Holy moly, can you believe it’s already week 5 of the One Room Challenge?! Thank goodness we have 8 weeks to finish. It’ll be a race to the finish for sure!
If you’re new here, you can catch up on my previous weeks progress here: week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4.
RECAP
Last week we juuuussttt about finished the tub and shower (finally)! I was on the last step of applying the silicone caulking then I realized that my old silicone tubes were all dried up! So I needed to buy some more to finish it off. In Ontario, we’re still under lockdown so I had to wait quite a while for my order to be ready for pickup.
Yay! Time to silicone. I find that the 100% silicone that’s waterproof is harder to use than the paintable caulking for wall moulding projects. It definitely helps to wet your finger with a soapy cleaning spray before using it to spread the caulking. I also used the painter’s tape method for the glass areas to ensure a nice crisp line.
I caulked all around the shower and tub fixtures too, which was super stressful but looked so good in the end. That’s pretty much the name of the game with silicone – super stressful at the time but eventually looks so good! Enjoy these finished pics!!
Ok now let’s talk about the vanity area. Remember there’s a whole another side of the room too? If you saw my inspiration mood board and initial design, you’ll know that I have planned a new gold vanity light, and a big DIY wood framed mirror.
Golden vanity light
I chose this light from Overstock which was a decent price and pretty much exactly what I wanted. I removed the class builder-grade vanity light and the old mirror as well. The whole process was very simple and only took about 15 minutes. I was lucky that the electrical box was centered on the sink so I didn’t have to move it at all. I love the way it looks here! The lightbulbs are not the correct ones (they are replacement bulbs for my string lights lol) so they are super dim but I’ve ordered some brighter ones and they’re on their way.
DIY wood framed mirror
I fell in love with the wood trimmed mirror look but they are just so expensive!! I also wanted a big one for this bathroom. Not some tiny 2 ft diameter mirror. It was really hard to find what I wanted for a good price. Then I stumbled upon this incredible tutorial from Angela Marie Made on how she DIYed her own mirror and I KNEW I had to do that too!
The first step was finding a frameless mirror to use for the project. Boy was this hard! Angela got hers from Target but I live in Canada so womp. I took to Facebook marketplace to try and find the perfect second hand mirror. I was on there everyday for two weeks solid trying to find a large enough round mirror. I even drove an hour each way to pick up what I *thought* was a good mirror but turned out to have some deal breakers. And then.. I hit the jackpot! I found this large beautiful uniquely shell-shaped mirror for only 40 bucks!! I love the size (it’s 4 ft wide!), I absolutely adore the shape, and it was second hand! So amazing all around.
For the wooden frame, the shell shape did make the process a bit harder, but I still followed Angela’s process. First I built the wood frame out of 2x6s. I traced the shape of the mirror on a piece of thick construction paper. Then I mapped out the shape of my 2×6 frame so that the outline of the mirror would be completely covered. I translated all these angled cuts on my miter saw and screwed the frame together with pocket screws.
Next I had to carve out the thin frame from the 2×6 frame. I found the center of the arch on the mirror (which thankfully was a perfect circle arc) and made that my pivot point. I then built a super simple circle jig for the router. You can see an example of how to do that here. You’ll need two different radius lengths, one for the outer edge and one for the inner edge. Start with shallow passes then go deeper and deeper until you’ve cut all the way through.
For the straight edges, I just used my router again but along a straight edge guide. It was so satisfying to see the frame all cut out!! Definitely a more intricate wood working project for me so I’m proud that it turned out well!
Next I had to make a groove for my mirror. I laid the mirror on the frame to trace out exactly where I had to cut the groove for my mirror to sit into. I used the router to cut out this groove. Then I glued the mirror to the frame with some E6000 and let that rest for 24h before moving it.
I haven’t figured out the hanging mechanism yet, but I will likely do some sort of french cleat DIY system at the back. I also haven’t patched up the imperfections or done the poly coat. I was just too excited and had to see it in the bathroom so of course I brought it upstairs to see! Eeekkk I LOVE it!!
NEXT WEEK
I can’t believe how fast time is passing – I have so much left to do!! I’ll need to patch up the holes and scratches on the wall left from the previous mirror, and create a mechanism to hang my new mirror.
I was pretty bummed this week when I found out that non-essential retailers won’t be open until June 14. They were supposed to open June 2. It’s been so hard for me to get paint samples and think about the DIY terrazzo countertops because of this. Hopefully I can still get started this week with curbside pickups. Stay tuned!
Don’t forget to check out the other amazing ORCs here. If you like to see my process, you can follow my instagram. See you next week 🙂
Lizzy
Lizzy's Home Sweet Home 
You are making such great progress, Lizzy! Love your DIY mirror. Such a bummer about the delayed reopening. I’m excited to see those countertops!
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