I think I want my giant double vanity frame-less mirror back!
Yep, that’s right..the one that has almost every home owner cringing trying to figure ways to replace or frame it. Now don’t get me wrong, most of those builder installed frame-less mirrors have no beveled edge and often have those creepy crawly black spots on them, you can keep those. But, I really don’t have the hatred to these mirrors in the right condition, in fact, I miss mine since our bathroom remodel and am considered getting a new one installed. Think I’m crazy?
Well let me explain why.
I’ve found lots of pretty mirrors, bust most of them are too small for my large area and will leave cramming into a tight space trying to see myself (we’ve been through two sets since our remodel) If this was a powder room, I wouldn’t be so concerned, but I like a little room to breath while I’m getting ready and putting on my make-up.
Two framed mirrors can make you go broke, one large one–forgetaboutit. Most of the affordable framed mirrors I am finding are poorly made and I feel will draw in more attention than one large frame-less mirror as they are now decorative pieces. On the other hand, most of the quality mirrors that catch my eye are quite expensive…this X 2 will set us back a pretty penny.
Restoration Hardware $425
I want light back in my bathroom! Since we renovated our bathroom, I feel like we’ve lost all light in our space. Its a narrow master bath to begin with and since we went to two framed mirrors I feel like its made our space feel smaller.
What do I do with the awkward space between the mirrors? My vanity is 88″ long which means when I hang two mirrors I’m left with almost 3 feet between the mirrors. This space has been such a pain for me and I’ve yet to be able to get it right. I’ve hung artwork, framed photos, I’ve tried the large vase, some potted greenery..nothing seems to look appropriate because the space is quite large and I feel like something too big will look odd in between two large mirrors and just be too much going on.
I feel the problem often doesn’t lie with the mirror itself. When my entire bathroom was builder-grade the large frame-less mirror was just one more reminder that this space was far from updated, but when you combine these mirrors with new cabinetry, granite counters, frame-less shower, new hardware, etc, I feel like these large mirrors can fit right in.
I’m still getting some quotes, but if we do it, I’m also considering having them drill some holes so we can mount our lighting directly on them as a possibility.
I am sure most of you are still saying..yuck..no way..there are other options..don’t do it, but after 2 sets of mirrors and never feeling happy with them or the overall look of the bathroom, I think this may be the best option for us. Who knows, maybe I’m starting something here and these big ol’ frameless mirrors are going to be the new trend of 2013. Ha!
Since I already have you all scratching your heads, I’ll stay with the trend and offer up one of my favorite recipes that at first sounds a little odd, but really its fantastic. While its not an original family recipe, I had it for the first time at my Aunt Gail’s house for a wonderful family dinner party and its been a staple for me to make when we have company, in fact I’m making it tonight for my mom and step-father.
Chicken Marbella
Photo via Simple Recipes
Here is the recipe straight from The Silver Palate Cookbook and is a MUST try.
- 2 chickens, 2 1/2 lbs each, quartered, bone-in, skin-on
- 1/2 head of garlic, peeled and finely puréed
- 2 Tbsp dried oregano
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup pitted prunes
- 8 large pitted Spanish green olives, cut in half
- 1/4 cup capers with a bit of juice
- 3 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
METHOD
1 In a large bowl combine garlic, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers with caper juice, and bay leaves. Add the chicken pieces and coat completely with the marinade. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, several hours or overnight.
2 Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.
3 Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with the pan juices. Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest point, yield clear yellow juice (not pink).
4 With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Add some of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or cilantro. Serve remaining juice in a gravy boat.
Yield: Serves 5-8.
Just like My Aunt Gail did, I usually serve this with a big salad and some gourmet mashed potatoes. Trust me your guests will be begging for the recipe! Enjoy!
I am the same way…I REFUSE to get rid or frame or anything to our bathroom mirror!
ahhhhh!! All I needed was ONE…just one person to help convince myself I wasn’t crazy. Thank you Christine! I am so happy we share love for this less than popular mirror.
Christina,
I vote for the large frameless mirror and if your guy can drill the holes to allow the lighting to be mounted on the mirror I believe it will look really custom and give you the amount of mirror space you need…and enlarge the feel of the space to boot.
I agree totally with your plan.
Karen
Thanks Karen! I heard back from the mirror people. It will be an extra $150 to include the lights. I really think that will finish the look as well, but now this whole mirror project is getting pricey. Meantime I just realized my hubby has our old frameless mirror in our garage that he uses in his gym. It’s not in the best shape so we’d have no choice but the frame it (but it would be less than getting a whole new mirror) errrrrr… Now I really am confused on what to do! Hahaha.
I AGREE WITH YOU! YOU ARE NOT CRAZY!
My previous full bathroom in the townhouse also had the huge, frameless mirror and I loved it. It was great for doing make-up, hair, and a check of all things fashion related.
When I readied my townhouse for sale, I made a conscious decision NOT to take down the large, frameless mirror. I loved it and thought that if the next homeowners hated it that much, they could deal with it. Instead, I removed the one, large, central light bar and had my husband install two light bars, each one centrally located over each of the two sinks. It gave the appearance of two separate areas, but kept the large mirror fully intact.
I applaud your decision. I bet you can find a ‘new’ one second-hand for very little cost. Good luck!
Funny, 3 things that made me laugh:
1. I thought this post was going to be about a dark ceiling color.
2. The chicken recipe threw me off. I thought my youngest had clicked another link, instead, he pushed the ‘page down’ button.
3. I just read your mention of your husband’s ‘gym mirror’. See, I knew you would find one!
Hahaha. That’s funny. Yes, the chicken recipe was random, but it kind of fit in that at first you say “i don’t think so” but in the end, like the frame-less mirror, it is kind of awesome.
I have to tell you my craigslist mirror story, U’ll try to keep it as brief as possible. When we re-did our guest bath the mirror was in rough shape, so I thought I was a genius finding one for $30 on craiglist…30 mins away. We get there and it didn’t fit laying flat in our SUV with the back door shut, and we had my little guy in the car so there was no way we were standing it up. So the seller convinced us (you can imagine how awkward this whole exchange was) to let the mirror hang out of our car a good 10 inches and secure our back door AND THE MIRROR with bungie cords, bracing the impact with wedged TIRE that he had laying in his garage. At this point, we’ve already thrown our old way away and we made this drive out there, so do it. We leave and every bump we think the the tire is going to come loose and our back door is going to come crashing down on this mirror. We take what we think is a short cut home, thinking back roads are better than highway..wrong CONSTRUCTION! Pot holes everywhere, at this point I was beyond nervous. I screamed at my husband to pull over and we dumped the mirror in some parking lot’s trash bin and skipped out as fast as we could. (i’m pretty sure this isn’t illegal) Now we were down $30 and no mirror. Disaster!
We did end up using the random tire for the front door decor for Colin’s construction birthday party. Ha! I don’t think my hubby would ever let me convince him to buy another frame-less craiglist mirror again.
Yes, we too are keeping our exact same size mirror and Brad wants to frame it! We had thought of putting the two mirrors up like in Pottery Barn but I too like the big mirror…..thank you so much for posting and you are not crazy! d
So happy to hear you share my feelings. I think framing is a fantastic idea if that is what you prefer, but I also don’t think its absolutely necessary. Its really all based on what you prefer and what looks best in your space.
Nah, I don’t think you’re crazy at all. When we bought our place, framing out the mirrors was one of the first projects we tackled. I think I just wanted to 1) assert that I was the homeowner and, darnit, I could do what I want, and 2) get as far away as possible (and as cheaply as possible) from the builder’s look. The images you selected are beautiful so obviously it can be done and with success. It’d be crazy to stick with something that you don’t love and that’s not working with your lifestyle! So kudos for being brave : ]
Thanks Jennifer. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against framing one of these large bad-boys. I just don’t think its a must like some do. If your home is screaming builder-grade than its certainly an easy fix to give your bathroom that instant upgrade. Turns out we have our old one sitting in our garage but it has a pretty good size chip, so I may be salvaging it and doing a little frame work myself.
I don’t think you’re crazy at all!! Those big mirrors are so functional and with the right surroundings and maybe a simple molding frame they can be awesome!!!
And thanks for the recipe, I’m pinning it to remember to try it one day!
So happy you like the recipe. I love it because having a dinner party can be costly, and this is really a fantastic way to serve relatively cheap chicken. The combination of ingredients really does work.
Thanks for your encouragement on the mirror, I really think its what we’re going to end up doing.
I hope that by now, and based on the previous comments, you’ve come to realize you’re not crazy. Sometimes it takes walking away from a piece and getting rid of it to realize how wonderful it was in the first place (we actually had that experience in Ohio with our church…not quite a perfect analogy, but it applies!). Trust your gut, follow your heart, and I think you’ll be happy that you didn’t settle for something you didn’t absolutely LOVE.
I just found your blog and love it. The photos of the huge mirrors were so beautiful. I totally agree with you that you need it back in your bathroom. Framed, with or with out lights, it will be great. We may see a pic of the bathroom on your blog but you use it day in and day out so do what makes you happy! Besides, you just might start a trend. Thanks for the great blog!
Thank you Sara! I appreciate the compliments all the way around. I haven’t posted pics yet, but I put up the old frameless mirror-and I’m loving it! Thank you for spending some time on my blog and I hope you see you back!
Hi, Christina
I love this idea. By the way, thank you so much for stopping by my blog yesterday. I appreciate it very much. I enjoyed looking around your lovely blog and I am a new follower. It’s nice to meet another Central Florida girl. You are the first one I know that lives close by to me. Have a lovely weekend.
Vanessa