Frameless Mirror Placement in Bathrooms

last year

last modified: last year

I'm planning to place frameless mirrors in my bathrooms. The placement rules that I came up with have served me well in general:

- 8" above the counter

- 16" below the ceiling

- 22" width for 24" vanities; 28" width for 30" vanities; 44" width for 48" vanities; 52" width for 60" vanities

But, the vanities in four bathrooms are flush against the wall (photos below). In those cases, would it better to still make the mirror narrower than the vanity (i.e., leave 1-4" between the mirrow and wall) or should I just put the mirror flush against the wall? I'd appreicate thoughts! One positive of leaving some space is that it's more forgiving if the walls are a bit out of plumb, but my intuition says putting the mirror right against the wall might work better visually.

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Comments (8)

Lyn Nielson
last year
I would fill the space rather than leave a 1" gap

or make it intentional and center over each sink leaving a lot of space.

How many bathrooms are we looking at here?

Guidelines are suggestions....look into the mirror. centered at eye level.
earldesignqs
Original Author
last year
Thanks @Lyn Nielson, great to hear your perspective. You are looking at photos of 4 bathrooms (from multiple houses). Top one is a double sink (total length 60"), the others are single sink (30", 24", 36").
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chispa
last year
Why frameless? Is this a spec/flip house and you are trying to save money?

You can get nice framed mirrors that don't cost a fortune ....
earldesignqs
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
@chispa Custom cut frameless is actually a little bit more expensive than premade framed options. The frameless choice is driven by a personal preference for a minimalist contemporary look that lines up with the rest of the house and bathroom (e.g., large format concrete floor tiles; light wood vanities; linen colored large forma percelanosa shower tiles; kerfed doors and windows; no ornamentation such as coffered ceilings or molding). There are great bathrooms with framed mirrors and ornamentation; it's just not the aesthetic that I'm going for.
chispa
last year
last modified: last year
Have you looked on Houzz photos? You'll get thousands of different photos and ways of doing it.

This one below is different. There are no rules. Do what looks best in the space and balances out the rest of the design. Your photos only show enough to give you wild guesses.

Crabapple House · More Info
RNmomof2 zone 5
last year
I love a big frameless mirror. So do my kids. We have a large bathroom and it was not uncommon for all of us to be in front of my 4 ft mirror. THe other baths in our house also have a frameless mirror.

My DD's houses have framed mirror and they complain about how small they are, that you have to be centered at the sink, they are too low (we are all tall) etc. We replaced the mirrors in one kids bath with LARGE framed ones because the kids would be 8 before thy could see themselves in the existing mirrors.

All that to say, place the mirror u[ against the wall or several inches out as Lyn says. It's a PITA to paint a small strip and not get it on the mirror (which will be seen in the mirror).
earldesignqs
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
@RNmomof2 zone 5 thanks for sharing your experience. Out of curiosity, how high do your frameless mirrors go -- all the way to the ceiling or do they leave some space?
RNmomof2 zone 5
last year
Without getting up to measure, I think they are 36 inches tall. LIghts are all mounted above the mirror. Our house is 30+ years old and 3 baths have been that way the entire time.