One of the delights of Boston multi-family architecture is the ubiquitous built-in china cabinet. Ours happens to be in the brightest room in our apartment so we decided to accentuate the light and the wonderful bowed windows across from the cabinet by placing a mirror in the hutch part of it...
Incidentally we had an older Ikea mirror whose width fit the space perfectly. Unfortunately the height leaves a gap at the top which is begging for some interesting decorative touch, which we haven't settled on yet.
The mirror really does make the room feel like it's surrounded by windows on all sides. You'd be surprised how many guests have confessed to being fooled at first glance into thinking there was actually a window in that spot. Granted, it only takes a few seconds to figure out the reality.
And for those who will groan that we've placed a couch in front of the bottom portion of the china cabinet, you've been warned before that we have an outside-the-box penchant for blocking things...like doorways.
Any thoughts on what you would do with the gap above the mirror, within the bookcase?
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Just paint the strip above the mirror and the mirror frame the same color as the china cabinet. It will look like it was meant to be.
view mrs yow's profile
i think your furniture placement works great - it's like having a built in console table at the perfect height behind the sofa! and presumably some more hidden storage below, which is always a plus.
view abigailb's profile
clever solution- reflecting crystal would look amazing.
view Haunted_Studio's profile
Well Hello cute furbaby! You are sooo cute I can only look at you!
view Monica's profile
Totally stealing this. My built in is a dark hole in the room. The only sad thing is that the windows all face north, so hile we'll be getting more light, it will be sad, moody light. Still.. more light is better :)
view Modfan's profile
what a great idea, at first glance i thought it was a picture window. very cute pup and love those pillows.
view universal mod's profile
Absolutely stunning! I think it looks amazing. I agree that painting the top strip the same color as the rest of the cabinet would make for a very seamless look.
I just wish I had a china cabinet so I could do it myself!
Emily
view Emily Sneds's profile
How wide is the strip? If it's about 1.5 inches. Lowe's sells a product for edging built-in wall mirrors that is a mirrored plexiglass. That could fill in the strip if you don't want to paint it.
view SherryBinNH's profile
what mrs yow said. my thoughts exactly.
view decor8Holly's profile