A backwards DIY

When we moved into this house, the vanity mirror above the bathroom sink had been ripped out, leaving a large, irregular hole in the wall. We spent months and a couple hundred dollars worth of pre-fab storage/mirror combos (that were all ultimately returned) and still had no solution, not to mention a place to blow dry my hair or apply make-up. We knew we had to go with one that has built in storage because the bathroom is so small. We just couldn't do without the extra cupboard space, so we had to be picky in what we chose.

Eric finally decided the best route would be to focus on the storage cupboard since it was the only thing we'd found that was big enough to cover the hole. We'd just worry about the mirror later. He got to work adding some wood studs in the open space (free from the high school wood shop scrap pile) and drilled that sucker securely on the wall.


We combed the county for a long skinny mirror to mount to the bottom shelf, since it sits directly at eye level (at least for the two of us!). We started at craft and home improvement stores. They sell round ones, oblong ones, square ones, even scalloped edged ones- but not long skinny rectangular ones. The square ones would have worked if we got three and lined them up next to each other but who wants two seams on their face when they're trying to shave or put on make up? Plus they were like 15 bucks each. We found one about half the size of what we needed at Pier One that was bedazzled on the edges for like $35. Uh, no thanks. So we gave up looking for a while.   I was at hobby lobby the other day and while looking for watercolor paper came across a display of wall mounted candle holders. Several of them were long skinny rectangles and they all had mirrors as the backdrop. I flipped one over to see if I would be able to pull it apart. Sure enough, it just had little tabs on it like a picture frame. And it was the perfect size, for only $20!



I took it home and with a little help from my needle nose pliers, pried the prongs back, carefully navigated the sharp edges as I removed the mirror piece, peeled off the two tiny globs of glue that held it to the backing and gave it a good windexing. I originally planned to mount it to the back of the open cupboard shelf using command strip adhesives, but there's an advantage to having it detached so it leans back slightly- gives a larger viewing area and is adjustable for individual users based on height. Flush with the back of the wall, most people would have to bend down a little to see the top half of their face.

So here's what that hole in the wall looks like now. A few days later I finally installed the ring towel holder he purchased way back along with the matching sink hardware and now I am happy to say we have a completed bathroom!



There is a lot more to the bathroom saga, but the end of it is: we got the storage solution we needed, a mirror, a new non-rotten floor, a working toilet, and a fully functioning set of pipes and drains by our 5th month of residence. It just took a little patience to wait until the right thing came along.