Use Mirrors In Your Home, step by step

After we picked up a giant mirror (seriously, it is large) for $5 at a local garage sale, we thought it was about time we mentioned the incredible superpowers that mirrors possess. Yup, short of adding a window, a french door or a major addition, mirrors are the best way to visually expand your space and reflect a ton of light. And everyone knows an airy and bright room is right up there with hardwood flooring or a fireplace in the dream home department (it can even make your house sell faster and for more money). So what is the hold up, people? Let us start reflecting.

But mirrors cannot simply be placed willy nilly all over your home. There is a method to the mirror madness, and the main takeaway is this: be sure you are reflecting a pro of the space, and not a con. For example, if a mirror above the sofa merely reflects your giant black tv, it is not exactly something you’d like to duplicate in the space (although your hubby might disagree) and all that dark machinery might simply make the room feel more cramped! The three single best things to reflect are: a fairly light fixture, a window, or some subtle and light wall art (because lord knows you do not want two Black Sabbath posters in your space either). Reflecting a fairly light fixture can mean anything from hanging a mirror on the wall of your dining room at the height of the chandelier to bounce some more light around, or even leaning/hanging a mirror behind a table lamp (for example, two matching mirrors behind your night tables with matching lamps would add so much sparkle and ambiance to your space. But sufficient yakking, onto the pictures.

We hit the mirror jackpot in the guest bedroom (fairly much by accident) when we brought home this beast of a mirror and propped it up on the dresser. As you enter the room, it reflects a big picture window that looks out into our backyard- so the mirror nearly becomes another window (offering light and a fairly green view).

But wait, that is not all. It also reflects the smaller window above the bed when you are standing across from it, so it is like we brought in two windows in a room that already has two windows- it nearly feels as if there is a window on all four walls.

The feeling of brought in spaciousness is especially obvious when windows are reflected, since the objects out the window are in the distance. By duplicating the distance and depth that a window adds to a space, it feels infinitely more expansive. In short, the room feels a heck of a lot bigger than it did yesterday.

So what do you folks think? Do you have any more mirror pointers and tricks, or some fairly before and afters involving the addition of a mirror? Share and share alike.