Joanna Gaines' Bathroom Design Tip Makes Keeping Mirrors Clean Easy

Even in the most organized, well-designed bathroom, it can feel like you're constantly cleaning. The truth is, it's because you probably are. Most bathrooms require a weekly cleaning to keep clutter, chaos, and bacteria at bay. But, thankfully, there are many tips to make cleaning your bathroom easier. One tip, often overlooked, is designing with ease of cleaning in mind. To make your bathroom easier to clean, you might want to take a page out of Joanna Gaines' design book. Renowned designer and star of HGTV's "Fixer Upper" and its myriad of spin-off series, Gaines's design tip for bathroom mirrors not only looks great but helps you keep mirrors easy to clean too. Joanna Gaines is a fan of small to moderately sized bathroom mirrors, hung a few inches above the bathroom vanity. This creates a modern look and keeps the bathroom mirror easier to clean by keeping it out of the sink's splash zone and giving you less surface area to wipe and shine. 

Unlike the 1980s era, which saw bathrooms decked out with green-room style enormous full-wall frameless mirrors that spanned the length of the vanity, Gaines' style is more contemporary, cozy, elegant, and reserved. Exemplified in "Fixer Upper: The Castle," Joanna Gaines utilized small to medium-sized bathroom framed mirrors for the primary, hall, and guest bathrooms, hung a few inches above the bathroom vanities for graceful results. Below, we break down Joanna Gaines' bathroom design tip and share some Fixer-Upper-approved advice on how to steal the easy-to-clean look.

In recent years, Joanna Gaines' "Fixer Upper" bathroom designs have shown us that when it comes to vanity mirrors, big isn't always better. In "Fixer Upper: The Lakehouse," the designer redesigned and updated an outdated master bath, adding two small brass oval mirrors, hung over each sink in the lengthy double vanity with space above, below, and in-between each, and a stylish wall sconce in the middle. Similarly, for a small downstairs bathroom in Magnolia House, she used one small white decorative oval vanity mirror, hung a few inches over the sink. And, a variety of shapes of small to medium-sized framed mirrors were used over the vanities throughout "Fixer Upper: The Castle" showing that Gaines can't get enough of this style. Via the Magnolia blog, she shares that by stealing her ideas, "you can make even the most utilitarian spaces in a home feel special."

Indeed, not having to constantly clean is a special feeling that's worth the design effort. For the homeowner who's interested in deep cleaning the bathroom and keeping it clean for an extended time, Gaines' design tip is a lifesaver. Firstly, it reduces the surface area that needs wiping and shining. And, because the mirrors are hung a few inches above the vanity and away from the spray of the sink, it keeps the mirrors away from sink-related splash and spray so you can achieve a clean, spot and streak-free look for longer periods of time.

If you're tired of the constant streaks, scrubbing, and spraying of your oversized bathroom mirrors and wondering what's the right size bathroom mirror for you, you might want to adopt Joanna Gaines' small to medium mirror trick. Our first tip is to look for a framed mirror in a unique shape. Joanna Gaines' lifestyle shop, Magnolia, carries exclusively small or medium-sized bathroom vanity mirrors in shapes like rectangles, arches, ovals, and other unique forms. Joanna Gaines' chosen frame styles include natural wood, black metal, and brass. A frame is especially important if the mirror doubles as a medicine cabinet. This helps you keep the mirror fingerprint-free by providing a spot to grip as you open and close the cabinet that isn't the mirror itself.

Our second tip is to leave enough space between the top of your vanity and the bottom of your mirror when you hang. Like Joanna Gaines does, ensure there's at least a few inches of space between the top of your vanity, or the top of your faucet, and the bottom of your mirror. Not only does this look uncluttered and help you keep water off your mirror, but it'll also help you keep smudges off the mirror when you're cleaning around your faucet. Finally, as Joanna Gaines knows, it's okay to have one medium-sized mirror hung over the center of a double vanity instead of two. When it comes to bathroom design, blending functionality with style is key.