Light and Mirrors

Using the reflection of mirrors to manipulate the size of a room is a common decorating trick. By strategically placing a mirror, you can give the illusion a room is twice as large. Even though people are aware of the illusion, it doesn't take away from the effectiveness and feeling that a room more open. What's not as common is using mirrors to manipulate light, in addition to the size of a room.

Reflecting an area of your house that is dark will bring down the energy of the room and make the room seem smaller. To get the most of the technique, place mirrors in relatively clutter-free areas on an angle in which they can reflect natural light. To take full advantage of the mirror into the evening, place Candle Impressions® Flameless Candles in front of it, as we did below. 

How-To Decorate with Mirrors & Flameless Candles

1. Select a location for your mirror. We recommend placing the mirror in an area it will be hit by natural light and in a relatively clutter-free zone. The room can still be small, but if it looks busy a mirror could end up making it look more cluttered and therefore smaller. 

We chose a wall that was parallel to a large floor-to-ceiling window and in front of a patio door onlooking a balcony. 

2. Determine how you would like to display your Candle Impressions® Flameless Candles. To avoid blocking too much of the mirror, we set the silver tray from our Flameless Candle Vignette on a small folding table stand. 

3. Begin strategically placing your Candle Impressions® Flameless Candles. Unlike with a typical vignette, you now need to consider that the back is going to be reflected, too. This means you can now place smaller candles and objects towards the back because they will be seen in the reflection. 

By placing Candle Impressions® Flameless Candles in front of a mirror, you can manipulate your candle supply and your light source—it will seem like there is double of each. At night this looks especially gorgeous and works as a focal point for a room. Best of all, the mirror will radiate a comforting and soothing atmosphere for you to relax in. 

Decorating with Mirrors: Dos & Don'ts

Dos

• Use them in small rooms or spaces
• Reflect the outdoors—remember that mirrors reflect everything in a room, including a mess, so it's much safer to reflect good old mother nature
• Place mirrors at the end of hallways 
• Make a mirror the focal point of a room, as we did in our example 
• Use mirrored furniture to your advantage, but make sure it's in an open space and not just reflecting its immediate surroundings 
• Angle a mirror in the corner of a room, it will reflect the entire space! 
• Place a mirror at the end of a dinner table... but you may find it's very distracting for new guests
• Place mirrors on tables reflecting the ceiling

Don'ts

• Place a mirror on a wall that reflects nothing interesting—or worse, something unappealing, like a messy kitchen 
• Lean a large mirror against a wall without anchoring it... one tiny bump or even small earth quake could send it crashing to the floor
• Place something directly in front of a mirror, unless it's less than 1/2 of the mirror's height
• Mount mirrors on ceilings... just don't! 

Let us know if you have any other ideas on how mirrors can be used in decorating.

Good luck!

- Elle E. Diva