apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Check out Horseman Antiques ( dont let the kinda stank attitude annoy you) on Atlantic in downtown Brooklyn or check out the other places on that strip of Atlantic.

What's your budget? Mirrors can vary so widely in price, so it might be nice to set some parameters w/r/t price so we can give helpful suggestions.

Also, Grace at design*sponge had a great mirror round up a while ago. You might want to start there.

A comment and a question: the brick chimney breast appears a bit...rudimentary, and is jarringly in contrast to the fine detail and gracefulness of the fireplace surround. Is it possible for you to plaster over or at least paint the brick in the same color to give a more uniform appearance?

I have a mirror for you. Free. Just get it off my hands. It's heavy, and my wall cant hold it in my new place. Email me, serhorn.blogspot@gmail.com

I had a similar situation and after searching for mirrors for months and agonizing over their price tags, the one I finally purchased still looked too small and was too heavy to hang on my crumbling brick. I opted to cover a gi-normous canvas in a cheery Marimekko fabric and display a collection of vases on the mantle. While I miss the benefits of the mirror (light reflection, making room bigger), I’ve gotten a TON of compliments. It’s always a budget-friendly option until you find a mirror you truly love.

Hey Jessica,
I would agree with catherine_in_columbus regarding painting out the brick work, an off white.
I mean, I LOVE exposed brickwork, generally- its just that this seems so irregular/bumpy, funky etc.

Then - using blue Painters masking tape as a sketch too....layout what you envision as an appropriate size/scale- proportionally speaking for the space above the Mantle.
Decide on a dimension...Length by Width.

Then, look at picture molding at various Frame Shops, maybe even look for used Painted molding salvaged from an Old Building (quite the Green Solution, too!) via an Architectural Artifacts kinda store.
Then - have a frame made to that size,(either by the Frame Shop,or by a Furniture Maker,WoodWorker) and contact a Mirror/Glass shop to have a 1/4" thick /1" beveled mirror cut to fit inside that frame made of moulding.

Voilla!

Love your fireplace! I think because it is so ornate I might go with a minimalist framed mirror to provide contrast and not go too overboard with ornate mouldings. And you can get a wide range of inexpensive but large, simply framed mirrors. Maybe even Ikea. But definitely check of Design*Sponge's round up of mirrors.

I bought this mirror from High Fashion Home while on vacation in Texas and just had to have it. I get compliments on it and it was at a great price.

Here's the link to their mirrors
http://www.highfashionhome.com/mirrors.asp

Here's the mirror I bought.
http://www.highfashionhome.com/mirrors_data.asp?id=2000

They also have this blog they just launched where I've seen some deals on sofas, so you might find deals there also. www.highfashionhome.com/blog Good Luck, hope this helps.

If you are on a budget, the Home Depot in Chelsea had a few great mirrors a few weeks ago when I was there. I would also recommend Bed, Bath & Beyond. Great place!

I think with that fireplace, the biggest, chunkiest, yet filigreed old mirror you can find would be great, and if some of the mirroring were kind of veiny and missing, all the better, especially with the brick.

But you might really have to go to something like a 2nd hand store in a very small obscure town somewhere to find it for a price you like.

Historically, the most appropriate mirror would be something like this: www.achfonline.org/lyndon_parlor_lrg.jpg or this: www.achfonline.org/dining_room_lrg.jpg

I've seen Italianate/Second Empire pier mirrors in antiques shops for as little as a few hundred dollars. They often tend to be relatively inexpensive because they're too big and too over-the-top for most homes.

If you can't find something suitable in an antiques shop or salvage warehouse, you might construct your own frame around an inexpensive new mirror using salvaged Victorian trim pieces. Some casing, a couple of ornate corner blocks, a couple of base blocks, and a few feet of baseboard, and you'd be set.

Seconding Bruised, definitely check architectural salvage and second hand shops for the biggest mirror that you can find; as in Bruised's pictures, the mirror should take up that whole space, covering up all the brick (which would make painting or plastering it unecessary).

Although those would be the mirrors that would match the age of the brownstone, a more simple mirror such as in this example would also be appropriate (it should be larger though, going just about all the way up to the ceiling):
http://www.livingetc.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1936

I don't know about any mirrors but I like your exposed brickwork and the contrast with the chimney surround. If you plaster and paint it will loose character and become normal

Please, please do not paint that brick. And, if this is a rental, really, really do not paint that brick or you will pay thousands to remove it later.

They are quite expensive, but the place to look (if even just for ideas) is Urban Archaeology on Franklin Street or Olde Good Things on 24th Street.

First of all....I'd kill for that mantle. If you can't find/afford one big mirror to fill the space, I'd go with many smaller mirrors with different frames and some frameless to fill it. Might really add some drama...plus if you got tired of it, it would be easier to find the space for a smaller mirror somewhere else. Also...you didn't ask but...if you're going to do candles in the fireplace, I'd say really go for it and load it up with candles...too few and they just look a little lost.

A beautiful rug might be wonderful hung here over the brickwork, with a mirror hung on top of that. That way you could get away with a mirror that is not SO enormous. It would still need to be big, though, just not superscaled.

I have an antique mirror from the early 1900s that I no longer can hang up since my new place is constructed of fiberboard that would fit your fireplace. It looks similar to the gold one in the http://www.highfashionhome.com/mirrors.asp site posted by SingleInNewyork and it won't cost you $500. If your interested contact me at salg1113@aim.com

hey silly people - if the poster is a renter, she certainly can't start to paint brick without the landlord's permission. Secondly, painting brick is the worst thing you can do to it. It doesn't allow the brick to breathe.

That brick is not interior-grade at all. If you can change it, change it.

Don't paint it, though. Instead, box it in with drywall, appropriate to local code (if any).

I like the idea of a modern mirror with minimal frame, but it all sort of depends on the rest of the room's vibe.

Otherwise, any framer can make a mirror frame, as simple or as ornate as you want it, to your exact dimension.

But also keep in mind large mirrors are frickin' heavy.

You should try the Mirror Lady.com . She has beautiful oversized venetian and other style mirrors that would work really well. I bought this one from her for my mantel

http://themirrorlady.safeshopper.com/2/68.htm?235