It just occured to me how bad I am at coming up with punny titles for blog posts. I don’t think that that’s grounds for divorce in Texas, but I can’t really be sure. Don’t tell Amber if it is.
After the flooring in the kids bathrooms went in, we had to make a decision on the mirror situation. A few weeks back, I swung up to IKEA in Dallas (the closest one to us) and grabbed a stockholm mirror to see if it would work here.
Side Note – It is impossible to walk around IKEA as a dude by yourself and not look pathetic. As I was grabbing some other odds and ends for the house, I felt people looking empathetically towards me in a “well, at least he’s trying to dress his apartment up” kind of way. I HAVE A FAMILY PEOPLE. STOP OFFERING TO BUY ME MEATBALLS. Actually, you can buy me some, that’d be great.
After I got the mirror home that week, we hired a male model to hold it up so we could see how it looked. ANNNNNNNND….. we didn’t really like it.
The wood tone is nice, but a bit light for the space and the scale isn’t right.
So the only option was…. say it with me…. CUSTOM mirrors being built.
We didn’t want to just throw a mirror up on the wall, we needed to frame it. We had heard about a reclaimed wood source about an hour and a half away in Hillsboro, TX. So the next day we loaded up the kids and headed south.
When we got there, we basically walked into a yard of reclaimed wood boards stacked super high. It would have made John from Our Homefrom Scratch pee his pants.
There was a little shed in the middle with a couple of ladies in there. I asked them how I could figure out how much a specific board costs, and they said “ask.” Amber was in the car with two sleeping kids, so I walked around the lot with one of the ladies and texted Amber pictures.
After I found some that I thought would work, Amber got out of the car with Beckett (seen left), and we had some of the workers there start to pull boards to check for straightness etc.
We didn’t buy that giant beam there, but it was amazing and pretty reasonably priced (Around $250 if I remember correctly). Most of the prices there were super cheap. We paid $130 total.
After we picked out the boards for the mirrors, we grabbed a beam to be used as a mantle too and threw them in the back of our car. We had to slide them in between kids and pretty much all the way to the front of the car, but they fit (barely).
When we got back to the house, we laid all the pieces out on the floor of the garage with the best side up so the painter would know which side to clean and seal. After we did that, we walked the trim guy through what we wanted.
A few days later, we went to the house and the mirror frames were up. We asked the trim guy to cut the corners straight since the boards aren’t the same size, but he cut them at a 45 degree angle. They’re not perfect, but we decided we can live with them.
They look a bit rougher in person than in the pic, and we liked that they added some wood tones and some texture to the jack and jill set up.
Then about a week later, they came and installed the mirrors inside the frame. Above is a shot of Beckett’s set up. Tough to get a picture because the angles are so tight, but it turned out great!
Looking back at this post and all the steps it took to just get mirrors into the kid’s bathroom, it shows you how much work even the smallest things are. The whole build process has been like that for us, but I guess when you want to build a house custom from the ground up, that’s how it goes.
The mirror looks great. We still need to frame out the ones in our “kid” bathrooms.
Super jealous of that mantel board. We’ve been on the hunt. Guess we need to move to Texas. Awesome reclaimed wood and warmth.
Those are pretty much the best reasons to move. Go for it.I should have taken a picture of the mantel up. Maybe I’ll instagram that mess if I get up to the house today! It’s 18 degrees out which means I probably won’t get out.
oooh yes! the scale is perfect and the wood is perfect!
honey, can i get you some meatballs?
Truth be told he was probably walking around with puppy eyes waiting for the first meatball offer.
Since you called me honey I might just take you up on that.
I love how much thought you guys are putting toward every little thing! I love the wood tone up that high and as much as I love that ikea mirror I’m happy you didn’t do it. Scale is my pet peeve. I will however take that mirror off your hands 😉
We knew the IKEA mirror would be a long shot since Ramona’s vanity is so long with the knee space. We thought be might be able to pull off 2 mirrors and get away with it, but no dice. Those IKEA mirrors are actually pretty nice. It was too big for the half bath though. Guess Nick will have to make another lonely trip to IKEA for a return!
Oh I’m so happy you went the custom route! The warm wood tone looks so perfect with the cool blue cabinets and marble counters. Must see more!
THey looked really great once we tested the brass hardware for the cabinets with them. Something to look forward to…
Well those people at IKEA didn’t have a clue how knowledgeable you actually are. I wish my husband would walk around IKEA by himself. He could care less about anything that has to do with homes, DIY and design and I’m convinced he’d live in a trailer park if it wasn’t for me. Gosh actually come to think of it that’s probably why he thinks his mustache looks good. Light bulb moment….
Anyways! The mirror looks awesome. I had thought I liked the Stockholm one when the (ahem) “model” held it up but this large custom mirror is perfect.
The mustache make so much sense now! I’m glad we could work through that one together! 😉 The Stockholm mirror did look good, but it didn’t cover any of Ramona’s vanity space. It’s kinda hard to tell from that angle how small the mirror looked for the vanity as a whole.
I like the sound of your husband… his mustache sounds sweet.
The ikea mirror didn’t look bad (especially when held up by such a beefcake). I think the height of the walls bugged me more than anything (our ceilings are 10ft). Too much space up top.
No his mustache doesn’t sound sweet. He’s a weirdo!
I’m thinking custom Wills Casa t-shirts might be a good idea. If I encountered someone at IKEA wearing their design blog address, I’d be whipping out my iPhone on the spot to look it up. It could lead to new followers, the occasional discount and…more meatballs!
or maybe I could just get a shirt with my own face on it? like this
Yep, big photo with the caption “Hi, I’m Nick from ‘Wills Casa’! I love meatballs!”
Love that mirror! I’m on the hunt for vintage mirrors for my bathroom, but if I don’t find some soon, I may have to change course to something like this. Which would not be the worst thing in the world
We tried to find vintage mirrors. The problem we kept running into was finding ones that were big enough. We could have done 2 mirrors for Ramona’s bath, but it would have been a pain to find coordinating vintage mirrors. If we weren’t’ under such a time crunch we might have been able to pull it off.
that’s my problem exactly…I need two BIG mirrors, and the odds of finding two that work together seem low
This is gorgeous already. I love the idea of a reclaimed board frame for the mirror. And I wish you lived closer because we have a barn of barnwood that I would have given you in exchange for some baby snuggles. I’m easy.
Well baby snuggles are definitely cheaper than money! Come on down!
Something about this post brought me right back to when we first renovated our house. Our first baby was a few months old and we were running around everywhere trying to make decisions on finishes. Sometimes he came with us and other times my mom would watch him during one of his extra long naps. I have the feeling we’re going to be doing it allover again soon with our basement reno.
The mirror turned out fabulous by the way!
So great that you were able to find that reclaimed wood yard.
Ah renovations are fun aren’t they?
This made me giggle this morning! How funny! FYI–if you get offered free meatballs take them 😉 xo Kristin
Lesson learned. “If the meatballs are free… they’re good enough for me”
That is some attractive boards you got yourselves there. And a mantel too. I think the mirror looks absolutely fantastic. Love the tone of the wood with the counters!
Thanks dude. This house may come together and look decent yet!
Holy shit guys!! That frame looks AWESOME. It’s times like these that my choice to wear adult diapers really pays off.
If you ever asked me whether wearing adult diapers is a good idea… i’d be all like…*sly grin* “Depends”….. *rimshot*
I have to say, I am constantly blown away at how quickly you guys make decisions, and how good things look when you do. At this point, I’d probably stuck on step 1: decide whether to build a house.
We have been very quickly (and clear) on exactly what we want in the house. It’s still taking forever to complete, but I’m glad that no one has been waiting on us for info. Of course we are probably more involved in every decision than most clients which accounts for the slow progress! Sometimes I feel like we are stuck on step 1!!
That was actually Amber, I had logged in on her computer last night…. also, thank you
How much did that male model run ya? Looks expensive. Good thing you were able to save some dough with the reclaimed wood… which I am jealous over. If I want reclaimed wood, I have to tear my fence down. (And then spend all summer watching my male model build a new one. Oops)
This might shock you Kenz, but that make model was actually me.