How to maximise the illusion of space & light using mirrors around the home

In my eyes, mirrors are what create that extra little touch of magic around the home. They can totally transform a space, reflecting light into dark corners, frame details, help you get ready in the morning, but most importantly, they can completely open up a room giving the illusion of space and light.  

Like everyone, I have mirrors in the bathroom and areas to get prepped for the day ahead. However, I also use them a lot around the house to not only reflect items I love, but to maximise a space, giving it that extra little touch of the wow factor. My fascination with mirrors all started with our first garden in central London. It consisted of a tiny triangle shape that was extremely narrow towards the back, even planting it up, couldn't hide the restrictiveness. I installed a plain outdoor mirror to the full width and height of the back wall, this instantly opened up the whole garden, giving an illusion that it opened up beyond the wall, confusing a lot of people. Many friends visiting thought we had a secret alleyway at the back!

The above image featuring a large arch/window style mirror that I found at Sunbury Antiques, shows how easy it is to create the illusion of depth. Many that have seen this image initially thought it was a door or window at the back of the room. Reflecting plants also gives an outdoor feel, they work well placed in front of a mirror to create a window/outdoor feel.

This brings me to my favourite use, dead wall space and opening up redundant areas with a mirror.

Our kitchen is tucked away from the dining area and to the left of the door opening, there was a blank unusable wall. So I popped another antique shop find, again with an arch to create that window feel. It reflects our kitchen island beautifully bringing the dining area and kitchen together for a more open plan cohesive feel, giving a nice new flow to a space that previously felt cut off and hidden from the rest of the room.  

Hallways are an area that this works particularly well in. You can instantly open up a narrow space and draw the eye towards other areas of the room or an interesting focal point, such as going up the stairs, a gallery wall or a console. In a hall I like placing mirrors near a door/entrance, so that when you walk through the door, you immediately get an eyeful of detail and interest.

And not to forget the whole decorative and wow aspect of a mirror. You can't beat placing one above a mantle piece with a statement light reflected in it. This gives an immediate sense of grandeur and space to a room at the same time as a focal point of interest. Blending it into the walls by painting the frame in the same colour and then fixing it flush makes everything reflected within a mirror pop, giving vibrancy and life to a room.

So in summary, you can see that I love a good mirror and reflection. Not to look at my morning face, but to reflect the spaces around the home, framing little details and bringing everything to life. I forgot to mention the reflection of sunlight across a room! but I will stop here.

Here's a little list of a few places I love to source mine from:

West Elm, Habitat, One.World, Sunbury Antiques, Home Barn and John Lewis

and a selection that I have used around the house alongside a few more that I currently have my eye on...  (Aff links)

Thank you for reading and enjoy those reflections. Leoma xxx