Bathroom mirrors

Framed bathroom mirrors made in my workshop are built to the dimensions you give me, in a wooden frame finished to cope with steam and damp. You choose the moulding, the colour and the orientation — from plain white and black through to hand-gilded profiles. Every mirror is glazed with low-iron OptiWhite glass.

What you will find in this category

These are wall mirrors, made one at a time rather than taken off a shelf. The range runs from narrow, plain profiles for small bathrooms to wide, deeply profiled mouldings that become the main feature above a vanity unit. Current models use mouldings from roughly 18 mm to 120 mm wide, so the frame can stay discreet or take a clear role in the room. The same construction runs through the rest of my mirrors in frames.

• Painted frames — white, black, cream, grey, navy, bottle green and other shades, in satin, semi-matt or high gloss
• Gilded and part-gilded frames — genuine gold leaf along the edge or across the face, usually with a hand-painted panel
• Modern profiles — narrow, flat, without ornament, for large-format tiles and matt fittings
• Distressed and shabby chic finishes — rubbed-through edges and wax-polished surfaces for older houses and metro tiles

White framed bathroom mirrors

White is the most common request for a bathroom, and there is more than one way to do it. A narrow 22 mm frame with softly rounded corners in high-gloss white sits quietly above a basin and keeps a small room feeling open. A wide 100 or 120 mm moulding in satin white reads as furniture rather than trim, which suits a bathroom with plenty of wall to fill. An off-white, hand-distressed finish gives a softer, older look. A white frame can also carry a narrow gilded inner edge in 22-karat moon gold — enough warmth to stop the white looking flat, without turning the mirror into an ornament.

Glass, and how the mirror copes with a damp room

Every mirror here is glazed with SGG Miralite® Pure Diamant 4 mm, OptiWhite. This is a low-iron mirror without the greenish cast of standard glass, so the reflection stays neutral in colour — which matters under bathroom lighting, when shaving or putting on make-up. The reverse carries a dark protective coating over the silver layer, which shields it from moisture.

Frames intended for bathrooms are sealed with polyurethane lacquer: hard, and resistant to water vapour and changes in humidity. Gilded frames are sealed in the same way. The backing is HDF, which behaves better in a humid room than standard wood-based board; MDF is used on request where a thicker panel is needed. Wall brackets for hanging are supplied with every mirror. Toughened safety glass can be specified where it is wanted.

Bevelled edge

A ground bevel up to 20 mm wide can be added to any mirror in this category. It puts a shallow prism along the edge of the glass and softens the step between mirror and frame. On a narrow moulding it is usually the first detail people notice, because it catches light from several directions at once.

Anti-fog heating mat

If the mirror mists over after every shower, a heating mat can be fitted to the back of the glass. It keeps the surface slightly above dew point, so condensation does not settle on it. The mat goes in before the mirror is assembled into the frame, so it has to be ordered together with the mirror rather than added afterwards.

How the frames are made

Each mirror passes through every stage in one workshop: cutting the moulding, joining the corners with wooden dowels, sanding, painting or laying gold leaf sheet by sheet, fitting the glass, setting the backing, attaching the brackets. The corner joint is mechanical rather than glued edge to edge, which is what keeps a frame square in a room that warms up and cools down twice a day.

The panel and the sides of the frame are painted in the same colour as the front, including the edge that meets the wall. Gilded frames are finished with genuine gold leaf — 23-karat and 22-karat moon gold for warm tones, 6-karat white gold for a cool, silvery finish — rather than gold-effect foil or an industrial metal imitation. Frames of that kind are shown in more depth in the glamour mirrors and classic mirrors categories.

Ordering a bathroom mirror to your own size

Every mirror in this category is made to measure. You give me the two outside dimensions, choose the orientation — vertical or horizontal — and the finish, and the piece is built to that size. Over one hundred shades are available from a high-pigment paint range, and a colour sample can be prepared before production starts.

The dimensions you give cover the whole mirror including the frame. Moulding width differs from model to model and is listed in the specification of each product, so it is worth checking that against the space above your basin or cabinet.

Production usually takes four to six weeks, depending on how involved the finish is. Very large formats, joined panels and special shapes are scheduled individually. If the mirror has to be ready for a particular date, or you would like help matching a frame to a bathroom that is still on the drawing board, please get in touch before ordering.