One of the most common complaints I get from clients is about cramped, dark spaces and often my “cure” is to apply a little mirror. Don’t be alarmed – I am not proposing that each of you turns your house into a room from Scarface. A little can go a long way and add sparkle and pizzazz to areas that are normally neglected. Apply mirror to a wall or the back of a bookcase and light it properly and you’ll see how the space opens up. It’s as if you put a window where there wasn’t one. Check out some examples below…

Here is a tiny space I carved out in my bedroom to act as an area for jewelry storage and display. The whole thing is 11” deep by 27” wide – not much area to work with. I decided to mirror the counter top, side and back walls and light the whole space from above. The result? A special area that feels more than twice as large and loads more glamorous than a something painted. Plus, I get the added bonus of getting to see how the jewelry looks right then and there.

We all know that bathrooms are a great place to use mirror. Everyone wants one over the sink and the go-to solution is to mount one (usually on a medicine cabinet) on the wall and call it a day. I would argue that if your space is small and dark, as so many bathrooms are, you would be better served to mirror the entire wall. It will reflect any light in the space (natural or electric) and double the perceived size.

See what I mean? The same principle holds true in a bedroom. In the room below, there were two walls of glass looking out to a bamboo grove and a pool. By mirroring the wall that the bed is on, we created the sense that there are no walls at all and that you are actually sleeping outside. Great solution as long as you have the plants for privacy…

In many apartments, there are non-functioning fireplaces. Usually, the fireplace is the focal point of the room so it’s a bummer to walk in and see and ugly brick wall where a crackling fire should be. We applied mirror to the back of the blocked off fireplace opening in this apartment and restored that area as a place of interest. You can bring in the coziness of a fire by layering as many candles as you can handle in front of the mirror. Too bad I couldn’t manage to create the illusion of a few more leaves on that tree, huh?

And finally, a great way to brighten up bookcases is to mirror the back wall. Consider what you are putting in and remember that it will reflect so, in the case of smaller items, you will get to see both sides. It’s hard to take a good picture of this so if anyone out there has one (or more) please send them along!

xom

Images from top to bottom courtesy of M. Design Interiors(x5)