8 Ways to Use Mirrors to Enhance Your Interior Space
If you’re looking for ways to style your home elegantly, mirrors are a fantastic tool to have in your back pocket. When used correctly, reflective design elements like mirrors can help you open up a room, enhancing the light and space in your home.
Whether you’re looking to incorporate a few small mirrors on an interior wall or you’re interested in adding a full-sized mirror to a room. There are a few essential things to know about using mirrors in your home design. In this post, we will explore a few key ways that you can decorate and enhance your space with mirrors.
1. Lighten Up a Dark Room With an Expertly Placed Mirror
While mirrors certainly add to the aesthetic appeal of a room, they can also serve an important secondary purpose: lighting up a dark or shadowy space. When you’re designing your home, it can be frustrating to deal with a room that doesn’t receive much natural light. But instead of renovating it to add more windows, you can just hang a mirror to amp up the brightness.
To achieve this, position your mirror directly across from the existing window, so the mirror will reflect the daylight that’s entering from outside. You can also set a mirror next to a floor or desk lamp to amplify the artificial light that it generates. No one wants their home to seem dark and cramped, so mirrors and glass are excellent tools to brighten up your space.
2. Create the Illusion of a Larger Room
Mirrors can also help if you’re struggling to make a cramped room appear bigger than it is. By mounting a mirror on your wall, you can add the illusion of increased depth and space.
In these instances, interior designers will typically select a large mirror instead of a small one to open up the area as much as possible. Oversized mirrors like these can also add a trendy touch to your home and serve as statement pieces.
3. Take Mirrors Outside
When we think of enhancing a space, our mind usually goes straight to the home’s interior. Mirrors can be used both inside the home and in external areas, don’t be afraid to take a mirror into your outdoor space. They reflect light and the surroundings, so situating them nearby a pool or across from lush greenery is a great way to maximise a small space.
If you plan to hang or place a mirror outside, be sure to have it in an area away from any potential weather damage.
4. Group Them Together
Whilst in some spaces using full-length or large mirrors can have a significant effect, sometimes smaller mirrors grouped together can have just as much of an impact. Depending on the space you need to fill, opt for a group of small mirrors clustered together. This is your chance to have some fun with shapes and sizes. Keep the mirrors consistent by using the same coloured frames.
5. Mirrors Don’t Always Need to Hang
When you’re renting a space or styling a property for sale, styling options usually call for a temporary fix. People are generally uncertain about having to drill holes or add hooks to a wall. Whilst you can get temporary hooks, simply placing or leaning a mirror against a wall or on top of a dresser works wonders.
By doing this, you can add a visual effect to a space that would have been untouched. Resting a mirror against a wall or on top of a dresser allows you to add impressive style touches without the hardware. If you’re unsure of what to do with a dead space or how to style a corner, read our seven stylish ideas to style an empty corner.
6. Hallways and Entryways Love Mirrors (and mirrors love hallways and entryways)
It’s true. Both hallways and entryways are a great space to include a mirror or two in the home. Adding a mirror to a long skinny hallway will do just the trick to elongate the space without adding a console table, taking up space you don’t have.
A key trick to positioning a mirror in the hallway is hanging it horizontally. This makes the hallway appear to be longer than it really is – your eyes are directed from side to side rather than looking in front to see the opposing wall.
Entry ways are a fantastic opportunity to add a mirror and reflect the light that comes in when the door opens. They also provide their practical purpose of showing you your reflection before walking out the door.
7. Mirrors or Art?
Art is an excellent addition to any space – it gives the room a touch of personality and creates a talking point. However, with art, it can be challenging to decide what artwork goes with the space, and you risk choosing a piece that can clash rather than compliment. A mirror leaves you with no second guesses and is the safer choice.
8. See What It Will Reflect
Before you drill into walls or buy a mirror for every room in your home, plan out where you want your mirror to be placed and see what it will reflect. For example, if you plan to add a mirror in your lounge room, but your powder room is across from this position, you might want to rethink its placement.
Mirrors should reflect a feature you are happy to look at twice as much; stand where you want it to go before you make the change. If you see a cluttered corner, you may need to rethink its placement. A great way to offset a mirror is using greenery as it’s not anything that you’ll get tired of looking at and, over time, will naturally grow and take shape.
For more home design ideas, visit the Pabs Furniture Rentals blog. We are experts in property styling, home staging and interior decor, offering our services to homeowners around Australia. To learn more, call us on 1800 20 10 20 or visit one of our showrooms in Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne.
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