Mirrors, as we recently noted, enjoy an incredible amount of versatility in a home. They can reflect light if placed near or opposite a window. But if your home lacks adequate light and windows, they can also substitute for a window. True, they won't let in light the way a window would, but they can be used to fool the eye and give a room the other qualities a window gives it: airiness, openess and a feeling of expansion. Lately, we've been noticing a rash of multipaneled mirrors, like Pottery Barn's Eagan, which, with its 25 mirrors contained within a metal grid, resembles the windows seen in many of LA's older homes...

With the Eagan's generous size (44 x 55) we'd hang it across from a small window or on a large wall. Partially obscuring it with curtains will further add to the illusory effect, as would uplights concealed within the curtain folds. Barclay Butera used multipaneled mirrors to elegant effect in his design for DIFFA's Dining by Design (above); surrounding a table with them, as he does, almost gives the impression of being outside.