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Round Wood Mirror DIY

Let me begin by explaining the story behind this Round Wood Mirror DIY and how it came to be!

While planning the design for our master bathroom makeover I knew I wanted a round wood mirror above the vanity because it would be the perfect statement piece to help add style and function to our tiny bathroom!

Specifically, I wanted one with a thin wood frame because it just fits my style perfectly.

I can be really indecisive when it comes to design decisions, but I knew exactly what I wanted for this mirror and so I searched everywhere for a thin framed wood mirror (and it also had to be 22″-26″ in size).

Round Wood Mirror DIY

I found a few that fit what I was envisioning, except they were all $300-$500. Ugh not budget friendly!

Round Wood Mirror DIY

I swayed back and forth in my mind with trying to decide what to do. Idea 1: I could buy a thin framed metal mirror for around $100 but it wouldn’t be wood. Idea 2: I could build a wood framed rectangle mirror pretty easily for really cheap…but it wouldn’t be round… Ok Idea 3: Build exactly what I want, a round wood framed mirror… who am I kidding, that sounds so complicated and time consuming, why do I get these thoughts in my head? Out of my stubbornness to change on what I wanted, and with one week left until the bathroom reveal and a zillion other things to do, I started researching how to cut wood circles and came up with build plans to make my dream mirror come to life!

And my plans worked! Also, this mirror cost me less than $50 to make! Amazing! I bought the mirror (similar here) on sale for $35 and the frame materials I needed to buy cost less than $15. The final size of this mirror is 25.5″ x 25.5″.

Here are the steps on how to build a round wood framed mirror:

Note, this post contains some affiliate links. For more information see my disclosures here.

How to build a Round Wood Mirror

Materials:

Tools:

Note: Before building, review all steps below. There are many tools you can use to cut a circle out of wood, including a router, jig saw, circular saw, etc and there are many ways to join wood pieces together. I have chosen the below tools and steps based on ease of use and my preferred methods.

1. Cut the 2x6x10 to size

First let me show you my diagram I created in Adobe Illustrator in order to determine what size my wood frame cuts needed to be for a 24″ mirror. So, if you’re using a different size mirror, this is a good way to determine your measurements.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Using a miter saw, cut four wood pieces 26″ long with 45 degree mitered ends from your 2x6x10 lumber (which is already 5.5″ tall).

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Round Wood Mirror DIY

 

2. Mark & Drill Pocket Holes

First, layout your four wood pieces in a square and then lay your mirror on top centered and trace its shape onto the wood with a pencil.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Chance loved looking at his reflection in the mirror on the ground haha!

Anyways, after tracing my mirror shape onto the wood, I measured and marked about 7/8″-1″ from my mirror edge on each corner. And then I marked a line (towards the inside of the square) 1/2″ from my mirror tracing line. These markings were used to help me visualize the thickness of my wood frame so I could determine where to drill my pocket holes.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Next, mark a line in the center of those two lines to mark where your pocket holes need to be drilled for your Kreg screws. Finally, drill your pocket holes with the Kreg Jig.

Note that it’s really important to drill these pocket holes exactly centered in the middle of your frame because two of my pocket holes were too close to the edge and the pocket holes ended up showing some after I cut my circle frame and I had to fill them with a lot of wood filler! Also, I just used 1 pocket hole per corner.

*Tip: See my how to use a Kreg Jig post for an easy, step by step tutorial and video tutorial on how to use the Kreg Jig!

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Round Wood Mirror DIY

 

3. Attach frame together with Kreg Screws & Wood Glue

Attach your square frame together with 2 1/2″ Kreg screws and wood glue.  Use a generous amount of wood glue, I could have used even more than what I have shown in the photo below.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Round Wood Mirror DIY

 

4. Prepare a router circle jig

You will need to make a circle jig for your router or you can buy a router circle jig like this one if you don’t want to make one or you want to save time and effort. I chose to make my jig out of some scrap 1×6 wood that I cut to about 17″ in length. You could also use plywood that is 1/2″ or 3/4″ thick.

Mark and drill a circle out of your wood circle jig for your router bit.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Next, secure your router down to your jig with screws.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Finally, secure a scrap piece of 2×6 to the center of your work surface. I secured mine with a screw that I counter sunk below my wood surface so it wouldn’t stick up.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

 

5. Prepare circle jig for cutting the circle frame

This is one of the trickiest parts of this tutorial and you may need to adjust your measurements compared to mine to ensure an accurate circle cut.  I wanted my final frame size to be 25.5″ tall, so using some geometry terms here, if my circle diameter is 25.5″, my radius (for my circle jig) should be 12.75″. Therefore, from my router bit to where my jig needed to be secured should be 12.75″ but I also had to account for my 1/4″ thick router bit.

So, I drilled a small pilot hole 12 5/8″ from my router bit (on the bottom side of my jig).

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Then, I drilled a screw through that pilot hole into the center point of my work surface (which was the center point of the opening of my square frame).

Round Wood Mirror DIY

The circle jig is all set up now! To ensure all my math and measuring was correct, I checked to make sure my router bit lined up with where the top edge of my circle frame needed to be.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

 

 

6. Cut the circle frame with router

Before cutting, I secured my square frame onto my work surface with counter sunk screws into the section I was going to be discarding.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Make sure your router bit is only exposed about 1/4″ deep and begin making very shallow circle pass cuts in your frame. After each pass or two, lower the depth of your router bit another 1/4″ – 1/2″ deep and make deeper passes. I had to use a vacuum to suck up all the sawdust between passes (there was a lot of it)!

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Round Wood Mirror DIY

And here is a little video showing this part in action!

 


The outer edge of the round mirror frame is complete!

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Next, cut the inner edge of the circle using the same steps as step #5 except that you want your radius or distance between your router bit and screw center point to be about 1″ to 1.5″ less, so around 11 5/8″ but again test it out by lining up your router bit to make sure it is going to cut exactly where you want your inner frame edge to be. My final frame thickness was 1″ thick.

And here is the round wood mirror frame all cut out of the wood:

Round Wood Mirror DIY

 

7. Cut a rabbet in the back of the round mirror frame

Using the same methods as step #5 and 6 above, cut a shallow rabbet (about 1/4″ deep) in the back of the round mirror frame (like you would would see on the back of a picture frame) for your mirror.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

 

 

8. Finish your round wood mirror DIY!

Before staining your mirror, make sure you sand it really well! I used both my orbital palm sander and corner cat sander. I also fillled my pocket holes that were too close to the edge and showing, as well as the 4 cracks where my circle frame was connected with stainable wood filler which worked wonderfully to conceal those imperfections!

For finishing I used a pre-stain wood conditioner, this stain color, and this polyurethane. For more tips on staining wood for a beautiful finish, check out my post here.

Finally, I attached my mirror to the back of my frame into the rabbet with screws and mirror clips. I do plan on using my Dremel or drill to notch out some shallow holes for the mirror clips to go into and sit flush with the back of the frame soon so they aren’t showing when resting against the wall. Also, the mirror came with pre-attached hanging hardware which we used to hang it on the wall.

I’m just in love with the end result!

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Round Wood Mirror DIY

Master Bathroom Makeover Reveal

What do you think of our round wood mirror DIY? Do you want to build one for your home?! If so, I’d love to see photos of your build! Feel free to share with me on Instagram @angelamariemade, Facebook, or e-mail pictures to [email protected]!

Thanks for stopping by!

As always you can follow along with all of my DIY and home decor adventures on Instagram and Facebook.

Round Wood Mirror DIY

 

 

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Sharing is caring!

ORC week 1 – my master bathroom plans! – Lizzy’s Home Sweet Home

Thursday 6th of May 2021

[…] to buy online so I decided to DIY this. I saw a wonderful tutorial to DIY the wooden frame by Angela Marie Made. Unfortunately that particular unframed circle mirror was no longer available, but I was so lucky […]

June

Tuesday 26th of March 2019

Exactly what I was looking for. Looks fabulous and expensive. Thank you for the detailed post.

Angela Marie Made

Tuesday 26th of March 2019

You're welcome!

Jenna

Saturday 31st of March 2018

I was wondering how the same process can be done if I had a mirror that was 29 inches wide? I'm curious on how to get the supplies for the lumber?!

Angela Marie Made

Monday 2nd of April 2018

Hi Jenna! You could do a similar process with a 29" wide mirror, but you would have to figure out the measurements using a larger mirror and may need to use wider wood such as a 2x10 or 2x12. Also, the lumber can be found at a home improvement store like Home Depot or Lowes.

Cortney

Wednesday 24th of January 2018

Love this so much but only if you spend $500 on tools. Know One has a router, jig, or a miter saw just because. So you’d hav ego spend a lot for tools to accomplish this dyi.

Kathy Ficocelli

Friday 5th of October 2018

If you check at Home Depot they have a program where they loan you tools. Also, if you have a large piece of wood they will cut it for you too. Nothing fancy, but they'll cut it into sections. I don't know for sure if all Home Depot's do that but it never hurts to ask!

Angela

Wednesday 24th of January 2018

Thanks Cortney! Yes, you do need the right tools or to borrow the tools for this project. But, they are common tools for people who do these types of woodworking projects often. There is an initial investment for purchasing tools, but it saves a lot of money on projects if you make them often. Also, I've started out with all entry level tools which have been very affordable, which is great if you are interested in getting into building!

Fatty

Sunday 19th of November 2017

Very nice. You saved a lot of dough there too.

Angela

Monday 20th of November 2017

Thanks! Yes definitely saved some money by going the DIY way!