Home Decor
Positioning Mirrors
If you are the one of those people who doesn’t like illusions and mystery, bored by multiple repetitions, and the word “eternity” awakens sad thoughts – it’s means that mirrors in your home are used only for its direct function. In this case it is going to be enough to supply your home with mirrors for two locations – the entry, and the bathrooms.
There is several simple rules that you have to follow, to save yourself time and avoid costly mistakes:
- Mirrors always should be hang strictly vertical.
- Position your mirrors so direct open light from lighting fixtures wouldn’t reflect in the mirrors, in other words the lighting source reflected in the mirrors shouldn’t “blind” the person.
- The distance from the floor to the top of the mirrors should be no less than 6 feet.
- The distance from the floor to the bottom of the mirrors should be at least one in a half foot.
And one more important thing, when placing a mirror you should count on at least three to five feet of open space in a front on it so a person has an opportunity to step back while looking at the mirror.
In a well composed room, mirrors were used to emphasize the symmetry of a space. A good room, unless perfectly square, would have a major and a minor axis and mirrors would be used to emphasize one or both.
In a modern room, a mirrors hung on the wall might occupy the position that a built-in mirror might have had in earlier times. And: While large mirrors accentuate some spatial attributes of a room, small mirrors, even tiny ones, can acknowledge a room’s symmetry. Small mirrors might be used above a door if the door is occupying the center of the room, or in the middle of a bookcase if that would corroborate the room’s symmetry.
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I found your site on Google and read a few of your other entires. Nice Stuff. I’m looking forward to reading more from you.
- Aaron Wakling, December 25th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
This was very helpful. I never really knew that there was a system to using mirrors. I have always either hung them where they are needed. I heard that they are able to make rooms bigger, but I never knew that there was a real system to it. It is incredibly eye-opening to see what could be done with something that is so simple and that I really considered a more practical tool to have around. I am really excited what I could do to my home withe the tops that i now have at my disposal– no more arbitrary mirror hanging for me! and i am planning on taking such deliberate decision making to all of my interior decorating dilemmas.
- Linda, December 29th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Wow, I didn’t realize there were rules about hanging mirrors either. I’m going to have to show this to my wife. We’ve been thinking about rearranging everything in our house to suit our needs better, and come to think of it, the mirror in our entry is both horizontal, and I think it might be a little lower than it should be. It also reflects the light from the windows next to our door, so that’s also a “no-no” I guess. Great advice!
- Keith, December 30th, 2008 at 11:12 am
This was extremely helpful. My mother gave us a really nice mirror as a christmas/house warming gift and we had no idea where to put it. Now I think I might know.
- Sandra, December 31st, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I really never would have thought that there would be guidelines to a simple thing like hanging a mirror. After reading this though, it really does make a lot of sense. Now I’m going to have to go through my house and see if I have put them in right.
- Peggy, January 2nd, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I know, same thing. I would have never really thought that there would have been rules to hanging mirrors. I am so thankful that i found this– i was able to make my room look almost twice as big as it did in the beginning. I love how something that simple was able to make everything look absolutely glorious. Plus, it’s great that now I have such useful tips to pass along to my friends.=)
- Anne, January 9th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
My wife has been always saying the mirror in our dining room looks a little off. Now I understand way. It was too low to where it really needs to be. And we hung it vertically. I’ll be glad to show this to her.
- Randy, January 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
I never knew there was a system to something simple like hanging a mirror. Although after reading this blog, it made me realize that it makes complete sense. I will definitely take this into consideration the next time I hang a mirror!
- Stephanie, January 20th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I think mirrors are fantastic! They can really open up a room and I think they are a good accent to any space, especially if is an ornate gorgeous mirror like the ones available on this website. This website is a designer’s dream.. I feel like a kid in a candy store with all of these beautiful items available.
- Orlando, January 21st, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I just discovered the most equisite venetian mirror on this website. I really must have it. It will look so lovely in my foyer. I will keep this article in mind while I have my son hang it for me. It will be perfect!
- Claire, January 30th, 2009 at 11:22 am
This was very informative. I have been wondering what is wrong with the mirror in my living room. It just looks so “off”. I think that once I move it to the correct height, it will be better. Thank you for the information.
- Naomi, February 13th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Oh my god enjoyed reading this article. I added your feed to my blogreader!!
- brillatty, December 12th, 2009 at 12:41 am
I just put up a beautiful 48″ round mirror over my fireplace which is 65″ wide and the brick goes up to 20′. I left about a foor space between top of mantle and mirror. Now I’m thinking thats to high- help
- Darlene Pantano, August 23rd, 2012 at 8:55 am
I do not agree, as of now, that mirrors should hang strictly vertical. There are exceptions I think but will try in my home and repost my final thought.
- Amy, December 19th, 2012 at 10:23 pm
Thank you for the advice. I needed to know the distance from the floor to place our entry way mirror. We built a new house with a Cathedral ceiling that goes up to 20 feet and we have no walls in the Great room. It’s wide open and we love it.
- Tyrone Shelton, January 24th, 2013 at 10:42 pm