Vanities with mirrors : helpful tips for selecting and framing the perfect mirror for your vanity

When you select a bathroom vanity, you'll want to select the perfect mirror to hang above it. In addition to the obvious aesthetic gains, bathroom vanities with mirrors are much more useful than vanities without mirrors, particularly if you plan on using the vanity to do your hair or makeup.

The first thing to think about with regards to vanities with mirrors is what size of mirror will best suit your vanity. This really depends on what type of vanity you're going with. For smaller single-sink vanities, up to about 30 inches, you'll want to choose that is a few inches smaller than the mirror. You'll then want to choose a light that is subsequently a few inches smaller than the mirror in order to give the whole arrangement a sense of balance.For larger vanities with bathroom mirrors, a good rule of thumb is to choose a mirror that is about 60-70% of the size of the vanity cabinet, and then choose a lighting fixture that carries about this same ratio. So if you have a five foot vanity, you'll want about a three foot mirror, and a two foot light.

For double sink vanities with mirrors, the equation changes a little bit. You can opt for a single large mirror, or two smaller mirrors. If you opt for the single, you can size the mirror similarly to how you would with a smaller vanity: go with a mirror that is a few inches smaller than the vanity. The other option is two smaller mirrors, one above each sink. In this case, you'll want each mirror to be the same size, and they should be evenly spaced across the length of the vanity, with about half the width of one mirror between the two. In either case, it is ideal to have two lighting fixtures, each one placed directly above a sink.

Another essential step in making your bathroom as attractive as possible is framing the mirror. While this is especially important for bathroom with a classic theme, or an abundance of wooden furniture, vanities or cabinets with mirrors which have been properly framed make an excellent addition to any bathroom. Mirror framing kits are available from home goods stores and quality online retailers, and consist of essentially an oversized picture frame, which is then attached to the mirror with industrial-strength glue or double-sided tape. These kits make for a great afternoon project, and make it easy to turn vanities with mirrors into vanities with mirrors that have been framed.

Often you can create a better vanity piece by piece than you are able to find in any showroom or catalog. However, one of the downsides to taking this somewhat do-it-yourself approach is that you may find yourself in a position where you have to do a bit of it yourself. That's where these two great projects can come in and help you. By knowing how to select the perfect mirror for your vanity, and by knowing how to frame that mirror tastefully, you can save yourself both the time and the expense of trying to find a vanity which you like and which already comes with a matching mirror.