BARNWOOD FRAMED MIRROR

Hurrah!  The Powder Bath transformation is finally complete!   My favorite thing about the mirror project is that we were able to utilize almost every bit of the barnwood scraps from our original projects for our cottage.  I'm so glad I kept all those smaller pieces of wood!

BEFORE AND AFTER

Here is what the mirror looked like before.  Both the sink cabinet and mirror were originally black.  When I painted the sink cabinet white, the black mirror looked even more out of place.

Also in this powder room is a large framed photo in a frame made of weathered barnwood.  For the mirror frame, I was determined to use our leftover barnwood pieces to tie those two elements together, but I wasn't sure exactly how it was going to work.  I poured through photographs on google images and pinterest and the one below caught my eye.   The photo is from an a seller on Etsy.  This mirror is no longer available, but I have provided a link to the store - Rustic Wood Originals.

Inspiration photo from Etsy

I liked the contrast of the white wood against barnwood as it provided a "cottagey" feel.    The white frame also serves a purpose to provide a finished edge to the mirror frame and enabled me to have the entire inside frame of the mirror as weathered edges of the individual pieces of barnwood (the cut edges on the outside were concealed by the white painted frame pieces.)

The cost of this project was minimal because (1) we already had the black framed mirror to use as a base, (2) the barnwood was all leftover scraps, and (3) I had some D ring hangers and heavy duty drywall hooks for the hardware to hang it (the original hardware on the mirror was not going to work with the extra weight).  All we had to buy was enough 1x3 wood pieces to crate the white frame around the edge of the mirror (less than $10).

SUPPLIES

1. Mirror to use as a base
2. Scrap Barnwood Pieces cut to size
3. Wood to create white frame (this will be dictated by the depth of the frame on the mirror base, and the depth of the barnwood pieces).  1x3 worked well (note: it is really 3/4" x 2.5")
4. Wood Glue and Nail Gun (to attach 1x3 to create white frame)
5. Primer and White Paint
6. Glue to adhere barnwood pieces (I used Weldbond glue, but I would think wood glue could work as well)
7. Hardware to hang mirror on wall

STEP 1: Attach 1x3's to outside of mirror frame

The pieces were cut to size with a 45 degree cut on either end to miter the corners

Pieces  of mitered 1x3 for outside of mirror frame

Wood glue was used to hold the pieces together, then taped to keep them in place

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 A nail gun was used to adhere the 1x3's to the mirror frame.

STEP 2: Prime and Paint 1x3 frame

Whenever  I paint something white, I always use 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint.  In my opinion - all those coats are necessary too get a good looking finish.

STEP 3: Cut and Place Barnwood Pieces

Our scraps of barnwood were cut into 3 3/4" squares, keeping weathered edges wherever possible.  I made a point to randomly place the different textures and colors of barnwood that we had on hand.  I made sure to avoid placing the cut edges on the inside of the mirror frame.  In the end, only weathered edges were visible on the exposed sides of the barnwood pieces (inside of mirror frame).  Some of the pieces were different depths, but I liked how this added some character.

Placing the barnwood pieces on the frame

Only weathered edges of barnwood visible on the inside of the frame.

STEP 4: Glue Barnwood Pieces

Good ol' Weldbond glue worked well here.  You can typically find it at an Ace Hardware, or you can purchase online.

Weldbond Glue used to adhere the barnwood pieces to the existing frame

STEP 5: Cut additional Pieces

After gluing the barnwood squares to the frame, we were left with a couple blocks that needed to be cut down slightly, and a couple gaps that required additional pieces cut to fill them.  Once those were cut and glued - the mirror was complete.

STEP 6: Hanging Hardware

Quite a bit of weight was added to the original mirror (the 1x3 pieces of wood and all those barnwood squares).  The original hardware on the back of the mirror might have been sufficient, but definitely was not confident in the screws the builder had used to hang the mirror straight into the drywall (no studs).  I installed D-ring hangers on the back of the mirror and heavy duty drywall hooks on the wall to handle the extra load.

Special thanks to our friends with the tools that made this project possible.  Thanks to Ryan for helping us cut out all the barnwood squares on his table saw.  Thanks to Kent for helping us with his chop saw to create the white frame and the final cuts to fit the last barnwood pieces.  Also, we were lucky to use his nail gun to put the frame together.

Here are some posts showing the other items we made out of barnwood...

• BARN WOOD HEADBOARDS
• BEACH SIGN
• BARN WOOD DIVE FLAG
• BARN WOOD COFFEE TABLE

For more beach cottage posts see my Beach Cottage page.

COTTAGE STYLE SHELF PROJECT

Storage space was a big issue when moving into our Florida cottage fulltime.  We were downsizing from 3600 square feet to under 2000.   Needless to say, we had to declutter our lives and make the adjustment to smaller spaces.  Our master bathroom was a good example of a significant adjustment to a smaller space.  We were losing a linen closet. Everything needed to fit under the sinks or on the set of shelves we had just put up in a niche on the wall (those shelves created a great place to store towels and I used two large baskets to store our stash of toilet paper and facial tissues).  See photo below:

Shelves in niche for towels and baskets

The bar in the above photo, is a solution to hang dry laundry.  Our washer and dryer fit in a very small laundry closet, so this is the only space we could come up with for this purpose.  The bar is removable, so I can take it down when not in use. 

Still on the lookout for more storage opportunities - I came up with the following.  Originally, we had hooks on the wall to hang towels and my bath robe, but I wasn't crazy about how it looked.  I felt like we could make it look better, all while adding a little more functionality (integrating the hooks within a shelf to allow for even more storage).  Here is the plan I dreamed up in my head. The orange bars in the graphic below represent the hooks.

Plan for Cottage Style Shelf

It's actually even more simple than the plans seem to indicate.  See the below photos - it's just two pieces of wood and a couple shelf brackets.  I was able to go to Lowe's and have them cut the wood boards to the lengths I wanted, and I found the pre-made shelf brackets there as well.   That's it for cutting - no need to do any more cutting at home.

SUPPLIES

1. 1x8 for top of shelf
2. 1x8 for back of shelf
3. 2 shelf brackets (These were from Lowes)
4. 4 Hooks (I think I bought these at Target years ago)
5. Screws
6. Primer & Paint
7. Wood Filler

Painted Shelf Pieces

I pre-primed and painted the shelf pieces. (Two coats of primer and two coats of paint.)   I knew I would have to use wood filler and touch up the paint after attaching the pieces with screws and mounting it to the wall, but that was OK.

Painted  Shelf Brackets

Screws were the only other items I needed to complete this project. In my miscellaneous jar of screws, I found some long flat heads.  The flat heads were important as they would enable us to counter-sink them a bit, so I could fill in with wood filler over top of them and hide them altogether.  We drilled pilot holes for every screw so that we didn't have any issues with the wood splitting.

STEP 1: Installing the brackets to the back of the shelf piece.  I used four screws to mount the brackets to the back-plate of the shelf. (two through the back of the shelf going forward into each bracket, being careful not to poke through the front of the brackets).

STEP 2: Installing the top shelf piece to the brackets and back piece.  I used five screws to connect the top to the back and brackets. (two through the top of the shelf down into each bracket, being careful not to poke through the front of the brackets; one from the top/back of shelf down into the back plate of shelf )

STEP 3: Mounting the shelf to the wall.  I used four screws to mount the shelf to the wall (through the back piece and into wall studs.)  NOTE: the screws were not "centered" on the shelf but they were spaced well enough to support the shelf, and I knew I would be covering up the screw heads with wood filler anyway, so the fact they were off-center didn't matter to me aesthetically.

Let me say that because the shelf was screwed into two wall studs - I am confident that it can hold the towels in addition to the items on top.  I would highly recommend finding a spot where wall studs are available,  otherwise the whole setup might be precarious if using only something like drywall anchors.

It was necessary to calk between the pieces and also where the shelf met the wall.  I was hoping to skip this step, but my husband was right - it looks a lot more finished and professional.  After completing the calking, it looks like it's been there since the house was built and was meant to be there.

I have to admit - overall the shelf does not provide for all that much more storage, but it does provide a little, and I think it looks cute.  The glass jars and bowls were purchased at Homegoods, and the small brown basket at Tuesday Morning.  The jars hold a large back-up stash of cotton rounds and Q-Tips.  The bowl is storage for extra bars of soap, and the basket is where I keep a small supply of wash cloths within reach of my sink.

Next project on the master bathroom - replacing the large plate glass mirror over the vanity area with oval tilt-style mirrors, and painting the whole bathroom a soft blue that matches the quilt in the master bedroom.  The soft yellow paint is pretty, but there is a lot of it in the house and I have wanted to break it up a little more by painting the master bathroom. Another project for another day...

For more beach cottage posts see my Beach Cottage page.