While creating the perfect home design, you’ll find that mirrors are a very special decorative element that uplifts the appearance of any room. If you want to learn how to use mirrors to improve your interior design, keep reading these useful tips.
What’s the Purpose of a Mirror?
First off, there’s more to mirrors than them being a home item to use to look at yourself every morning. Mirrors serve plenty of other purposes besides practical ones. All of these make mirrors necessary to have in at least one room in your house.
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To Make a Visual Change
Mirrors are the perfect home item to create a shift in the aesthetics of a whole room. You might have a whole industrial vibe going on in your living room, but placing the right mirror can change the tone.
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To Lighten a Visually “Heavy” Wall
There are rooms in your house that can get decoratively “heavy”. This could be because of the items placed on it or due to the material of the wall, such as red bricks. Placing a mirror can visually lighten any wall.
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To Create a New “Level” in Your Decoration
Sometimes, decorating a place can get difficult, especially if you can’t think of other items aside from picture frames and paintings. A mirror is always good to add a new level of style to a room. The reflection effect doesn’t necessarily have to come from a mirror! There are some materials such as titanium plates, brass metal, or colored glass that can have the same effect.
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For People to Groom Themselves
Of course, this is the most basic function of a mirror. Everybody needs a mirror in their bathroom or their bedroom so they can groom themselves, put on some makeup, and generally fix themselves before they leave the house.
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To Enlarge Spaces That aren’t Big Enough
If you have a particularly small room and would like to make it seem bigger or wider, a mirror is a perfect addition to your home.
Related: 8 Home Décor Tips Using House Plants and Flowers
Where to Place a Mirror
Now that we know some of the main purposes of having mirrors in your house, let’s explore several locations where you can place your mirror in order to make the most out of any room.
1. As Glass Panels on Both Sides of the Bed
Mirrors don’t always have to be placed on top of a dresser, they can also help put a nice touch of elegance to your bedroom. Placing two mirrored panels behind, or above, your nightstand will look more original and you can see yourself in the mirror after waking up.
2. Above a Console Table
Making a mirror functional can save you big bucks, that’s why placing it above a console table will ensure your mirror will look great while it’s also being put to good use.
3. Above the Fireplace
Who said the fireplace surface is only good to place ancient vases on top of? Give your living room a modern twist and place a round, luminous mirror above it. Make sure the mirror is oversized to create contrast against the “heaviness” of the fireplace.
4. Place a Giant Mirrored Wall on Your Kitchen Wall, between the Top and Bottom Cupboard
Here’s one unexpected home design tip you’d never imagine – placing mirrors in the kitchen. Install a gorgeous huge mirror on the wall between the top and bottom cupboards. Not only will it look lavish, but it’ll also be way easier to clean the kitchen tiles.
5. Behind the Sofa
The living room can be considered to be the heart of a house. It should be the most spacious room, or at least look like it. To give your living room a “spacious” effect and a modern home design touch, hang a mirror roughly the width of your sofa. Round shapes are more popular for living rooms because their shape creates a nice contrast against the more “angular” lines of most furniture.
Related: Best Ways to Clean Your Mirror and Make it Shine
6. Place It between Two Windows
The space between two windows can probably be the darkest place in a room because natural light doesn’t reach it. You can improve the appearance of that wall by placing a long, thin mirror between your windows.
7. Door Entrance
What’s better than coming home and being greeted by your reflection? Or leaving your house and having the last chance to check your hair? Placing a big mirror with a nice frame right by the entrance door is handy and chic, and it can also give your guests a good first impression by making your house look generous.
Another important interior design tip regarding mirrors at the entrance is that they can break a narrow and rectangular path for those entrances that are placed in a long hallway.
8. On Top of the Door
The main entrance is a place that sometimes looks “out of place”. If you want to improve the appearance of your front door, or fully conceal it, you can place a floor-to-ceiling mirror. This will draw attention to it and your reflection as opposed to the material of the door.
9. On the Ceiling
To give the illusion of a luxurious and spacious bedroom, installing a mirror on the ceiling is an original idea. Placing a mirror on the wall is normal, but placing it on the ceiling will increase the vertical appearance of a room, making it look taller and overall bigger.
10. Place a Vanity Mirror with Lights
Since the bathroom mirror is the one you’ll use the most, place a vanity mirror with lights so you can see yourself properly while it looks more luxurious. In any bathroom, a Vanity mirror is the main element, which instantly draws peoples’ attention.
How to Style Mirrors
Mirrors are so common in any house that people overlook them and don’t really think about how to style them. Here are some tips to place them like an interior design professional.
Related: 10 Important Rules in Mixing and Matching Home Decorations
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Place a Whole Mirrored Wall
Mirrored walls look luxurious and they can take any room to another level. A huge mirror on the wall is not only useful to see your whole outfit, but it’ll also save you time thinking about what to hang on a wall.
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Make Sure the Reflection is Attractive
Above all, mirrors reflect things. To make sure that the reflection is nice and not just a plain wall, think of hanging a nice painting on the opposite side. Other great choices for an attractive reflection are nice-colored walls, stencils or a set of family portraits.
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Plan the Proportions of the Mirror
While a big squared mirror sounds like a good idea, it might not be fitting for your living room. You need to think of the size of a room as well as the measurements of your furniture. While mirrors are supposed to amplify the size of a room, they can “eat one-up” if they’re too big for the space.
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Look for a Mirror That Mimics Your Windows
Always keep in mind that mirrors also serve an aesthetic purpose. With this in mind, go above and beyond and look for a beautiful mirror that mimics the shape of your windows, to create a nice and original effect in a room.
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Make Sure That the Frame Matches the Whole Decor Style
In order to use a mirror to enhance your rooms from a practical and stylish point of view, you have to make sure that both the space and the mirror share a decorative appeal. If you have a Victorian-style living room, then look for a mirror that follows the same line.
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Use Mirrors to Reflect Light and Make Brighter Rooms
In order to correctly use a mirror to reflect light into a room and make it brighter, the mirror needs to be perpendicular to the window instead of opposite to it. With this type of placement, you’ll ensure maximum natural lighting.
There are plenty of tips and places where you can position a mirror. It’s also a good Feng Shui tip to never place a mirror in front of your bed or your door because mirrors “bounce” back energy and could cause you to have restless sleep. Now you know that mirrors are not only for bathrooms, but they can enhance any room you place them in and make them look bigger and nicer.
