How to make a Hollywood Mirror for under £50
I absolutely love the Hollywood mirrors I’ve seen all over Instagram recently, though my chest did a little flip flop when I realised they range from £200-£300, way over my practically non-existent budget.
Making it a bit of a mission, I scoured my local bargain stores to find a cheaper alternative. Unfortunately, most of them were not at all what I wanted.
The lights were either too tiny, or the plastic frame looked too cheap. I probably seem picky, but ever since reading Spark Joy: An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo, it has made me realise that I only want to buy something that I am 100% happy with. That doesn’t mean I can’t compromise, but it does mean that I will compromise with something which is right.
A lovely follower of mine on Instagram was kind enough to offer me an alternative: The Godmorgon mirror from Ikea and accompanying LEDSJÖ led wall lamp (or MUSIK Wall lamp). This came in at a reasonable £61, but unless you can get there yourself, it lumped a hefty delivery cost on top which made the total £100. Back to the drawing board!
This is where my lovely husband asked me to “just check and see if you can get them on Amazon”. Laughing in his face, I assured him that I highly doubted it.
Well, I am now £40 down and 1 Hollywood Mirror up thanks to him (and Amazon).
If you would like to recreate the look then here is what you need to do in very simple steps:
1. Measure your space
Measure the space you have and buy a cheap bathroom mirror. I got this simple unframed bathroom mirror from Amazon.
Update: The mirror I got seems to be completely unavailable now, but this slightly smaller unframed bathroom mirror from Amazon is basically the same. It might even be a more convenient size thinking about it!
2. Buy stick on bulbs
You need to get the stick on bulb kit that will fit with your mirror. There are generally two packs and you may prefer the smaller pack if you are using a smaller mirror. As my mirror was so large, I opted for the larger pack.
Update: The bulbs I originally ordered have completely disappeared, but this Hollywood bulb strip kit on Amazon is very similar to the one that I ordered. This should also fit with the smaller bathroom mirror linked above.
I also wanted them running along the bottom length of the mirror but you don’t have to do that and can have them just at the sides and the top! Whatever you decide, just check that there’s enough coverage from the lights to get around as much of your chosen mirror as you want.
3. Stick the lights to the mirror
The instructions suggest marking on the mirror where the bulbs should go, but I just made sure they were evenly spaced apart. The lights come with sticky backs which are very secure, so all you need to do is peel and stick.
Do try to get them relatively close to the edge of the mirror, as it makes hiding the wires much easier.
4. Tape the wires around the back of the mirror
You want to hide as much of the wire as possible. The bulb kit I got had a way of shortening or lengthening the wires between each bulb really easily and we found a little bit of extra slack was useful in getting the wires taped back.
5. Attach the mirror to the wall
Measure, mark and fix it to the wall using the fixtures provided or something that will hold it in place. Don’t make the mistake of doing this step first!
And Bob’s your uncle! One Hollywood mirror for about £50! Mine came to a total of £42 (update: with the links above, you might be able to squeak this in for just over £40) and that’s with a large mirror and the bigger pack of lights.
I am always one for a bargain find and this little beaut is my favourite so far. I absolutely love this one and the lights even have a dimmer so you can adjust the brightness to suit you. What isn’t to love?
I hope this little blog helps someone get the mirror of their dreams, like I did, for a fraction of the cost that these retail for.
