Elegant Decor Pieces: How to Style Mirrors in Your Home

Refreshing your home decor is the first step to breathing new life into your space. Mirrors are a great home decor option when it comes to redecorating your space. These home decor pieces are the perfect way to instantly elevate your home styling with minimal effort. The humble home mirror can do so much more than help you choose the perfect outfit.

Mirror décor is a clever way to uplift your home's style and, with such a huge range of shapes, frames and sizes available, you can find a quality mirror to suit any home decor style or colour scheme.

Whether you wish to improve the functionality of your bathroom, elevate the aesthetic appeal of your living room or create a welcoming hallway, mirrors are exceptional for transforming any room in your home.

Quick Links

• Types Of Mirrors For Home Decor
• Make Any Room Appear Larger
• Reflect Light For A Bright And Welcoming Environment
• Incorporate Mirrors As Artistic Art Pieces
• Bathroom Mirrors For Both Style And Practicality
• How To Decorate With Mirrors In The Living Room
• Styling Mirrors In Your Bedroom
• Create A Welcoming Hallway
• How To Clean Mirrors For A Squeaky Clean Finish

Types Of Mirrors For Home Decor

Mirrors are available in a range of shapes and styles that will suit certain rooms and uses, including:

• Standing full-length mirrors: A full-length mirror is designed to show the full body of a single person and is ideal for checking how a finished outfit looks. These mirrors are usually hung flat against a wall or stand on their own in a posable frame.
• Wall mirrors: These mirrors are hung flat against the wall. They can also be positioned leaning up against the wall for a relaxed look. These decorative mirrors can be almost any shape and even consist of a few small mirrors grouped together in a certain style, however, are commonly found in round and rectangular shapes.

Benefits Of Styling With Mirrors

While mirrors are often utilised for their practicality in displaying your reflection to help you prepare for your day, they also offer a range of styling benefits to help decorate your space with an elevated charm.

Make Any Room Appear Larger

A mirror reflects the room around it, making any space appear to be elongated through the reflection. They reflect your furniture and decor pieces creating the illusion of filled space.

Mirrors also work well on blank walls, especially if they are angled to reflect something interesting in your home. Use them to reflect an indoor plant, window or doorway to trick onlookers into thinking there's more to your home than meets the eye.

Reflect Light For A Bright And Welcoming Environment

Mirrors are a great way to light up your home with a subtle approach. The reflective surface of mirrors allows both natural and man-made light to bounce off the mirror around your room. The careful positioning of a mirror can illuminate dark corners or lighten a room easily. A large mirror can catch a lot of light on its surface and can make for a gorgeous feature as well as a source of light. Try positioning mirrors opposite windows and glass doors to bounce natural light around your home! Or, position mirrors opposite larger lighting fixtures such as floor lamps or hanging chandeliers, to create a playful display of light.

Safety warning: While it doesn't happen often, there have been times when mirrors have reflected strong sunlight onto a flammable surface and started a fire. The usual culprit for this is magnifying mirrors aimed at curtains, so be very careful when placing any mirror to check what kind of light will be hitting it and what it is facing.

Incorporate Mirrors As Decorative Art Pieces

Decor mirrors are more than just a piece of glass! Whether it's the shape of the mirror, the design of the frame or the cut of the pieces, mirrors can be (and often are) used purely for decoration and not for reflecting. The frame in particular has a lot of potential for home decorating, as it can add colour, texture and height to a room. With many different styles to choose from, they are perfect for introducing an artistic accent that complements any home decor colour scheme. Decorating with decor mirrors is a popular home styling trend and is a great way to add interest to a bare wall or sparse room.

Bathroom Mirrors For Both Style And Practicality

The mirrors found in bathrooms are most commonly used to help us clean up, adjust our style and put on makeup, however they can also contribute to the styling of your space. Because they are in an environment that often gets humid, its best to avoid mirrors with wooden frames, instead opting for metal or plastic ones - or not having a frame at all! Need some bathroom mirror ideas for your home? Check out some of our inspiration below:

Vanity Mirror

The main mirror in the bathroom is the one usually placed above the sink, called a vanity mirror. This will be a larger mirror (usually big enough for at least two people) that is used for personal grooming. Many households have a mirror cabinet in this space, as it provides all the usefulness of a mirror with some much-needed extra storage space. Some bathroom mirror ideas for your vanity include:

• A classic rectangle shape providing plenty of horizontal space for couples to make use of. If you have a taller bathroom, you can opt for a long mirror to take advantage of the space.
• Circular mirrors are a good choice if you are uncertain about what will suit your bathroom, as they create a soft edge that creates a relaxed feel. If you have space for it, you can even have two circular mirrors instead of one large mirror!
• If you have ample space around your mirror, you can opt for a frame that matches the rest of your bathroom décor. Try to keep your mirror frames small and simple, as ornate frames often look too busy in the small confines of a bathroom.

Magnifying Mirrors

Due to the vanity often being in the way it can be hard to get right up close to your large bathroom mirror - this is where a magnifying mirror comes in. Perfect for shaving, applying makeup and other tasks that require a steady hand and good eyesight, these mirrors often have a normal side and a magnifying side you can switch between - some even have a built-in light! These mirrors combine style and practicality to elevate your bathroom with ease.

How To Decorate With Mirrors In The Living Room

Mirrors in your lounge room will be primarily used for decoration, and they're a great place to make a statement with your mirror décor. Learning how to decorate with mirrors in the living room will help you to establish a particular decor theme and communicate your personal style.

Impressive frames are a great addition to your living room mirrors if there is space for them. Choose a frame material that matches your living room décor to create a cohesive look. Think sleek black frames for a modern look, rattan frames to exude a coastal charm and elegant gold accents to complement an industrial aesthetic.

Living rooms are a great place to showcase artistic decorative wall mirrors in unusual shapes, or to even dedicate an entire section to mirror wall decorating! Display decor mirrors opposite to objects you would like to draw attention to such as shelves, artificial plants, photo frames or artwork. This means that your decor pieces can be viewed from any corner of your living space with ease. It also helps your space feel larger than it is, with your mirrors reflecting your other selection of home decor. However, try to avoid positioning mirrors opposite clutter as the mirror will reflect this clutter, making your room to appear messier than it is.

Mirrors are versatile pieces and can be displayed in the centre of your living room as a focal point or positioned in the corner of your space for a relaxed charm. Play around with the positioning of your mirrors to achieve your desired outcome.

Styling Mirrors In Your Bedroom

Mirrors can be both stunning decorative and perfectly practical additions to your bedroom. Similarly to any other space in your home, they can help make your room feel bigger and create a relaxing ambience in your bedroom. They can also be used to help you get ready for the day. Whether you're styling your hair, applying makeup or simply checking out your outfit of the day, a mirror can make all the difference in your "getting ready" routine.

Perfect for fashionistas, a full-length mirror in the corner of your bedroom is essential for those playing dress up and making last minute adjustments to their outfits. For those with limited floor space in their bedrooms, a wall mirror fits seamlessly into any room and can easily be displayed above your drawers or your vanity table for the perfect place to get ready for your day.

Create A Welcoming Hallway

Often a dark and overlooked part of the home, a hallway is the perfect place to pop a mirror, as it will lighten up the area, create the illusion of space and make an impact on guests as they enter your home. Depending on your space and home styling choices, hallway mirrors can either be small and decorative, full length or even a floor-to-roof mirror wall! A few approaches you can take when decorating your hallway with mirrors include:

• Position a round mirror with a thick frame above a side table. The side table anchors the mirror while providing a place to rest keys, wallets and other smaller belongings or trinkets. It's also a great last stop to check your face before you head out to an event!
• Install a long horizontal mirror along the length of the hallway to create the illusion of a wider hallway
• Use mirror wall decor such as hexagon mirrors in the shape of a honeycomb pattern to bring visual interest to your hallway

How To Clean Mirrors For A Squeaky Clean Finish

Some mirrors aren't often touched or exposed to outdoors so simply need a light dusting every now and then to keep them clean. In the case of bathroom mirrors or those that may have fingerprints on the surface, it's a good idea to clean these off.

1. When the mirror is dry, use a microfibre cloth to wipe all the dust off the surface of the mirror.
2. Spray either a commercial window/glass cleaning spray or a mixture of water and vinegar onto the mirror. Wipe this onto the mirror and then off with your microfibre cloth (if you have stubborn stains, work them with a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol to get them off).
3. Buff your mirror with a dry cloth for extra shine!

Preventing And Fixing Mirror Desilvering

Desilvering occurs when moisture gets between the surface of the mirror and the backing, causing the backing to lift and dark brown spots or patches on the edges of your mirror. This is why you often see it in areas where there is a lot of water around, like bathrooms, kitchens and outdoors.

A frame can help prevent water from getting into your mirror, but if your mirror is frameless then you need to be extra careful when splashing water around your mirror. You should also be careful when cleaning your mirror not to allow water or excess cleaning fluid to build up at the edges of your mirror.

Once a mirror starts to desilver, unfortunately, you cannot fix it yourself. While dark spots can be covered up with a wide frame, resilvering mirrors should be left to professionals, as it involves stripping away the old backing and adding a fresh one with factory equipment.

Find Amazing Decorative Mirrors At Spotlight

Now that you know the ins and outs of hanging practical and decorative mirrors, it's time to find the perfect mirror for your home! No matter the size of your room or the theme of your home decor, you'll be sure to find the perfect mirror for your space right here at Spotlight!

If you're in a crafty mood or wanting to inject your personal style into your home decor, why not try our bead it mirror project for an artistic decor piece. Or, simply shop our selection of mirrors, including wall mirrors and standing mirrors for your next decorative accent.

You can find more home styling inspiration by reading through our home decorating articles or by shopping our extensive home decor range, in-store or online.

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