DIY WOOD FRAMING AROUND A BASIC MIRROR
Sometimes the smallest touches, like wood framing around a basic bathroom mirror, can make a huge impact. This DIY wood mirror frame project is cheap and easy! The average DIYer could complete this project in a weekend. It’s only a few hours of actual work, but of course you will need to allow for time for stain, sealer, and construction adhesive to dry and time between coats. To read the full version of this post, or to check out tons of other DIY project, check out DIY Wood Mirror Frame
Any species of wood will work for this frame, so pick your favorite. My go-to wood for projects like this is: Alder. It’s a bit more expensive than cheap pine boards, but way less expensive than Oak and other nice hardwoods. For the few extra bucks, you get nicer wood that is less likely to warp. It's easier to work with, and for a project like this where you need your 45* miter cuts to line up perfectly, it makes all the difference. Alder also takes stain very well, and will hold up for years to come.
Step 1: Measure & Plan
Grab your trusty tape measure and take down some measurements of the mirror that you plan to frame so that you’ll know how much wood to buy. Head on over to your favorite local lumber store. We used 1” x 4” boards, and needed just one 10FT board since our mirror was exactly 2FT x 3FT. Make sure to grab sandpaper, wood stain, polyurethane wood sealer, and some construction adhesive as well.
Step 2: Prep & Cut
Start out by using a miter saw to make 45 degree cuts. The mirror we framed was 24” x 36” so we needed two boards cut at 24” and two at 36”. Make 45” miter cuts on either side to make them fit together properly. To keep things a little simpler, you could opt to just use straight cuts.
Step 3: Finsh The Wood
Depending on what wood you decide to use, you’ll probably need to do at least a light sanding on the boards to prep for stain. Sand the wood until you have a nice smooth uniform surface. Apply 1 or 2 coats of stain. We chose Minwax Early American. Alder has a pretty nice natural color, so only one coat of stain was needed. Allow the stain to dry, and then apply the wood sealer. Once the sealer is dry, you can move on the the final step: putting them up around the mirror!
Step 4: Put Up The Frame!
This step is pretty simple, but it can be slightly tricky to get the boards to line up perfectly and stay in place! Put a few dollops of construction adhesive on the backs of the boards and a little bit on the edges of the 45 degree miter cuts.
The construction adhesive will hold the boards directly to the wall with no hardware or fasteners necessary. Very carefully put the boards right up on the wall and snug them together. If the bottom board is not sitting directly on the countertop (ours was), then you might have to make a little spacer, or brace to keep the boards held in place while the glue dries.
Yay! You’re done! Take a step back and look how great it looks! Thanks for reading along!
Comments (0)Subscribe to CommentsComment