Decorating With Mirrors

Coastal Living Designer Jill Johnson; Photographer Grey Crawford

Mirrors can be a great way to expand a space, add interest, make a statement, reflect light or a great view and generally add sparkle. Here are some ideas for incorporating mirrors into your space...

Designer Jeffrey Billhuber layered an antique mirror over the window for use with this floating dressing table.

Architectural Digest Photo: Peter Vanderwarker

Stylist and designer Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo of ABCD Design created this huge dramatic wall with black paint and 48 rectangular mirrors (via Canadian House and Home)



Framed mirrors also make a dramatic statement in this bedroom...

Coastal Living Photo: Jean-Philippe Piter


House Beautiful photo credit: Lisa Cregan

Designer Vincent Wolf likes using massive, over-scaled mirrors leaning against walls, as you can see in the bedrooms he designed above and below. This is some of what he told House Beautiful about that. "It's taking an architectural approach to a decorative object — like cutting open a wall onto a space beyond. It's also more casual and interesting to lean something than to hang it. Once a mirror is hung, it's isolated on the wall. But when it leans, the floor runs right into the glass."



I love the idea of layering mirrors like designer Mary McGee did in her living room. You could also just layer a great frame over a mirror and it would work just as well.

House Beautiful Photo: Miguel Flores Vianna

The mirror used in this bedroom designed by Gary McBourne (House Beautiful - Photo: James Merrell) was too small so they added what Gary calls a "sash" to give it scale. I'll admit that, even though this room is beautifully designed, it isn't my style but that doesn't matter. The basic idea can be used in any room from casual to formal and contemporary to traditional and there are a variety of items (fabric, ribbon, rope, etc.) you could use to make your "sash". Just hang the mirror on the wall and then attach the "sash" to the back of the mirror and the hook.


In this Coastal Living idea house they mirrored the doors of this dual vanity which draws your eye to the detail. (Photo: Tria Giovan)


This is much more subtle but these vanity doors and drawers are also mirrored.

Coastal Living Photo Dominique Vorillon

Mirrored night stands are so pretty, aren't they?

BHG.com

The next four images are from Homes and Gardens. You can see the rest of their slideshow, How to Decorate Using Mirrors, on their site. (Photos: Carolyn Barber)

Displaying a variety of mirrors on ledges is a creative and fun idea to punch up your space.

Adding mirrors to an armoire in a bedroom is a great idea, especially if you're short on space to add one anywhere else.



Reflective drum shades could be stunning in the right space!


Using a mercury glass mat for a centerpiece. I've used a framed mirror in the same way in the past, which also works well.

Just for fun... Can you tell what this frame is made from? I'm sure you probably can. Colored plastic spoons! :-) Country Living


Cute tennis racket mirrors from Country Living. Imagine how many different things you could repurpose as mirrors once you start thinking outside the box...


Hmmm... Any ideas on how I can get my mirror to reflect the same view that this mirror is reflecting? :-)

myhomeideas Photo Keith Scott Morton

If you're interested in more inspiration for decorating with mirrors, check out the mirror image post that I did back in August.

Window Backed Kitchen Cabinets

When I saw Nicole and Andrew Sheehan's kitchen in this month's Traditional Home magazine (photographer: Werner Straube), I was immediately in LOVE with the window backed kitchen cabinets. (The photo in the actual magazine is more of a close up of the cabinets so you can see how amazing they really are.)

Unfortunately, if I did this in my kitchen it would only offer a view into the garage, the mudroom or the foyer, so it's not an option for me. What are your thoughts on the idea? Would it work for you?

You can see the rest of their home on the Traditional Home website.

Creative Decorating for a Tuesday

Use two (or three) tablerunners horizontally across a table. Gives you a different look and they can double as placemats.

marthastewart.com

So let's just say that it's Tuesday (because it is :-) ) and you're looking around your house wondering what little thing you could do today to shake up your decorating a bit. Just a little. Not much. Just something fun or different that you may not have tried before. The list of things you could do is actually unending, but here are some ideas...

If you've never layered art on your fireplace mantel, why not try it for a different look?...

myhomeideas.com

If your artwork is too small, make it bigger by attaching a thin piece of painted wood to the back like Just A Girl did for her spring mantel...


Paint a chalkboard on a door...

Country Living Photo Keith Scott Morton

We've talked about painting the backs of bookshelves and papering the backs of bookshelves, but why not make it a little more interesting by doing a little of both and mixing up the patterns?...

idealhomemagazine.co.uk

Arrange your books by color...

Style At Home

Paint a funky mirror a fabulous color...

marthastewart.com

Add some lace to your favorite pillow...

Style At Home

Mix up your bar stools with different finishes or paint colors...

Style At Home

Update your family photos and make them a focal wall in one of your rooms or hallways...

myhomeideas.com


Think outside the box on a new way to accessorize your dining room walls. This dining room wall would be a great one to use for inspiration!...

Photo by Michael Partenio via House Of Turquoise

Paint your front door a bold or just different color...

houseandhome.com

There was a question in the comments on my decorating with mirrors post on whether I knew how to make a new mirror look old. I actually didn't, but found some sources that do....

e-how article How Do I Faux Antique a Mirror?
marthastewart.com How to Antique a Mirror
HGTV.com How To Distress a Mirror

Have an awesome day!

Best Inspirational Bathrooms Design

I was just looking back and realised it’s been a while since we did a bathroom inspiration set. Apart from the kids bathroom designs we featured in May, the last random set of bathroom pictures we featured was sometime in December last year. Eventhough function-wise, there is little to separate between the designs that we feature in this post, it is surprising how many different ways designers think up of in decorating this relatively small space. Be it the color combination, texture on the walls, vegetation inside, or the curios used there is always something fresh to savour about these bathrooms! Take a look:

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Mptribe

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Vkendesign

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Jerry

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Temucin Argun

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Vargas and Tejeda Architecture

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Hong Phi Le

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Danurdara Pratitayekti

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Lisa Rimski

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Grafx

Best  Inspirational Bathrooms Design

By Ircham

New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

Living room design is an art. The chairs, the couches, the curtains all form parts of a puzzle, which once solved would give you a beautiful room. In this article we try to feature some great living room designs visualized by professional designers.

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Bassem Hassan

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Ali Can Atagur

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by SonTung

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Zi Qiang

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Lorenzo Dixon

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Semsa

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Dominik

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Ozhan Hazirlar

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Nelson Liaw

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Yeep Teck Ann

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Stuart Lynch

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Tiamatcry

 New Modern Great Living Rooms Design 2010

by Cyril Taussat