subtract came from came from on the 1x4x8??
Liz says
Most boards are slightly smaller than the listed width; a 1×4 would actually measure closer to 1×3.5, and looking at her photo the top and bottom boards go from the left to right side of the mirror. So you’ll subtract 3.5 from the top and 3.5 from the bottom (totaling 7 inches) in order to get the length of the vertical boards. I hope that came through as clearly as it did in my head! 🙂
Anonymous says
Thank you I was trying so desperately to figure this out in my brain! This very much clears up the question I had.
Her Happy Home says
Awesome! I hope it turns out well!
Susan Campos says
Ooooo-next weekend’s project! This will go in our only bathroom and will get splattered with toothpaste, etc. should I put some kind of top coat on it for easier clean-up? Thanks – I love this!
Her Happy Home says
You can definitely seal it with a polyurethane! We have one of these frames in our kids’ bathroom, and we’re able to wipe off any toothpaste splatter easily.
Amber says
Do you leave the plastic nail clips that are for the mirror in the wall still? Or do I take them out? Does it push the frame out alittle bit
Her Happy Home says
I didn’t remove anything attached to the builder grade mirror. And the frame will lay on top of the mirror, rather than flush against the wall.
ashley johnson says
This blog is awesome. Love it.
Frame sits on the mirror. To Mount it you used screws in the wall with the sawtooth hangers?
Her Happy Home says
That’s correct!
Tara says
The mirror frame looks fantastic! I will be using this tutorial to do my own. Is there a reason that you waited until it was assembled to stain the wood instead of staining it before?
Her Happy Home says
Hi Tara! I’m so glad you’re wanting to try this tutorial! As far as when I chose to stain the wood…no reason at all! You can easily choose to stain it before assembling the frame.
Jenni METCALF says
Hey there!! First time visitor here😊 LOOOOVE the hanging frame trick for the mirror. Where do you place the screws? So that you don’t see the frame in the reflection of the mirror? Do you line up the very edge of the frame opening to line up with the edge of the mirror so they don’t overlap?
Her Happy Home says
Thank you for visiting! My frame does overlap on top of the mirror a little bit. The reflection of the frame isn’t noticeable unless you’re looking for it. 😊