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…
Katie says
seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LqRgmoN1A30TaR76vZZ_rw?feat=directlink
Monique says
Enjoying your rehab and I guess I’m one of those odd people that love yellow. Removing mirror is a good idea especially when you have a peek-a-boo toilet position.
Amanda Wright says
We have that exact shade of tile in one of our bathrooms! Gotta love it! I painted the walls a chocolaty brown and somehow it magically toned the yellow down and made it look more cream colored. Here are some pictures if you’re interested http://witandwhistle.com/?p=3101
LoriSF says
OMG, I was literally LOL about the mirror placement! Holy awkward. I have never been in a bathroom with a mirror placed in front of the toilet and laugh uncontrollably when I imagine it.
Sara says
I feel your pain on this one. We have a wall mirror in our half bath that is behind the toilet. Yep, you got that right. So, any gentleman visitors get to check their do’s while doing their business. Nice, huh?
I’ve wanted to take it down for quite some time, but still haven’t managed to get around to it… But, now that I’ve told the internet (or atleast all of your readers) I might be motivated to get it done!)
ButterYum says
LOL – that picture on the toilet – too funny!!! Who would think hanging a mirror there was a good idea?
Ana says
Hey, guys, just wanted to let you know to check with your local Habitat Re-Store before taking the mirror over for donation. Some take all undamaged mirrors, some only take framed mirrors, and some don’t take mirrors at all. Just a head’s up before you lug it over and risk breakage.
P.S. to John: I have crazy long toes, too. My second toes are almost as long as my pinky. (Here we will pause for you to check yours.) But there are pluses: 1) Excellent balance 2) Additional appendages with which to grab things. Minuses: 1) When people notice them, they’re like “OMG, your toes are SO long!” Talk about feeling self-conscious. 2) Foot fetishists will try to touch them. That happened to me a couple of times riding the bus in flip-flops. Mistake! 3) Peep-toe shoes just look odd. (Which, you, as a man, luckily do not have to worry about.) :)
Megan Carlisle says
I have been thinking about your yellow tile for a few days now and while looking for a new shower curtain for myself I ran across this one:
http://christmaspresentideas.org.uk/shopping/product/4/230504542/Marimekko-Kaiku-Green-Shower-Curtain.html
No I know it is very modern and sorta bold – but it seems to me that something LIKE this (maybe not this exactly) would be really great in that bathroom. It would make the yellow look like it was what you wanted all along. I think it would update the look of all that white and yellow and make it look fresh and modern. Especially, like you said, with some art on the wall.
Just wanted to share what I had found. Have a good evening, can’t wait to see the next post :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Megan,
That’s too funny! We actually have seen that in person at this house that we crashed and we love it! Our only thing is that the floor tile is a pretty busy mosaic pattern so a patterned or printed curtain might be too much. You never know though…
xo,
s
Christina says
We have teh same tile in our 60’s brick ranch, except it is peach. I was thinking of doing grey for the walls as well to maybe take the attention away from the walls. What are ya’ll doing about the coordinating tile towel bar? We really want to get rid of ours, but don’t want to damage the tile until we can afford the complete renovation.
YoungHouseLove says
We’re not sure yet, but we definitely don’t think we can remove them without damaging the tile in which case we’d need to somehow find matching tile and attempt to patch it which would be a nightmare. We’re considering some creative approaches (like removing them and building a floating shelf or something to hide the damage) but we’re not sure yet. We’ll definitely post about whatever we decide to do when we get there. Good luck!
xo,
s
Sarah Travis says
I’m just catching up on my favorite blog (yes that’s you!), and I was so stoked to see this bathroom! I, too, have the same yellow tile, complete with built in towel bars and TP holder, in our guest bathroom. The same is going on in the master but with baby blue tiles. I cannot wait to see how you deal with it since I have the same reservations about removing anything without doing an entire renovation. Ours is also left stalk white since I can’t picture any color making it look better. Thank you for reigniting my inspiration!
Sarah
Natalie says
I have the same exact bathroom! Yellow tile, window beside the toilet, air vent, mirror, etc. Kind of crazy since I live in Charlotte,NC. I just painted mine with black chalk board paint and I am loving it. I’m excited to see your progress!
Good Luck!