How to Decorate with Mirrors in Your Home

Do you decorate with mirrors in the living spaces of your home? Knowing how to decorate with mirrors in your home is another accessorizing tool that we should learn to use.

I know we all have mirrors in our homes for purely practical reasons – putting on our make-up, checking the back of our hair, putting in our contacts, brushing our teeth, and checking out how our clothes look (that one hurts sometimes). And yes, do we have something green in our teeth?

Recently, I was cleaning one of our mirrors and I wondered how many decorative mirrors we have in our home, so I counted. We have 10+. Not a single one is alike (unless you count the matching ones in our master bathroom).

Then I started thinking about how I decorate with them. I thought I would share how I use mirrors in our home. Here are some of my favorite ways to decorate with mirrors in your home. So mirror, mirror on the wall, how can you add sparkle and pizzazz to my home?

Accessorizing Your Home with Mirrors

My first tip is that we should treat mirrors as art. Think of decorating with mirrors like decorating with art. Like art, they add interest to any room in your home.

In reality, it’s usually the frame that makes a mirror interesting. What can mirrors be made of?

• metal
• wood,
• plaster
• plastic
• glass

Mirrors come in all shapes – think rectangle, round, square, oval, or octagon.

They can be small and sit on a table or be part of a gallery wall or they can be large and lean against a wall.  

Styles range from French ornate to simple wood. Gilded or painted or stained. Smooth or carved. Plain or embellished.  They can be expensive or very affordable, new or vintage, a flea-market find, or even antique.

Let’s start with our entry mirror.

Entryway Mirrors

Entries are one of the best places for mirrors. Not just for checking your lipstick on the way out the door, an entry mirror can be a decorative element and add light to what is sometimes a dark space.

In our entry, we have this decorative mirror that belonged to Sweet Shark’s grandmother is a rectangle. It’s a carved, gilded wooden frame, but fairly simple and quite large.

Since our entry ceilings are 18 feet tall, the room needs a large mirror. Remember that, as with any piece of art, scale is important. The mirror adds a great decorative element.

Although our entry has a lot of natural light, the mirror brightens the space and adds reflection. It looks prettier at night.

A mirror hung above a piece of furniture creates a complete focal point. This scene is from spring a couple of years ago.

If you have followed Bluesky at Home, you have seen our entry and this mirror decorated for all the holidays and the seasons. The mirror is a perfect backdrop for a wreath or other decorative items.

If you like a more modern look, this glass sunburst-style mirror would make an awesome focal point.

Mirrors in the Dining Room

Dining rooms are another wonderful place to add mirrors.

When we first moved into our home, I added a small square vintage mirror that I found at a garage sale (great resource!).

I love the heavily ornate and carved frame. It was originally gold, but I toned it down with silver gilding wax (You can see the How to Use Gilding Wax.) It is almost purely decorative (I did see a friend once check her lipstick in it.), giving the room a bit of bling.

Different shape mirrors can add interesting focal points.

When I updated our dining room a few years ago, I added two six-sided mirrors (I love the unique shape.) with a gold metal frame.

I have used these mirrors as a backdrop for holiday decorations. This picture from last Christmas shows how a simple wreath adds color to the mirror. It’s easy to see the reflection of the entry and other parts of the room.

These mirrors give the illusion of more space in the room.

A pair of tall mirrors on each side of an entry in a dining room adds drama and makes any room look larger.

Powder Room Mirrors

I love pretty powder rooms. You can really go bold and dramatic with wallpaper, light fixtures and a mirror as a focal point.

Many powder rooms are windowless which requires more effort to give a sense of lightness.

In our powder bath, we had to have a specific size mirror to fit between the faucet and the light fixture. I brought home 3 mirrors and returned them all because they were either too big or too small (and yes, I did measure the space).

Because there is no natural light in the powder bath, I needed a mirror as large as possible. Then I found this one in the Ballard catalog and took a leap of faith.

Fortunately, it was perfect in size, space and style. The somewhat oval shape with curves reflects the design of the wallpaper. The etched design on the frame adds an old-world feel.

If you need a mirror to go between 2 sconces, I also think this beauty would be pretty in a powder bath.

Do you see the carved mirror in the reflection of the powder bath mirror? Another flea market find.

Before we moved into our house 10 years ago I found the two plaster of Paris (I think) heavily “carved” decorative pieces. They were beige and there were no mirrors in them.

I had no idea what to do with them, but I painted them with chalk paint in a pretty blue, distressed them, and added a bit of gilding wax. And they sat and sat and got moved around.

Then I saw a tutorial for making regular glass look like mercury glass (it’s just vinegar and water, friends). I bought glass to fit the back, then used the method I learned. Next,I glued the now old-looking mirrors to the backs of the frames.

Then they sat and sat and sat. I loved them, but couldn’t find a place for them.

Well, one day, the light bulb went off and I tried them in the powder room. And they are perfect. Just like the large mirror, they are a decorative element that fits the space and style of the powder bath.

Sometimes a grouping of mirrors can be as dramatic as one large mirror. When actual artwork may not be the answer on a wall, try mirrors.

Framed mirrors in different sizes and shapes, but that have the same style can be the perfect solution to a space where a painting or photograph would not work.

Since the wallpaper in our powder bath is so strong in scale and design, I used several small gold framed mirrors as a group, like a gallery wall. I found most of these small mirrors at garage sales.

Hanging the mirrors close together creates a cohesive feel. Much as you would play around with a gallery wall of photographs, play around with the arrangement of the mirrors until you have a pleasing one that fits the space.

You can see that every frame is different in style but similar in finish and color. Together they make an interesting focal point on the wall.

A few months ago I added one little framed piece (lower left) for $1 at a garage sale. It is not a mirror but the style, size, and look blend in with the other mirrors. I never thought about this before, but our powder bath is the smallest room in the house, but it has the most mirrors.

See this post for how I recently made and added a sunburst mirror to this grouping.

A collection of mirrors can work on a staircase, behind a sofa, above a headboard, or on a mantle. And they don’t always have to hang on the wall. Leaning on a table or mantle or mixed with other accessories can create depth and add interest.

NOTE: Remember that scale is important. The larger the wall space, the larger the mirrors should be.

Mirror in the Master Bedroom

Because our bedroom ceiling is high, we needed a decorative element above the headboard. Rather than another piece of art, I loved the idea of a large sunburst mirror.

I did some online research, but found the one I liked best at our local Wisteria (Unfortunately, the store closed a few years ago.)

The natural mango wood frame gives the room a sense of space with the reflection it creates.

On occasion, we have moved the sunburst mirror into the living room. We hung it on the fireplace mantel. The natural wood color is a nice contrast with the white painted background and the pops of green.

Mirrors in the Master Bathroom

The master bathroom is another place where mirrors can and should be more than just practical.

They should be decorative and emphasize the style of your room. Our bathroom originally had 1990’s style “wall-to-wall” mirrors that added nothing to the style of the room and really dated it. (You can see the before we remodeled the master bathroom).

The mirrors went away when we gutted the master bathroom. I wanted some reflective, old-world style mirrors to compliment the dressiness of our chandelier and sconces which I share in 10 Ways Lighting Can Give Your Home a Glow.

The master bathroom is one place where you can add architectural elements. I wanted a dressier feel to the room.

We found these Venetian-style mirrors at the Dallas Design Center. I love the oval shape and the scale fits the tall ceilings and pairs so well with the scones on each side.

The mirror you see in the photo is Sweet Shark’s and the reflected mirror is mine. The decorative etchings and design add the perfect focal point when you walk into the room as well as reflect the light from the large window.

This gorgeous Venetian-style mirror from Houzz would definitely be a statement piece in a master bathroom.

Moving upstairs to the guest rooms are two of my favorite mirrors, both completely different from the ones downstairs.

In what we call the “little kids” guest room is a very simple and wood-stained mirror. It was Sweet Shark’s that he had above a desk in his bedroom when we first met.

After the addition and remodel of his original cottage (That home went from one story, 2100 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms to 2-story, 4600 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms), I used this mirror in the bathroom by the kitchen.

It fits the style of the room and the house – very different from our present home. I couldn’t bear to leave it when we moved so it is now in the guest room. It’s very large and very heavy, so it is now used as an oversized floor mirror. It’s perfect for the little grands to use. One day I’ll probably paint it and hang it, but for now, it’s happy in its place.

I think these gold-trimmed mirrors also look fabulous as floor mirrors, leaning there so casually, without a care in the world. Used like this, floor mirrors can make a room look twice as big.

In the other guest room for the “big kids” is one of my very favorite mirrors. I found this one at a local antique mall in February of 2013 when we were living in an apartment during the remodel of our current home.

It was dull yellowish brown, but I loved the whimsical bird carvings and bow on top. I had no idea where I would put it, but I had to have it. This was the very first piece I ever painted with chalk paint and it started my love of repurposing old stuff.

I painted the first coat with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Aubusson Blue and a second coat in Old White. Then I heavily distressed it with medium sandpaper, used Clear Wax, and buffed it. I absolutely love it. This guest room has a bit of a country look so it fits in just right. It also gives guests a mirror in the bedroom.

I love the fancy, but the old distressed look of this mirror from Houzz for a guest bedroom.

Need More Ideas on How to Decorate with Mirrors?

Beautiful mirrors can be used throughout your more. They give smaller spaces added light and reflection.

• mirrors in window frames
• mirrors without frames
• weathered frames
• frames of mosaic tiles
• layering mirrors on mirrors
• mirrors in the back of cabinets
• mirrors on the front of cabinet doors
• mirrors on doors
• mirrors on the bottom of trays
• mirrors on the bottom shelf of a table
• mirrors hanging in a window

If you dread hanging mirrors, you might want to see How to Hang Mirrors without Losing Your Mind.

The options are endless. Only your style preferences and your pocketbook are deciding factors in choosing the mirror of your dreams. Let your imagination be your guide to which one is the fairest of them all.

Don’t forget to PIN these ideas for decorating with mirrors.