Asked on Jun 22, 2012

I would love to cover the mirror tiles that are in my VERY SMALL bathroom.

Therese K
by Therese K
I rent so don't really want to go to all the trouble of removing them but would love to cover them up. Should I paint? (If so, what kind of paint?) Paper? A friend suggested decoupage? What do you think?
  37 answers
  • Pam Pam on Jun 22, 2012
    Since you rent I wouldn't do anything permanent unless the landlord approves it. An easy fix is to buy some fabric and dip in liquid starch and put over the mirrors like wall paper. Smoothing out with your hands or a sqeegy. cut off any excess. When you get ready to move out you just pull off the walls or mirrors and wipe the liquid starch off with wet sponge or cloth. Easy!
  • Lori J Lori J on Jun 22, 2012
    If I were your landlord and you offered cover these up, I would give you a hug. Hideous doesn't begin to describe it.
  • Kandee S Kandee S on Jun 22, 2012
    Maybe get some latice plastic kind and fit it into the space. It will change the mirrors and give your room texture, plus you could use it to hang stuff one
  • Ellen V Ellen V on Jun 22, 2012
    Oh my! Flashbacks to my parents' 1970's bathroom. These were even on the ceiling. Good luck!
  • Kandee S Kandee S on Jun 22, 2012
    If you used the lattice and then added little s hooks you could hang necklaces, hand towels, wire up glass bottles and put fresh flowers in them. Have the hardware store cut a sheet of mdf to fit the space and paint it.Then hang the round mirror on it.
  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Jun 23, 2012
    since this is a rental, you might want to just live with it. Unless you have written permission from the landlord with their understanding and acceptance "removal" of what you do can cause damage to and be expensive to reverse, leave it alone! Lawsuits can be expensive and you might find yourself in the position of having to pay for a bathroom rennovation. If you feel you must do something, be willing to pay for it yourself and get clear permission. However, "learning" how to do something should not be attempted on the property of another. If the tiles are removed, the walls will probably be damaged. If you are not skilled in repairing wallboard, then you might want to use texture paint as we did...see photo attached. This project ran us over to $300, but we had paint left over because the spce was so small. The color shows up more peach than it is.
  • Belinda Sams Belinda Sams on Jun 23, 2012
    You might be able to cover it with some fabric. I there is wood trim about all of the edges, maybe you could tuck the edges of the fabric into the trim. You could also hang sheers on a tension rod (or tension shower rod) from one wall to the other if the room isn't too wide. You could put a tension rod just at the top or pull the sheers very taunt by putting a rod at the top and bottom.
  • Therese K Therese K on Jun 24, 2012
    Jeanette, Anything I do to this house will be appreciated by my landlady who could care less.
  • Leslie D Leslie D on Jun 24, 2012
    Oh Geez...I couldn't imagine...especially at my age, the last thing you want to see when you step out of the shower is a 360 degree view of yourself! I did a torn brown buther's paper wallpaper in a small bath in a former home and it ended up looking great. Sort of looks like leather on the wall when you're finished, and the butcher's paper is thick enough to cover the imperfections on the wall. Use a good "sizing" product painted on before you try to glue it to the mirrors, and make sure you use a good clear top coat to seal the paper since this is a bath. http://www.ehow.com/how_6964471_make-brown-paper-walls.html These are the written instructions. You can buy the rolls of brown butcher's paper at any craft store for about $5/roll, so it's a cheap, fast and fairly easy fix.
  • Therese K Therese K on Jun 24, 2012
    Yes, Leslie, it is a small room with very little ventilation. There is a ceiling fan but it does little good since I'm sure the ceiling is not vented very well. I'm thinking the paper needs to be light colored since it's a small room too!
  • Leslie D Leslie D on Jun 24, 2012
    I think you could get away with the butcher's paper. It ends up being a very neutral color. The sink is light, and you could hang some bright, white matted and framed pictures, and use white accessories to help brighten it up a bit. Make sure to post pictures when you're done....can't wait to see this transformed!
  • Therese K Therese K on Jun 24, 2012
    I will definitely post pictures when I am done! Looking forward to the transformation!
  • Karen M Karen M on Jun 24, 2012
    I think a hammer and a chisel might help then a gallon of paint. :P~
  • Patricia S Patricia S on Jun 24, 2012
    I used to do alot of Gallery Glass(fake stained glass) on mirrored tiles and such...You could do that and even change it from time to time when you get tired of it because it can be peeled off or scraped off with a razor blade...There are all kinds of designs you can do, birds, flowers, mosaic-looking...the options could be endless...You could even draw or trace a pattern from a book and do that in the colors you want.
  • Dodie R Dodie R on Jun 24, 2012
    I would use a contact paper, you can get it anywhere and comes in all types of designs and colors. Will definately stick to the glass. If you do decide to paint, you need to roughen the glass with steel wool. This way you can use a basic paint, no need to pay the price of glass paint.
  • Jan C Jan C on Jun 24, 2012
    I don't have any ideas, but want to wish you luck with whatever you do, and post pics when done!!!
  • Annie Edmonds S Annie Edmonds S on Jun 24, 2012
    we had a wall like that in our home when we moved in, we put printed paneling over it, used hard as nails glue, it comes in a tube and you use a caulking gun, they have all kinds of paneling, check out home depot, probably have some for bathrooms by now, good luck..
  • Debbie M Debbie M on Jun 24, 2012
    You could hang light curtains from the ceiling. A couple eye hooks and dowel rods with lace or shear curtains. Remember it's a rental.
  • Peggy C Peggy C on Jun 24, 2012
    Do you think the fabric and starch technic would work? It's completely removable when you leave.
  • Sandra W Sandra W on Jun 24, 2012
    There is a product that you can buy, goes on like paint, it's not cheap and I can't remember the name of it (sorry)' but once you apply it you can paint over it. It has an initial name, something like Tzo or TMS ?? Call home depot or lowe's or sherwin williams and they should be able to put you on it. good Luck!
  • Sandra C Sandra C on Jun 24, 2012
    I have done several walls over the years using the large sheets of the heavier duty tissue paper. First tear the paper in 12 inch sections (don't worry that the edges are ragged). Take the 12 inch section and squeeze it into a tight ball. Unfold the paper and put them to the side. Using a disposible 2 inch paint brush (the bristle type) paint onto the wall (in your case the mirrors) a solution of Elmer's Glue dilluted with water. Just keep putting the paper up in this fashion (be sure to overlap each piece). Use the paint brush to smooth the paper over the wall. You will never be able to see seams or any flaws in the wall. The finishing touch is doing a faux paint job - paint any medium to dark shade of paint onto the paper you've put onto the wall; do this with a paint roller. Let this paint dry then take a regular kitchen sponge (the older the better) and lightly apply a light shade of paint to the wall using circular motions. The light paint floats on the high spots of the crumbled paper wall and the darker shade is lying in the low spots of the paper. When I did my first wall (it was a powder room) I just went for it. I used a dark shade of purple and a light shade of pink. It's fun, easy and the results are amazing!
  • Anna L Anna L on Jun 24, 2012
    Fill in holes with joint compound then use the new wall paper that you can paint. Its white with different designs on it. Pretty cool!
  • Marg C Marg C on Jun 24, 2012
    Sandra...this method sounds very interesting. I may try this some time.
  • Amy L Amy L on Jun 25, 2012
    First & foremost, what does the owner say, what is in your rental agreement ... then decide! Kilz is a great pre-conditioner but I haven't ever used it on glass. I like the ideas of the light weight curtains or any material you like ... quick, easy, and inexpensive.
  • Dara K Dara K on Jun 25, 2012
    get a couple of rolls of wall paper and go for it you can get discount wall paper at the goodwill or any resale shop for nearly nothing I use wall paper on dressers and on mirrors. It looks great and it's cheap
  • Therese K Therese K on Jun 25, 2012
    Last night I printed the instructions for the butcher paper decoupage and plan to do that to the mirrors. I will post a pic as soon as I'm done. Will definitely let you all see how it turns out. Thank you for all of your responses. I've been in this house 7 yrs and my landlady has been inside it once. She doesn't do any of the upkeep of any of the property, I do. She just cashes the rent check. Anything I do to update or improve? She could care less one way or the other. Thanks for your concern for her opinion but she hasn't had one up until now, so don't worry. After 7 years, it won't change, unless I forget to send the rent. : /
  • Leslie D Leslie D on Jun 25, 2012
    Can't wait to see it!
  • Linda Linda on Jun 25, 2012
    Check with a company called Dali Wall Murals. The make large sheets of peel-able vinyl decals. I bought a 4 x 6 foot mosaic tile sheet I plan on using in my bathroom. The prices are very reasonable.
  • Irene Irene on Mar 18, 2013
    Hello Bee S, I think the idea of sheers on a round rod at the top is a good idea. I like your idea of a rod going through the sheers at the bottom too. It might not need to be attached to anything since the rod would probably be enough weight to keep the sheers in place.
  • Irene Irene on Mar 18, 2013
    In my experience Your landlady will care a lot more than you think when you move at some point. If she has to pay someone to undo what you have done you wont be getting your deposit back or if for some reason you didn't have to pay a deposit you will get a bill.
  • Therese K Therese K on Mar 18, 2013
    I have moved to a new house so it is not an issue anymore. Thank you for your suggestions.... And Irene, in my opinion and knowing my landlady like I do, any improvements would have been welcomed AND she would never had hired anyone to undo what I did. They are SLUM LORDS. Slum lords don't care.
  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Mar 19, 2013
    Keep in mind that if you take the mirrors down, you will probably have damaged walls since they use a "glue" to put them up. With that said, we used beadboard and texture paint in our small half bath. Then put up chair rail with accents in the corners (vanity at other 2 corners) LOVE IT! The texture paint requires a special roller but it is not expensive. You could also use pallet wood and paint it or stain it any color with watered down paint! Here is my bath.
  • Irene Irene on Mar 19, 2013
    Congratulations on your new house. I'll bet you are glad to be out of there. Best wishes to you, Therese
  • Shirley Kalinosky Shirley Kalinosky on Jul 19, 2014
    These mirrors are just like the ones I have in one of our bathrooms. I have plans to use the wallpaper that looks like the beadboard in white and put it up around the top area that now has the old beige stripes and on the mirrors. Thanks for the info. You are all great to help!
  • Shirley Kalinosky Shirley Kalinosky on Jul 19, 2014
    And by the way, in our new house, it that same gaudy oval mirror. Can't wait til get rid of that!
  • Lori Lori on Jan 19, 2015
    Too bad you moved, I was going to suggest spraying it all over with spray snow and when it starts to look grey or slimy, spay on another can. :) just kidding folks.
  • Shirley Kalinosky Shirley Kalinosky on Jan 20, 2015
    Painted mirror and repainted the bathroom.