Using mirrors to make a room look bigger is one of the oldest tricks in the book. But that doesn’t mean you can throw one up on the wall and be done with it — there are a few strategic mirror decorating ideas to consider.
Follow along and reflect on these tips to make your space seem larger than life.
Kitchen and dining room
While we may not typically think about having mirrors in the rooms where we cook and eat, there’s an appropriate way to incorporate them so they make a positive difference.
1. Create a backsplash
One unique way to open your space is to install mirrors as a backsplash in the kitchen. Traditionally, opaque tiles are used, but mirrors can bring light and depth to a dark, cramped kitchen. You don’t need to use mirrors alone for your backsplash. Rather, use it in a few selective panels throughout.
2. Add mirrors to the ceiling
Watching yourself (and others) eat in a reflection is the opposite of appetizing. Instead of putting mirrors up on the walls around your dining room, opt for the ceiling. This will make the ceiling look higher and, since it’s closer to light sources, it will reflect more light throughout the room.
Living room
It’s likely you spend a lot of time in your living room and no one wants to spend the majority of their time sitting in a room that feels tiny and dark. Adding mirrors is a practical way to change that.
3. Add a window
Ideally, all our homes would be flooded with natural light, but, sadly, this is not reality. To give the illusion of a brighter space, try using a mirror to “fake” a window. Place a tiled mirror adjacent to or across from a real window to give the illusion of having an extra window. The reflection will brighten the space with more natural light. If you want to get extra crafty with this, you can DIY a mirror that looks just like window panes!
4. Use multiple mirrors
Using one mirror makes a room seem bigger, so reason stands that using more than one will increase that effect. Having two large mirrors that face each other on opposing walls can give a cool “infinity” effect while making a room feel exponentially larger.
If you don’t want to use large mirrors, try grouping identical mirrors into a pattern or go for a more avant-garde look and hang mismatched mirrors in no particular order. Because you’re working with a few smaller mirrors instead of one giant mirror, they can be more versatile and easy to incorporate into any design and room layout.
5. Get reflective furniture
Mirrors aren’t limited to hanging on walls — you can use other reflective pieces of furniture to brighten the room. Mirrored furniture is another great way to bring in extra light to a room. While there are several examples of mirrored furniture available on the market today, such as coffee tables and vases, you can turn almost any piece of furniture or décor into a mirrored masterpiece with a little bit of DIY magic.
Bedroom
Whether you spend hours each day relaxing in your bedroom or you only go in there to sleep, your bedroom can benefit from the effects of these mirror decorating ideas.
6. Place in corners
Use a standing mirror in the corner adjacent to the door to deflect your attention from where the walls meet. This will add a lot of depth to the room and make it look longer immediately upon walking through the door.
Plus, a vertical standing mirror can make your walls look taller!
7. Buy a mirrored nightstand or dresser
Especially if you’re decorating a small bedroom, sacrificing any floor or wall space to place a mirror can become difficult. If you’re not wanting to give up room for a mirror on its own, your other furniture can play double-duty.
You already have a nightstand or dresser in the room, so using one that’s mirrored won’t take up any more space while having a similar effect to that of a plain mirror on the wall. You can either buy a mirrored piece or modify what you already have.
Bathroom
Bathrooms are a typical place to find mirrors, but they aren’t always used well. Even if the only place you can hang a mirror is above the sink, the type of mirror can make a big difference.
8. Use frames
Some bathrooms have a large mirror behind the sink that runs from one end of the wall to the next — but it’s bland and can look a little cheap. You can easily change this by adding a frame around the mirror to make it look more high-end.
Even if your mirror doesn’t stretch across the whole wall and you’re using a smaller mirror, having some type of frame around it will help it tie the whole room together. Even if it’s a thin frame that goes around the outer edges of the mirror, it’s much better than an unfinished naked edge.
9. Elongate
If you have a bathroom with two sinks, use one large mirror along the wall above them, rather than two separate mirrors. This can make the wall behind the sinks look longer as it doesn’t allow for as much of a visual break between the two sinks.
If you’re working with a smaller bathroom, use a mirror placed vertically above the sink to make the ceiling look taller while keeping the mirror proportionate to the rest of the room.
Mirror decorating ideas for any home
Making good use of mirrors in your home décor comes down to knowing your needs. While mirrors can’t change the actual dimensions of a room, they can make it feel like you’ve expanded when placed correctly.
If your space could use some height, add a long, floor-length mirror to make the room feel taller. If your walls feel particularly short, add a long, horizontal mirror to stretch the room a little bit. It doesn’t have to take a lot of effort — just strategic mirror placement!
