Bathroom Cabinet Upcycled to a Bright Livingroom Cabinet.

Bammaw's House
by Bammaw's House
9 Materials
3 Hours
Easy
I was putting a new bathroom cabinet into a bathroom redo. The cabinet coming out was too good to just throw away. So I hung onto it to use in another project later.
This is what the cabinet looked like.  I removed it from the wall and removed the toilet paper holder.  For this project, I had to patch the holes with wood putty.  I removed the pieces of luan on the back because it was cut for pipes. I had a piece of luan (1/4") wood panel. I cut it to fit and attached it to the back. I could have used hardboard, too. I lightly sanded the glossy finish on the doors and the sides.  I also took the doors off by unscrewing the hinges. 
I then attached a piece of 1/2" plywood to the top with screws through the corner brackets just as you would attach a countertop.  I didn't want any over-hang so the plywood would fit flush with all the sides. 
The corner bracket looks like this.  The screw goes in from the bottom pushing up into the plywood top. I painted the whole cabinet black satin except for the front of the two doors.  I painted the raised frame around the door but not the center.  I had planned to do some sort of decorative stenciling to them.  
Instead of an over hang on the top, I added 3/4 trim. The trim is very narrow.  I framed the top with this just like a picture frame. I used 1/2" brads and wood glue to attach it to the plywood.  This left a 1/4" well in the top.  The plan was to tile the top.  But I remembered I had broken a mirror.  I bought it on clearance for the frame but I kept the broken mirror pieces after I removed the frame.  I never throw anything out that I think I can use in another project some day.  It was a large mirror.  I had put the pieces of the mirror in a thick ply garbage bag for storage. While it was still in the bag, I took a hammer and gently tapped the larger pieces to break them up a bit more.  Of course, I was wearing safe glasses.  I had to be more careful then when using tiles.  I carefully dumped all the pieces into a large but shallow box so I could spread out the pieces.  I decided to do a mosaic tile on the top and the doors with the broken mirror pieces.  I used glass tile adhesive and arranged the mirror pieces.  I let it set and dry according to the product directions and then grouted it.  I used a beige sanded grout because it doesn't shrink over time.  The most difficult part of this project was trying to clean the mirrors after the grout set.  I gave it about 30 minutes to set then started gently wiping it.  The mirror pieces would dry with a white film from the grout. I finally just took a paper towel and went over each piece trying not to touch the damp grout.  The next day after the grout was dry, the mirror pieces cleaned easily.
As you can see, like most built-in-cabinets, it has a  toekick on the bottom. A toekick is that 4" recessed space in the bottom of a cabinet so you can stand close to the kitchen or bathroom cabinet without stubbing your toe.  In order for this cabinet to look less like a bathroom cabinet, I cut 4 inches from the bottom of two old table legs I had and attached them in the toekick space.  I screwed them in with 3" screws from the inside of the cabinet bottom. 
The pieces laid out
Grouting
Cleaned pieces after the grout dried
Also cleaned pieces after grout dried
Then I reattached the doors and... it's finished! The mirror mosaic cabinet really brightens up this corner.  It took a weekend to do because of drying time for the tile adhesive and the grout, but actual working time took about 3 hours.
Before and after!  It looks great and didn't cost anything because I used things I had on hand. 
Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
  • Joanne Joanne on Jan 21, 2019

    How do you keep from having issues with sharp edges on your mirror pieces after grouting, such as cuts on your hand if you rub the surface?

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 34 comments
Next