DIYing an Urban Outfitters Mirror
We have a little series called DIYing Your DM’s over on our YouTube channel and this week I tackled a couple new projects that I am super excited about! This mirror from Urban Outfitters was sent to us from a follower and when I saw it, I knew immediately that I had to make it! Normally, I would link the original item below, but this item is no longer available, so that’s all the more reason to DIY it!!! Here’s what I did…
Materials
1/2” PVC pipe & fittings
2 of the 1/2”x 10’ PVC pipe
4 of the 1/2” PVC Tee fittings
8 of the 1/2” PVC 90 degree elbow fittings
1 x 2 framing lumber
Mending plates
8 x 1 self drilling screws
16” x 58” frameless mirror
The mirror appears to be made from galvanized metal piping, but I used PVC because it’s more affordable, way lighter and easier to get exactly the sizes needed to put this together because I could cut it with a saw rather than having to get the metal pipe cut and threaded at the hardware store.
PVC pipe Cut List
17¼”
23¾” ( x2 )
1¼” ( x2 )
34¾” ( x2 )
7⅞” ( x2 )
39” ( x 2)
9⅞” ( x2 )
26”
See diagram below for visual guide
So to start, I measured my mirror and planned out the cuts I’d need in order to have a small gap between the pipe frame and the mirror itself, which is a key part of the design of the original piece. I had to keep in mind when measuring that each end of the pipe would also sit about a 1/4” inside each elbow or tee fitting.
Once I had my frame pieces cut, I fit them together to make sure it was nice and square. To mount the mirror, I cut some pieces of scrap framing lumber we had at the office to size to create this pattern of support on the back. With a dab of adhesive and some screws I attached the wood to the pipe on the backside of the frame and where the wood butted up against wood, I used the mending plates to join them together.
With the frame together, it could be stood upright and leaned back to figure out the perfect viewing angle (definitely easier with a helping hand). Once the angle was perfect, I could figure out the measurements for the all the leg pieces, cut them, and slot all the pieces and fittings into place.
This was the perfect time to add a coat of spray paint to the entire frame.
Now the mirror could be attached to the wood using the specialty mirror construction adhesive. I took the 26” spacer piece back out of the frame to allow the leg to fold in towards the frame and for the entire piece to lay flat for the adhesive to dry. It’s important to use this special adhesive as ordinary adhesives can damage the reflective silver coating on the back of a mirror.
I let the adhesive dry overnight, reassembled the leg and used the self-drilling screws to secure wherever the pipe joined the tee and elbow fittings. You could have used glue in these joints while assembling, but that can get messy and prevent you from being able to pull apart the frame and make adjustments as you go.
With the screws in place, I could have called it a day and left it with a cool industrial look, but I wanted everything to blend together so I masked off the mirror with some plastic and hit the frame and screws with another coat of spray paint so everything was the same colour.
Check out the final results!
Final Results
Check out the full DIY here…
