Galaxy Pistachio Green Mirror Molding Cabinets

GPG MIRROR MOLDING is $87.75. It is meant to be mitred into a rectangle around a plain, unframed mirror, either one already fixed to the wall or a new one cut to size. The live list does not publish the face width, the depth of the rebate behind it, or the piece length, and those three numbers decide whether it will sit over the edge of your particular glass. Send us the mirror size and thickness before ordering and we will confirm the fit.

It frames rectangles and squares only. Round, arched and pill-shaped mirrors cannot be framed with a straight profile, and they are usually sold already framed, which is its own answer to the question below.

There are three honest options, and they suit different rooms.

The matching frame is the strongest look and the most committed. It doubles the amount of green at the vanity wall, and in a small bathroom that can make the wall feel heavier than the rest of the room. The metal frame is the safer choice when the vanity is already the only coloured object in the room, because it links the mirror to the hardware and lets the cabinet be the single block of colour. Frameless glass is the plainest and suits a modern bathroom or a double vanity with one long mirror.

A frame is seen against the wall around it, not against the vanity. On white or cream tile, a sage frame reads crisply and pulls the vanity colour up the wall. On a wall painted a similar grey-green, the frame all but disappears and you have paid for a line nobody sees. On a dark wall or a patterned tile, the frame has to compete, and the metal-framed option usually wins.

Settle the wall finish before choosing the frame. Hold a door sample against the tile or paint chip you have picked, under the bathroom light, which is often a different colour temperature from the kitchen’s. If the sample looks right against the wall, a matching frame will too.

A framed mirror draws a strong rectangle on the wall, so where it sits relative to the vanity is more obvious than with a frameless one. The rule most designers use is to centre the mirror on the sink bowl, because that is where a person stands and looks.

On a symmetrical sink base the bowl and the cabinet share a centre line and there is nothing to decide. The offset sink-and-drawer combos are different. This line lists 30- and 36-inch combos with the bowl to the left or right (GPG VSD30DL and VSD30DR at $757.25, GPG VSD36DL and VSD36DR at $783.25), with a bank of drawers on the other side. Centre the frame on the bowl and it sits off-centre on the cabinet; centre it on the cabinet and it sits off the bowl. For a framed mirror over an offset combo, centring on the bowl is usually right, and a sconce on the drawer side balances the wall.

Height follows the faucet. Keep the bottom rail of the frame a few inches clear of the faucet’s highest point, so it is not splashed and is easy to wipe, and set the top at a height that suits the tallest regular user. Mark the frame’s outline on the wall with painter’s tape before cutting any molding; a framed mirror is hard to move once it is up.

The quantity is the perimeter of the mirror plus an allowance for the four mitres and a test cut. A common rule is to keep the mirror a few inches narrower than the vanity, so it does not overhang the counter edge. The examples below use that rule; your mirror may differ, so work from its real size.

Once you know the piece length from us, divide and round up. Two separate mirrors over a double vanity need two complete frames and eight mitres, which is why a single wide mirror is often simpler to frame. The full range of sink bases and combos is on the vanity sink base page, and the vanity buying guide covers widths and clearances.

A bathroom is harder on applied trim than a kitchen: steam condenses on the glass and runs down to the bottom rail of the frame every morning. A few precautions keep the frame looking new.

• Run the extractor fan during and after showers. Condensation standing on the bottom rail is the most common cause of trouble on any painted trim in a bathroom.
• Leave a small gap between the bottom of the frame and the backsplash or faucet deck, so water does not sit in the joint.
• Fix the frame to the wall or to its own backing, not to the silvered back of the glass, and use an adhesive sold as mirror-safe if any adhesive touches the glass. General-purpose construction adhesives can damage the mirror backing.
• Wipe the frame dry with a soft cloth rather than leaving it to air-dry, and keep abrasive cleaners off it; the care guide has the full routine for painted surfaces.