The Master Bathroom Mirror Saga

After 6 unnecessary holes in the wall, 4 separate hanging attempts, 2 defective, funhouse-grade mirrors and countless hours invested in attempting to hang our bathroom mirrors, I could not be more gleeful to be writing this post.

I bought these mirrors in December, one of which was great, and the other had a warp in it. Perfect. Ship back, request replacement. Next mirror, also warped. 

  

At this point, I had already been looking for other rounded rectangle mirrors, and had run into a snag: the backs of the faucets were less than 2" from the wall. This severely limited my choices, since a lot of these had frames that were 2" deep. (Not to mention, I picked these mirrors in the first place because the RH and Pottery Barn options were over $300 each, which was a bit of a budget buster.) So, I really needed to get TWO mirrors that weren't warped.

We're not doing a backsplash in here, I'm pretty sure. Partially because I didn't want to spend the $ during construction and partially because I couldn't pick something I liked. I was going to do it myself after we moved in, but I've grown to really like the minimal look of no tile

Luckily, as they say, third time's the charm. My third replacement mirror had a very slight warp, which I only noticed because I was being super picky. (It also has a bent corner, which I noticed after hanging it, and I was not about to take it down and go through this song and dance again.) My next challenge was hanging the damn things. They came with D-rings on the back, which are fundamentally impossible to get level. If you have done it, I don't want to hear from you. It cannot be done, and you are a liar.

After my previous failed attempts, I bought a couple of aluminum french cleats, which, OMG!!! were also defective. This project couldn't have been more ill-fated. They come with a little leveling bubble, and for reasons I chose not to think too much about, ended up somehow not level. I fixed this using my actual level. Once the leveling was done, the hanging part was easy, and a lot more secure than some crappy D-rings. I still get a burst of joy every time I look at the mirrors on the wall. 

And in case you're wondering, here's what the other side of the bathroom looks like. I still haven't picked hardware for the vanity or cabinets, which makes using the drawers a rather annoying task (soft-close drawers are pretty hard to pry open), but otherwise am super happy with the layout and function.

I don't know why, but giant showers feel so luxurious. Also, really glad I went for the BIG niche.

Hot tip on maintaining your glass and tile: wipe dry with a microfiber car wash towel after every shower. Yes, it's a bit of a pain. It is nowhere near the wildly annoying job of scrubbing discolored grout or removing mineral buildup from glass. Plus, sparkling clean glass and tile EVERY DAY!