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How do you like your decorative mirrors used as vanity mirrors

I'm at the stage where I need to decide upon mirrors for our bathrooms and I am considering buying decorative mirrors instead of having the sheet mirrors made with those clips.(I'm not fond of the framing they offer to go around my supplier's mirrors and buying a ready made mirror with a beautiful frame is more affordable.)

Decorative mirrors don't attach as securely to the wall as those standard plate mirrors with the clips and I'm wondering if that's been an issue for anyone? Do you wish you'd gone with standard mirrors?

Is there anyway to attach the decorative mirrors more securely? In my kids bathroom I have to rub really hard on those mirrors when cleaning and don't want to feel like they are floppy on the wall.

Comments (6)

  • chisue
    12 years ago

    Our 'decorative mirrors' are the fronts for extra tall, extra deep medicine chests that are sunk into the wall. They're flush with the wall. I like being able to pull mine out towards me when applying mascara. The backs of the medicine chests are mirrored too.

  • carpecattus
    12 years ago

    One night, while brushing my teeth in front of our large plate mirror, I noticed it looked a little off. On closer inspection I realized one of the clips had come away from the wall and the whole mirror was on the verge of coming off the wall! The clips had been installed with heavy duty plastic anchors, and the weight of the mirror over time had caused the drywall to eventually give way.

    We ended up remodeling the bathroom and installed a large, framed mirror using a heavy duty cleat hanger (Hangman is one brand) which is perfect. The cleat hanger is two long pieces of metal, one of which is attached to the wall; if the mirror is less than 16" wide I recommend trying to have at least one screw in a stud and use toggle bolts for the other screws. The other piece of metal is attached to the frame of the mirror. The two pieces of metal hook onto each other to securely attach the mirror to the wall. (We used this same type of cleat hanger to attach a custom stainless steel backsplash over our range in our kitchen; we had stainless steel wrapped around a large piece of plywood to add depth and dimension to the backsplash.)

    When we remodeled our second bathroom, we decided to keep the plate mirror, but used extra clips and toggle bolts as needed to make certain it wasn't going anywhere!

  • nini804
    12 years ago

    Ugh...in our recently completed house this was a real pain. In the children's baths we had the carpenters frame the mirrors with the 4" casing we used for the doors and windows. The mirrors were actually attached with glue and also held in by the molding. In the master...I wanted something "dressier" plus I wanted the sconces to be in the mirror at eye level. So they actually did this gorgeous plate mirror with three holes cut to fit the two single and one double sconce, plus I had them do a thick bevel around it. It really looks lovely, and the fabricator definitely said no clips...he said glueing would definitely be better with such a large mirror. The lights also provide additional security. I did put a decorative mirror in my powder...it is just hung on picture hanging wire. I don't worry about it...it is a powder room and just gets light use.

  • etr2002
    12 years ago

    I've got decorative mirrors in both of my baths and they work fine. They have been up for almost 10 years without any trouble. Of course, though, my kids are 7 and 2, so they still have to use stools to reach the sink so there isn't quite the mess that likely comes with older children.

  • cheerpeople
    12 years ago

    we had a few mirrors from our old home to use. The contractor did with the large one like carecattus said, and took off the hanger wire( which had worked for years) and put on a cleat hanger.

    The nice option with a decorative mirror, is they are cheap, and when bathroom moisture causes them to desilver, it is easy to replace.
    this pic- mirror and art both from gordman's.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • allison0704
    12 years ago

    I only used decorative mirrors in all of our bathrooms. As long as they are decent mirrors (not cheap, not sturdy) they will be fine. I used regular hangers - each one has 2. No problem with cleaning.

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