How to Hang a Mirror

In this instructable I will show you how easy it is to hang a mirror. Hanging a mirror is a super simple way to transform a room and often make a room look bigger.

You will only need a couple of tools for this job. These are:

• A tape measure
• A pencil
• A drill (I was drilling into brick so used a hammer drill)
• Drill bit
• Screwdriver
• Wall plugs
• Screws
• A spirit level (I used my Stanley Cubix laser level - an amazing bit of kit. Highly recommended)
• A mirror
• Glass cleaner
• Masking tape (optional)
• Paper (optional)

The first step of hanging a mirror is to measure. Like they say, measure twice, cut (or in this case drill) once.

You will need to measure the hanging points on the mirror itself and then the wall you want to hang the mirror on. This will help you firstly find the mid point of the wall and the mid point of the mirror. Doing this will assist in getting the mirror central on the wall. If, like me, you want it not in the middle you will just need to measure the hanging points of the mirror.

To find the level I used my Stanley Cubix laser level. If you don't have one of these, get one. They are amazing, it makes jobs like these super simple. However, this can easily be done using a conventional spirit level.

I mounted the Stanley Cubix level to window handle. This was the perfect hight for this application. The beauty of these levels are that they can be mounted anywhere at any angle. The level provides you with the vertical and horizontal axis, in this instance I only used the horizontal line. I worked out where I wanted to hang it and measured the distance between the mounting points and marked both points on the wall using a pencil.

The next step is to drill the holes.

I was drilling into brick so used a masonry drill bit and wall plug designed for brick walls. A good trick to gauge depth of the hole is to put some masking tape on the drill bit at the same length as the wall plug. Another little trick is to stick a Post It note or a piece of paper under the hole you're about to drill. This will collect all the dust. alternately, you could always use a Hoover.

Once the holes are drilled, add the wall plugs (you may find you need to hit them home with a hammer), then screw in the screws. You'll need to make sure you don't screw the screws all the way in.

The final step in this process is to give the mirror a good clean. Chances are you've put a load of dirty finger prints all over it. Once it is clean, all you need to to is hang it. If you've done everything right the mirror should fit and be perfectly level.