Guest Room Update: A Bigger Mirror That Finally Fits
We hadn’t done anything to the guest room since we rushed to tidy it up for my mom’s visit more than two years ago. The small round mirror we grabbed in a panic from Target always felt too tiny for that large bed and kept blending into the dark painted wall. Even with a bit of trim or some decorative accents, the mirror’s size still read small and lost next to the window on the same wall.
We’ve been slowly tweaking the house over the years, so we kept an eye out for a mirror that would be a better fit. After two years of occasional searching (and a few more active hunts), we finally found what we’d been imagining: a large white mirror with a bamboo-style frame that ties into the room’s textiles and the bamboo side table. The size was the real win—this mirror is roughly three feet wide, which fills the wall much better than the little round one did.
The price gave us pause at first. It was $169 with free shipping, and we’re used to spending far less on mirrors at places like HomeGoods or thrift stores. After weighing it for a while, though, we realized how long we’d been searching and that finding a similar size and style for less seemed unlikely. We decided that saving time, avoiding another two-year search, and getting exactly what we wanted outweighed the cost.
Once the mirror arrived we were excited to hang it, but it didn’t include hanging hardware. That was an easy fix. The frame had a solid wooden back, so we used two heavy-duty metal picture hooks that screw in with two screws each for extra strength. We attached matching hooks to both sides of the back, making sure they were even so the mirror would hang straight. Then we marked the wall, installed anchors and screws, and hung it carefully while adjusting for the perfect height and position.
The larger mirror balances the window on the left and brightens the dark wall without competing with the view. Before, the small mirror made the wall feel off-balance—plenty of light coming through the window, but hardly any reflected by that tiny circle. The new mirror fills the space and complements the room’s other elements better.
As frugal shoppers, we often debate when it’s okay to splurge. Most of the time we opt for bargain finds, DIY solutions, and thrifted pieces, but sometimes paying more makes sense. Here are the questions we ask ourselves before a bigger purchase like this:
- Do we have the cash to pay for it now? If not, we pass—no charging and carrying a balance.
- Can we realistically find something we like just as much for less? After two years of searching, the answer in this case was no.
- Have we checked resale sites and local thrift stores? We did regular searches for months without success.
- Could we build it ourselves? For a large round mirror with a detailed frame, a DIY would have been time-consuming and tricky.
- Is the price reasonable compared to similar items? Seeing comparable mirrors priced much higher convinced us this was a fair value.
- Have we balanced this purchase against other recent spending? If we’d just booked a trip or made a big purchase, we would have reconsidered. Treating ourselves occasionally is okay when it fits our budget.
After setting the mirror and tidying the bed, the room finally feels finished in a way that’s lasted beyond a few months. It’s a small change with a big impact, and it saved us from another round of searching. How do you decide when to splurge? Do you use a list of criteria or go with your gut? We try to be thoughtful, and in the long run the careful decisions tend to keep our bank account happier.