Q: I bought the LOTS Mirror at Ikea by impulse and regretted it as soon as I got home. However, given the cheap price, it is not worth a trip back to Ikea to return it, and I'd like to put those mirrors to good use. I have searched the internet high and low for inspiration and ideas on how to display them, but to no avail. I really want to do something with them, possibly in a bathroom. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Sent by Mary
Editor: Leave your suggestions for Mary in the comments - thanks!
• Got a question? Email yours with pic attachments here (those with pics get answered first)
Comments (23)
Check out ikeahackers.net. It's incredible what they come up with!
If you have a small enclosed garden, place the mirrors inside an old panelled window frame - or create one out of old timber off-cuts.
Fix the frame to the garden walls, placing them between your standing plants. This will create false vista's beyond your walls, giving a sense of your garden being elongated, well beyond the space you actually have.
Go to the art store for some etching material and letter stencils and come up with a four letter word (bath, love, :-), etc.) and etch each letter on each piece of glass in a different spot and hang - instant art. You can either etch the letter and leave lots of mirror showing - or reverse and etch the mirror and leave each letter as mirror.
keep it simple.
draw four face in it,maybe?
Play around with a pleasing arrangment for the mirrors. Spread them out a little. Place them on either a large piece of wallpaper with an interesting design, or a big piece of fabric. This can be attached to the wall with liquid starch. Not sure how, but I've seen it done. It is supposed to peel right off later, too. Then frame out the whole thing with little or big strips of molding.
To clarify - why don't I ever preview first???(Cause I'm perfect, that's how come!) I meant to say the fabric can be applied with liquid startch. Not the wallpaper. My post was misleading. Sorreeeeee.
Get a bunch of smaller mirrors and glue them do the edge, creating a kind of venetian mirror.
Or get them cut into some other shapes, if you do not like the squares.
My friends did a fantastic thing in their hallway - they took the boring old mirror that was there, smashed it (safely so noone could get injured) and then created an awesome mosaic from the smaller broken pieces. It looked great! :)
A mirror can: Go on a table under flowers, candles, or pebbles, or in a cabinet on the shelf under curios, or on the inside back wall of the cabinet behind them. Create the illusion of water in a miniatures display, for example a spring or pool surrounded by plant bits as a centerpiece. Be placed in the bottom of a tray. Help you see the back of your hair in your bath or bedroom mirror if hung in the right place. Be hung to reveal what's around the corner so people don't crash into each other, or aligned to pretty outdoors views to give the illusion of another window. Add light, color, and the illusion of motion.
I love this. I just picked up 2 of these mirror packs (8 in total) from IKEA last weekend. I am struggling for ideas for them as well.
When I was in the IKEA they had them set up in 2 configurations. One where they were pushed together (flush). Another with a bit of spacing between them. The spacing looked a LOT better.
Sorry I can't be more helpful. You and I are in the same boat :)
Okay so in my last apartment i found a great use for these little mirrors and i will finally share them here!
Essentially i placed the mirrors facing one another on a windowsills. They were the exact size of the nook there, and you couldn't even tell that they were mirrors. They were great at making my basement brighter and my window larger.
Any place in your apartment that might need extra natural light could be fixed with this idea.
You could put little felt pads on the bottom, and use them either as table mats, or to place candles on a table or dresser top.
I stuck them on the kitchen wall I have to face when I'm at the sink washing dishes. That way, I can still see my guests or watch tv behind me.
I like the mosaic idea suggested above. Was going to say the same thing but Molliepaws beat me to it. Fun DIY project to smash, mount, grout, and frame it.
or you could get some cheap square frames and hot glue them on the mirrors then arrange them in an interesting formation....four square, all four in a row...
You can hang a mirror on the wall over your desk so you can see the room's entry door, making desk work comfortable despite your facing a wall or corner.
This is kind of funny - I also have those mirrors, but about 24 of them leftover from my wedding! We used them under the centerpieces (MUCH cheaper to buy than to rent the same thing from the reception venue). I passed them around to some other friends for their weddings, but now they've come back to me again.
I had thought of making the mirror tile Pottery Barn (I think) mirror that everyone online made about a year ago, but I haven't gotten around to it. The mirrors are a bit bigger than what some other people have used, but I think it would still look good if you like the original (depends on your taste).
How about combining them with the lace coasters DIY tutorial a few posts up and make a set of lace-mirror chargers that can go under candles, dishes, and the like?
Pottery Barn Eagan Mirror Knockoff
If you decide to mount them onto your walls, reconsider it. I don't know if all mounting tape is as permanent as what I used, but I am still perplexed over how to remove mine (aside from smashing them). If I'd have known how permanently affixed they'd be, I'd have thought twice. Otherwise, there's some great ideas here!
In my student apartment I mounted 4 (or maybe more, I don't remember the size) of these vertically arranged on the inside of the bathroom door so I had a cheap full-size mirror that didn't take too much space. I used the double sided mounting tape as well, and couldn't get them off either when I left. Luckily the next renter liked it.
I love the command strips with the velcro attachment. They hold strong (I've got a rotating gallery art wall in one room) and come off clean!
As far as the mirrors - I got some 12x12 wood frames on clearance and took out the glass and put the mirrors in. They look WAY more expensive than they were and I get lots of compliments.
I haven't read all the posts so idk if someone else posted this already, but I'm itching to get the same square ikea mirrors and do this gorg
vintage modern DIY:
http://salvagesavvy.blogspot.com/2011/05/overscale-hand-antiqued-mirror.html?