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Easily Installed Frames Provide Quick Decorative Bathroom Wall Mirrors

Decorative bathroom wall mirrors offer a style option that can really make a bathroom's visual appearance "pop". You've probably seen them before. Most nicer hotels have large bathroom mirrors with luxurious gilded or stained wood frames. But you don't have to buy a new mirror or even remove your existing one to get a decorative bathroom mirror.


Framing An Existing Bathroom Mirror

Inexpensive decorative bathroom wall mirrors can easily be achieved using bathroom mirror frame kits. These kits offer a convenient way to dress up your existing mirror without the need to remove it from the wall. The result is a new look and a new dimension for your bathroom.

These framing kits use adhesives to bond the frame pieces to your existing mirror. The frames are available in wood, metal and acrylic and in styles ranging from contemporary to traditional.

If you're remodeling your bathroom and plan on installing a new furniture style vanity, you can save money by avoiding the purchase of a coordinating decorative mirror. Rather than throw out your existing mirror because it's too bland, wrap a rich wood frame around it. With the styles of wood frames that are available with these kits, finding a bathroom mirror frame to complement the vanity is easy.


MirrorMate® Frames

One innovative bathroom mirror frame product is MirrorMate®. It was developed by resourceful entrepreneur Lisa Huntting after recognizing that her large master bathroom wall mirrors were just too bare. But rather than invest the time and money to remove the mirror and get it professionally framed, she developed a way to easily install decorative frames on existing bathroom mirrors.

MirrorMate bathroom mirror frames attach to your mirror with a strong 3M-brand adhesive tape. The process starts by measuring your existing mirror and choosing the right frame from among multiple styles and colors and over 15 collections.

The frame pieces are easily assembled using glue and corner connectors. The completed frame is then trial-fit against the mirror using temporary "jigs" called placement corners. These temporary tools are tacked to the mirror under the frame's upper inside corners. When the frame is properly positioned, the placement corner tools are put in place to mark the right location. All that's left is to remove the frame, apply the adhesive strips, reinstall the frame on the mirror and remove the placement corner jigs.

MirrorMate bathroom mirror trim can be ordered directly from the MirrorMate website as well as through various stores and designers that carry the products. MirrorMate's website (www.mirrormate.com) contains a list of retail locations.


Mirr.Edge™ Mirror Frame System

   
Before Mirr.Edge   

The Mirr.Edge™ framing system was developed by a couple in Florida to address mirror "black edge". Black edge occurs when the silver backing on a mirror oxidizes and develops black or dark spots, usually around the edges.

According to Mirr.Edge, this happens predominantly in moist and corrosive geographic regions, typical of coastal areas. The Mirr.Edge mirror frame conveniently masks the black edge but also provides a decorative style treatment at the same time.

   
   After Mirr.Edge Installation

Mirr.Edge frames take a different approach to the mirror frame configuration. Instead of mitered corners, Mirr.Edge frames incorporate a decorative corner piece which covers the joint where the horizontal and vertical frame pieces come together.

Frames are assembled by first measuring the length of framing material needed. The pieces are "cut" to size by scoring and snapping and then fastened to the mirror using adhesive.

The Mirr.Edge framing system is available at The Home Depot and Lowes and several other home improvement retail centers.


Editor's Thoughts

Both of these framing systems provide decorative bathroom wall mirrors in an economical and relatively painless way.

What I like about MirrorMate is the large selection of frames they offer. There are plenty of choices in various colors and styles, enough in my opinion to satisfy most tastes.

There are other ways of getting a framed bathroom mirror but they involve more expense and time. You can have your existing mirror professionally framed but that will require you to remove it from the wall and transport it to the framer, not a convenient task for some of those larger wall mirrors.

You could also buy a completely new pre-framed mirror but they can be costly. Finding framed mirrors equivalent to the size of an existing wall mirror also isn't easy.

As an example, my own bathroom wall mirror measures 44" x 32". Depending on the frame I choose I'd end up spending from about $125 to $192 for a frame kit. Doing some quick internet shopping, I found prices for wood-framed mirrors at $300 to over $1000. To cap it off, these products were smaller than my existing mirror.

Regardless of which method you choose, the impact of framing an otherwise bland wall mirror can be dramatic. It can turn an otherwise utilitarian bathroom into a warmer, more visually appealing place to start and end the day.

Robert Levesque
Publisher/Editor




Photos in this article courtesy of:
Home Improvement News and Information Center and Mirr.Edge™ Do It Yourself Framing Systems.



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