Our recent flurry of mirror-related projects means my repertoire of pun-riddled mirror references is growing thin. Our latest victim was the guest bathroom. We figured after swapping out the medicine cabinet in our master bath, that we might as well do the same in the guest bath. Especially since our guests won’t exactly need a medicine cabinet. At least we hope not.
It was still functional, but had definitely seen better days (the interior metal cabinet was starting to rust- we think it was original to the house, which makes it almost 50 years old) and we figured we could do better than the plain silver frame. So two screws later it was off the wall and after another two minutes (ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, let’s say five) we were back in business:
It’s clearly nothing elaborate, but at least it was free (it was an old Target mirror that we’ve had for a couple of years). And we figure once we get some paint on those walls (we’re thinking some sort of muddy gray will hopefully add some sophistication with the yellow tile) the white frame will pop nicely off the wall and go hand in hand with other clean white objects like the trim, sink, toilet, etc.
We also took a moment to remove the large room-encroaching metal shelf & towel bar. You can see it gone in the photo below and scroll back up to see it in action above the john. We figure we’ll add two clean looking hooks to the inside of the bathroom door for guests to hang their towels, and the room might benefit from some crisp art on the wall, just so it feels a bit less utilitarian. Oh and speaking of the inside of the bathroom door, we decided to remove the full length mirror that you see in the pic below. Not just to free up space for those towel hooks that we mentioned…
… but also to remedy the uncomfortable placement. See, if our guests went in there to do their business, they’d get a view similar to this one. Minus the jeans. Awkward.
Removing it was a cinch. Since it wasn’t glued to the door, I just had to remove the single clip on the right side, and then carefully slide that baby out (it had two clips on the top and the bottom, and one on each side). Once it was off the door, I removed the rest of the clips. Here’s the best one handed “in progress” shot that I got.
And here’s the door as it stands now. We’ve still gotta putty over the screw holes left by all of the mirror clips and then hang our towel hooks but we feel pretty good that we’ve saved our guests from having to experience their very own “John on john” moment. If they happen to be named John. Otherwise switch the first John out with their name (like how I overexplained that for you?).
Oh, and you probably remember that we’ve got another one of these mirrors on the master bathroom door (on the outside, fortunately). We were thisclose to taking it off moments after finishing this project, but suddenly started second-guessed ourselves. We’re now thinking that instead of removal, we might leave it be and someday upgrade it with a nice frame of molding around it so it looks built-in. We’ll see…
I love the mirror changes, but I must admit that I really liked the towl rack. To each their own!
Looks great guys! We also removed a medicine cabinet in our guest bath, but ours was the recessed kind. http://hernandohouse.com/2010/08/04/seeing-the-light/
Oh, and I feel your pain on the mirror puns, I ran out of curtain puns recently with a flurry of posts on the subject.
LOVE the changes. Can’t wait to see the new color and what shower curtain you choose. I love shower curtains :0) I just changed ours to a white one with blue, green and gray leaves from Kohls! It makes the room feel so light and airy :0)
I really like the idea of making the mirror in your bathroom look built-in!! Can’t wait to see the completed project :)
You will love the gray and the pop from the white. I just did it in a room and I am in love. Great changes you all are making.
We have almost the same towel racks (the ones you didn’t take out) and I’m DYING to replace them… ours aren’t mounted on tile though so it would be much easier. Unfortunately that’s not a high item on our budget priority list (especially since we rent). Definitely a good choice to ditch the door mirror. Yeesh.
John on John??? you guys crack me up!
You realize I am on post watch every hour of every day??? I am so happy I get to see your changes to your new house!!!
Love the changes and the toilet pic- definitely a good point! Soooo loving the idea of gray with that awesome yellow tile. I have to admit I’m normally preferential to white subway tile in bathrooms (as are you all, no?), but something about that yellow tile is just too awesome.
I loved the towel rail too, but can’t see it fitting with the amazing sounding grey yellow plan you have.
Was the medicine cabinet recessed or just super skinny?
Hey Annabelvita,
It was a bit recessed, but the mirror is larger than the indent so it covered it right up. We could have re-drywalled it to make it seamless, but we figure since it’s covered it’s not a priority just yet.
xo,
s
If you are looking for a nice muddy grey….check out Benjamin Moore’s Silver Fox….we love it!
Play with the word “mere” instead. :-)
Was your medicine cabinet fullt mounted on the outside of the wall, or was it partially recessed into the wall? I’ve got a really old one I want to remove in our guest bath too, but the fact that it is recessed into the wall a bit has me more than a little apprehensive (since then I would have to replace with drywall, mud, paint, and THEN hang a mirror)… any advice you have would be more than appreciated!
Hey Erin,
Scroll back for that info and maybe try googling for tips? Good luck!
xo,
s
Seriously- why did they have a door mirror in that bathroom? I have to think they used it more for when the door was open? Yikes… good call on that one :)
I am doing a lot of these types of changes to my house too- nothing big but they seem huge to me. A mirror down here, a towel bar (builder grade) down there. All these things add up to the house YOU want :)
I love mirrors- it makes the room look bigger and they can be so fun and interesting!
I so love you guys, so don’t take this wrong, but I am cracking up at John’s monkey-toes in the potty pic, hehe.
Hey Lili,
Agreed. The man has crazy toes. And he gave them to our daughter.
I forgive him.
xo,
s
I like the ‘framed in’ idea for your MB mirror – maybe the same color frame as your new mirror over the sink (or is that too matchy matchy).
And I love yellow and grey – way to work the awesome midcentury tile!
I think that full length mirror deserves an award for the “Worst Placement of Mirror Ever.” How did anyone ever think that was a great place to put a mirror!??!
The changes look great, I’m sure your guests will appreciate them!
Simple, yet lovely! Seems to be your theme :) And this post makes me think of something– I’ve seen loads of people live with bathroom tile on the walls that is less than pretty, so it makes me wonder: is painting ceramic tile even possible since nobody does it? We’ll hopefully be purchasing our first home soon and if we get the one we want, it has fuuuunky colored tiles so I’d love to know if we have the option of painting them or if we should just stay clear. Thanks!
Hey Letty,
We have heard horror stories of DIY tile painting gone wrong, but you can get it professionally reglazed for a few hundred bucks. We’re definitely going to embrace the yellow tile for a while though.
xo,
s
We had a medicine cabinet, complete with what I like to call “Chorus Line” lighting (think 1980’s movie dressing room globes) in our BEDROOM when we moved into our house. It was wired, but not recessed into the wall, so it stuck out about 5 inches from the wall-really lovely.
I have since removed that medicine cabinet and the two others that were more appropriately placed in the bathrooms and am glad they are gone.
I love the wall color. And I totally vote for painting the mirror and that window trim the same color (deep gray? deeper green?) so that they look like one piece.
As for your photos, have you experimented with how to adjust your white balance? If you have/make a white card, you should be able to take truer-to-life shots. Just a tip!
Wow, that bathroom looks remarkably like my guest bath. My house was built in 1955, I believe, so I think the mirror is also the same as the house. We also have these ugly looking gas space heaters that are installed in the walls in both of our bathrooms. We actually had the gas lines cut to them when we moved in because we feared a child would think it was really nifty to turn the knob and then gas would start free flowing. Anyway, one of these days, we will take those down all together. They are sort of neat looking in a way – but definitely not something I want to keep in there. I am definitely going to have to take down the mirror/medicine cabinet and do what you did. What a difference that makes!
…..you had me at “a muddy gray”!! Can’t wait.
To add to my last comment – imagine this thing hanging on the wall in your bathroom.
http://www.eastwaysales.com/images/heaters/1.jpg
That is pretty much what ours looks like. I cannot wait to figure out how to take this thing off the wall. I am just afraid of what is behind there and how to go about repairing the wall.
Kudos to John! Nice work on the removals and especially the single-handed in-progress photo- they can be tricky!
this post cracks me up. Can you believe I actually had a mirror with the exact same placement, in my hospital room where I had my son?? Not only do you normally not want that view… you def don’t want it while in labor… or after :s
I cracked up reading this post. Love the John on john photo and description. You guys are hilarious!!
I think your yellow bathroom is darling :o) and yeah, the previous owner went a little overboard on the design feature “mirror” but think of all of the really really -bad- things they could have done!
We have 1 guest bathroom with probably 30 square feet of mirror, and I’m not exagerating. 1 and a half walls of mirror. Its INSANE. I keep thinking that we can take them down, cut them and build frames. With the span of mirror we have, there’s plenty of room for trial and error. But I’d love it if you guys tried it first! Any plans to re-use that mirror in a more stylish application?
Hey MS,
No plans off the top of our head, but if we come up with something we’ll def post about it! Otherwise we’ll donate them to the ReStore so they get to live on in someone else’s house.
xo,
s
I was especially interested in this post because we are in the process of remodeling a bathroom that was formerly shared by our children into one that will primarily be used by houseguests. I was interested that you are considering a muddy gray with the yellow tile — which sounds beautiful — but how do you plan on tying it in with the blue and white duvet in the guest room (that you had on your bed in your old house)? Also, do you feel the need to coordinate your bedroom/bath wing’s color scheme? Pink (Clara’s room) and blue and yellow and gray? You guys have a great eye so I am interested in hearing your thoughts.
Hey BHH,
We like things to go but they don’t have to match, so by using things like pops of color with white and some moody gray undertones (in the paint in Clara’s room, the blue duvet, the bathroom walls, etc) everything should work together nicely!
xo,
s
I love the yellow bathroom :)
Quick fix that looks great!
I just in one of your comments above that you’ll be embracing the yellow tile — I love it! There’s a neighborhood in our town that is known for its homes with colored tile bathrooms (mostly mid-century ranch style homes) and I think they are so neat. Very vintage-cool… and eco-friendly I might add.
I love expression on John’s face in the toilet photo. Priceless and awkward, all at once.
Love the idea of dark muddy grey + yellow tile. It strikes me as very sophisticated.
p.s. This has nothing to do with your post, but have you guys ever worked with magnetic paint?? I guess I should go try your search option…
Hey Karen,
Yes we have, just search our site for that info.
xo,
s
Love that photo of John…hilarious and you definitely had me at grey and yellow, love that combination and I can’t wait to see it finished.
Yellow and gray is one of my favorite color combos. Can’t wait to see how it turns out! Do you plan to keep the towel bars? Actually, I don’t know if there would be a way to remove them without damaging the tile.
Hey Sadie,
We wish we could pop those off without damaging the tile but that’s not a possibility so we’d have to remove them and patch the holes left behind with tiles that are exactly the same color and style, which might be hard to find. So for now we’re going to do our best to work with what we have. Even though they kind of hurt my eyes.
xo,
s
Is this door that you removed the mirror from hollow on the inside? Our house (built in 1948) has these old, cheap doors that are hollow on the inside. I have been scared to remove our bathroom mirror, because I wasn’t sure how putty would take to them – I am envisioning the putty just dropping right through the hole and into the door. Let me know if you have any thoughts about a fix!
Hey KDB,
Yup it’s hollow. We’ve patched them lots of times. Actually works like a charm.
xo,
s
Muddy gray walls will look great in the guest bathroom to modernize the yellow tile. Keep up the great job of working with what you have!
The face that John is making in that mirror pic is such a Clara face! I see where she gets her expressions :)
We had that exact sink top (ours had a pedestal) in our house in Richmond. When we replaced it with a ($90!) newer pedestal sink and put the old one by the curb, a neighbor knocked on our door to tell us how that style sink is still in demand and we should sell it to a vintage resale shop to get cash for it. Really?!
We tried – but since it had one tiny rust scratch in the bottom, they wouldn’t take it. So if/when you decide to swap out that sink, and if it looks good as new, you may be able to get some cash for it.
I don’t know if anyone else laughs at your posts as much as I do, but I think your humor is great :) Especially when I’m reading at my desk in my cube at work …woops? Did I say that?
People in nearby cubes ask, “….You alright over there Melissa?”
I agree with leaving the mirror in the master (with future trim). Having a full length mirror comes in handy! Well, unless you are sitting on the can staring at yourself. Good call on removing that one! Looks great!!
Really funny post John.
I really like “Granite boulder” as a muddy gray but it might be a bit dark for you guys in the bathroom. It is a behr premium plus color (yay primer built in!).
It was in the running for our bedroom re-do but we ended up going with “gray area” instead (also from behr).
Can’t wait to see how it all evolves.
Cheers
Gotta love those free upgrades! I think hooks in the bathroom (and guestroom) are great for guests. That way they have easy places to put things like towels and PJs. Also reminds me that I have to get hubby to tackle the moulding around our basement bathroom mirror. It’s only been a year!
http://www.hgtv.com/home-improvement/covering-bathroom-tile-with-wainscoting/index.html
Wainscoating would be perfect in there!
Its much cheaper to do on your own with MDF… but I saw this and thought of you. Crisp white with your muddy wall on top… ohhhhhh <3
We have similar bathroom. Our tiles are blue though. And the mirror is HUGE and recessed. We’ll eventually replace it becuase it is hideous, but we’re going to have to find one large mirror to cover the hole it will leave behind. My biggest complaint with the tile is the toothbrush holder since modern toothbrushes don’t actually fit. Got any tips for that?
Also, how’s your floor looking? Do you have any tips on cleaning the grout so that the tile on the floor looks nice again? I don’t want to replace it, but it’s pretty dingy.
Hey Hesper,
Luckily our tile/grout is in great shape but maybe try googling for cleaning tips? As for the tootbrush holder, we’re confounded! We wish we could remove it and patch it but we’d have to find the exact same tile. Might just live with it for a while…
xo,
s
I kneeeww you wouldn’t let go off the mirror on the master bedroom door!!!
Love yellow and gray together! i think it will look amazing! Can’t wait!
Yeah, the whole mirror thing while on toilet is just plain old weird. How did the previous residents live that way? Very strange!
The bathroom photo is fantastic, made me laugh out loud-thanks! We moved in Oct. and I am checking in with you guys each day for inspiration! Looking for a great taupe wall paint for the dining room, we have sooo many samples on the wall it looks as if we are going for a fatigue /camo
theme for our dining pleasure…
Love your blog keep the posts coming.
@ Letty, my mom successfully painted the tile in her bathroom and it looks beautiful. But there is no shower in that bathroom, just a bathtub and that played a part in her decision. She roughed up the tile, primed it, then did a base coat and then did the fancy whatever you call it to make it look marbled and then did 2 coats of sealant. It is really amazing. She bought cheapo tiles somewhere and practiced the technique before taking on the whole bathroom. I tried to talk her out of it because I was afraid it would look like sponge painting but it doesn’t. (I also really wanted to tile her bathroom!) So it is something to consider. It would be too tedious for me, personally I would rather rip it out and start over but everyone is different!