Mirrors are not only beautiful, but also functional accessories that can make a living area appear larger than its actual size. When using mirrors to add style to at home, we prefer the larger mirrors that make an undeniable statement. A long standing dream is to one day own a loft with a floor to ceiling mirror such as the featured photo.
Photos shown above, left to right:
• Mirrored Wall: We can't stop staring at the the visually stimulating mirrored wall. It commands attention and we appreciate that the mirror is broken up into smaller squares versus being one large sheet of glass.
• NYC Apartment Bedroom Mirror: If we got dressed in this bedroom, we would never have to worry about having to share a mirror with someone else in the morning. On the downside, it would be hard to escape our reflection in the mirror. As vain as we think we can be sometimes, we are not sure if we want to look at ourselve all day.
• Formal Dining Room Mirror: In our opinion, a large mirror fits seamlessly into a classic or modern dining room.
• Full Length Bedroom Mirror: Large mirrors are a must for the bedroom and full length mirrors are especially helpful for composing the day's wardrobe.
• Breakfast Area Mirror: Mirrors are great tools to define an area in a larger room.
Where do you use over scale mirrors in your home?
(Images: Patricia Gray blogspot, Desire to Inspire blog)
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Love the aesthetic, but would definitely not want to look at myself across the table or bed! Just does something to my feng shui, eh!
I really like the first pick. It reads at first glance as a warehouse window, and this look could be achived with ikea mirrors. They sell a square one like this in packs.
At first glance I thought the mirrors in the first image was a window. Looks amazing.
Our current house came with a mirrored wall in the dining room. It had the same effect decor-wise as the mirror in the third photo. It did make our small dining room seem a lot bigger but it was also kind of annoying to see ourselves in it all the time. We eventually removed it and I hung a lot of framed pictures instead. The glass in the frames reflects lots of light and it ended up having almost the same effect as the mirror. Huh!
I love the coffee table and rug in #1. Any idea of the sources or similar?
Love the first picture.
I have been thinking about ways to add some mirrors into some of my small spaces without as northcoast mentioned bad placement.
I like the way this one is framed and on the side
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44713708@N00/4540758401/
and this one is interesting, makes a little dressing area nook and reflecting a nice vignette-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44713708@N00/4541392480/
You do realize that the featured photo is simply a wall painted black with identical frameless mirrors mounted directly to the wall?
Anyone could do this for not alot of money or skill.
Bepsf - I didn't even realize that it was many mirrors vs. one large mirror. It is a little bit of an optical illusion, so thanks for pointing that out.
I hung a giant gold ornately gilded framed mirror, 40"x60" over a simple serpentine contemporary mahogany sideboard in my apartment entry. The two contrasting pieces play off one another while the mirror enhances the light by reflecting natural and artificial light in the space.
Oh my god I want to copy that first image so badly. Those mirrors are $5 for a 4 pack at Ikea. WANT
wow that make the first picture more interesting. Bepsf- what size monitor screen do you have, missed that entirely I am blaming in on my MacBook.
LoriSF--
Just your standard 15" screen - Nothing special.
What gave it away were the sprinkler-system pipes running through what appears to be the "frame" on the upper left...
...the heavy white baseboards of the wall down below...
...and the lack of wall revealed behind this "Giant Mirror"
I'm sorry, but I typically equate enormous mirrors with sleaze. It probably has something to do with having stayed in a ridiculously overdone 1990's hotel where every room had at least one wall that was floor-to-ceiling mirror (and the bedrooms also had mirrored closet doors). There's just something about looking at the TV and seeing reflections of your family members watching it gape-mouthed that's unappealing... not to mention having no ability to escape the relentless presence of mirrors EVERYWHERE. I've been soured on them ever since. The 90's did a great disservice to a lot of really wonderful decorative elements.
I do agree, though, when employed properly, mirrors can do marvelous things for brightening rooms and making them seem much more spacious.
bepsf- well then like I've said before you have a keen eye.
Mirrors pointed at the bed only work if you have a porn-worthy body. Otherwise you'll just catch glimpses of yourself in strange angles and have the mood killed when you realize you really look like that when you do that.
Hello!
I am the designer responsible for the first two rooms featured in this blog post.
To answer your question @ishwarke, the cocktail table is by Ochre - and is called the rectangular moon table. The carpet is an oushak rug, and it was purchased in the wholesale carpet district in New York City. There was a very in-depth feature on Poppytalk of this apartment last week. All known sources are here: http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/2010/04/home-sweet-home-tour-no-4-amy-beth-cupp.html
The grid of mirrors:
There are 48 of them. I used the exact proportions that are featured throughout the apartment's 13 8.5x5.5 foot 12 over 12 double-hung windows.
Many who entered the space thought they were simply a window and at second glance realized it was an optical illusion.
It helped to make a relatively small space appear much lighter and brighter. Not to mention, during the day it reflected the beautiful cast iron Soho building across the street!
In the evening when the off white floor to ceiling drapes were pulled, the mirrors were nearly undetectable. If you want to see more photos of it, check out the post that Desire to Inspire did that was strictly about the black wall: http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2007/11/14/black-mirrored-wall.html
As for the mirror in the back bedroom: You can see the floor plan on the desire to inspire post that you've linked to within this post.
The huge mirror reflected the one and only south facing window in our apartment. It is approximately the same dimension as the one South facing window and reflected the view. (The view being where the world trade once stood, and the backs of Cast Iron Buildings.) From most angles in the bedroom/lounge area all you could see was sky and the view.
In the afternoon (as the sun was setting) the mirror helped to brighten the bedroom area.
I rarely went into that part of the apartment outside of when I was turning in for the night. I never thought twice about catching a glimpse, it was usually too dark to see anything! ;)
P.S. We've since sold that apartment and moved. I am due to start on a new gut-renovation project for our new home this Summer.
abcddesigns - thank you for providing detailed information for the designs in two of the featured photos.
Well said. Here in my NYC loft, on a very high floor with a great amount of glass, I have several large mirrors placed that create amazing shadowed reflections during the day and frame the skyline as windows at night. When doen tastefully, they are the best artwork, Thanks, Marcia
I'm loving that first one too... and love the idea that you could IKEA hack it cheaply!! :)
Hillary, lover of all large styled mirrors :)