Custom Bathroom Mirror
New Mirror Designed to Look Old
I wanted a mirror with a medicine chest in my new bathroom and did not want tit to detract from all of the wainscoting on the walls and old, stain glass window I installed.
Look A Magazines for Ideas:
I tell people all the time to look on websites, photo blogs and magazines to get their design ideas. My design was no exception. I saw and chose an old looking medicine chest in a Renovator Supply catalog. Using the catalog picture as a guide I made my chest to mimic it.
Materials:
I used poplar to make the mirror case. I like poplar because its reasonably priced, does not have knots and is fairly stable to work with. The mirror face frame and shelves are also poplar. The mirror back was 1/4 inch Birch plywood.
The mirror door has four pieces that surround and enclose the mirror. I made these wooden parts our of poplar and use a cope and stick method of joining them. A shaper helps when doing this. Once the door was made and fitted I had a local glass company cut me the mirror glass. To make the glass mirror stop I ripped the small profile off of a cope and stick profile.
The head molding I bought at a local mill shop. I liked it because it was one solid piece and looked and felt substantial for my “entablature” look.
Installing the Cabinet:
The cabinet sits on top of wainscoting but is also fastened to wall studs with 3-inch decking screws and finish washers. I like sing the finish washers because they prevent the screw head from blowing out the plywood back.
