$8 DIY Mirror Hack: How to Frame a Basic Mirror and Make It Swanky.

 

So this project...is long long overdue.  It's been on my docket since I wrapped up the master closet spring cleaning oh what seems forever ago.  But here it is today!  It's a DIY mirror hack, how to frame up a cheap basic full-length mirror, and for only $8, make it swanky.

Ya know, one of those cheap mirrors that go on sale everywhere during back-to-school time, the kind every dorm room has, that we all surely have somewhere at home.

Ya know, like this one.  Or this one.*  The near throwaway type.

Like this one.

No need to throw it away and no need to live with it being chintzy a minute longer, though.  I gotchu covered.

So after the glorious cork panels went up, and then after the super fun wallpaper went up, and then I extended the shelves to make them deeper rather than buy new ones (ya know let's be budget-friendly here), and let's not forget the chic wood ceiling, and then made that cedar flower mobile, all that was left was this dang mirror.

Because it was too eh and boring and not nice enough to hang back up on the wall as-is.

 

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So it sat.  And sat.  And sat.

Until the other day.  Whew.  Finally.

Grabbed the darn thing and toted it down to the ol' workshop and rummaged around for a sane fix.

What did I use?

• the mirror,* of course
• 2 pieces of scrap 1x2 pine
• 1 1x2 by 8' piece of pine* (I used Select pine from Menards)
• wood glue*
• 1" screws*
• keyhole brackets*
• white paint
• metal screw-in wall anchors*

And that was it.  Yep!  The $8 is the ballpark price of the full stick of eight foot pine which I already had on hand so technically this project was free to me.  And bonus, more scrap wood usage.

All right!  Let's hack that boring boring mirror.

Now, here's the thing.  I designed this on the fly.  

Do not panic.  You can draw this up, do a quick sketch of ideas, and go from there or just go balls to the wall and make it up as you go.

I stretched out those two pieces of scrap 1x2 and thought hey, kinda liking how they overhang the ends.  What I should have done?  Offset them rather than make everything centered and even.  Next time.

Trimmed them down to eighteen inches long and then merely glued them to the frame itself.  Yeah, that's it.

Glued.

While those were setting, I measured for the length and trimmed my eight footer down to two pieces a hair over 46".  Like 46 1/4" or actually I think it was like 46 5/16."  Whatever, you catch my drift.

Then, like the ends, just glue those suckers down.

Yeah no, I know, I should have cleaned the mirror before doing any of this but it panned out fine.  Need a homemade DIY glass cleaner?  Here ya go.  Cleans dog nose stuff and slobber with ease.

Not exactly the design direction I was hoping with this plan in my head but it works.

Worried about stability?  No worries, read on.

Ok.  Once everything was dried and holding, I rifled around my paints and found some white cabinet and trim paint, a semi-gloss or so.  Figured the sheen would make a nice contrast in the closet itself.  Slathered that on.

Color, pattern, shine, and texture; all keys to a cohesive design.

But I know.  White.  Very not me.  At all.  The one "color" you won't find me using much at all.

Don't waste painter's tape on this.  Just slide a little piece of paper along as you go.

Originally, I thought maybe I'd stain the wood but the more I thought about it, the stained edges of the shelf extensions and the glorious cork, it felt like staining the pine would have created undo visual competition.

But, Boo, you do you.  Paint, stain, wrap the frame in fabric, wrap the frame in wallpaper, stickers, glue on beads or charms or shells or feathers.  You.  Oooh feathers....

What I should have done earlier (heh, see, this is what happens when you do things on the fly) is flip it over and add some security screws before painting but, if you're careful, you can do it after and not mar your superior paint job.

Grab a flip drive drill bit* or just a regular drill bit* and making sure you're away from the mirror itself, drill some pilot holes.  Pilot holes, they allow you to easily sink a screw without wood splitting which is highly undesirable.  Pilot holes forever, baby.

 

Right.  After the pilot holes, I sank screws in each corner and then two in the middles along the length.  Easy peasy and now, that much more sturdy.

Ok!  $8 DIY mirror hack, sweet, ready to prep for hanging!

I had a lovely idea to create a larger wood circle knob that stood proud of the wall, then add eye hooks to each end and hang it with something stylish but, it's a future back pocket idea now as I didn't have any appropriately sized dowel screws.*

Hence, those keyhole brackets.  I do love the keyhole brackets, I know.  They're handy!  They let you hang things to a wall flush.  They're sturdy.  Get them.  You'll love them too.

You don't have to get heated about creating holes for the screws to sit within the brackets, behind the brackets, so the screws sit in there nicely.  Just use a fatter drill bit or a spade bit and drill out a couple holes deep enough to allow the screw head in there.  It's the backside.  No one is looking.

That arrow is pointing to the holes I drilled out for the screw to fit into.

All right, with the keyhole brackets attached, it was back upstairs to the closet we go.

Using that simple painter's tape trick, I located where the holes needed to be on the wall.  Granted, yes, I should have used a level* but I went with eyeball as I'm oddly very spot on that way.  

Aka, I did not want to run back down and back up two flights of stairs for a level.

How high/low did I place this on the wall?  My height, of course.  

Dipped a quick pilot hole through the painter's tape holes and then went in with my other handy favorite, metal screw-in wall anchors.  Tried and true, what can I say.

Add the screws to the anchors and bam, swanky DIY mirror hack for $8.  Whaddya say, how do ya do.

Nice, right?  Now it doesn't look like a boring, cheapo basic dorm room mirror anymore; it looks like I bought it this way.  And that it was much more than $8.

Best part about this?  Totally customizable.  You can make this any way you want and it'll be grand.  For sure swanky way better than basic.

Quick note.  Life evolves and I have a new TFA, aka, Trusty Furry Assistant, affectionately known as The Intern.  He's still getting his feet wet but he already excels at snack management, team spirit, and napping.

His feeties are jumbo; exceptional TFA-sizing if you ask me.

Ok, hope you're off running to the home improvement store now for your own $8 DIY mirror frame hack, basic to swanky!  Have fun!

If this project got you going, imagine what you could do.  Download The $100 Room Glow-Up Guide and see what’s possible.

And btw, Pinterest without Flip Post is like DIY without tools.  Technically possible, but why would you? Unlimited pinning.  Zero time suck.

 

*The full-length mirror links are Walmart and Target affiliate links.  The 1x2 pine, screws, drill bits, and levels are Lowe's affiliate links.  The wood glue and dowel screws are Home Depot affiliate links.  Keyhole brackets, flip drive drill bits, and metal screw in wall anchors, those are Amazon affiliate links.  Mwah, thanks!  Please see the "boring stuff" tab for more info.