I missed you guys! Last week was my girls’ spring break and we had the best family trip in Florida visiting the parks for the first part of the week and then relaxing poolside for the rest. Getting away from the kitchen renovation for a week, soaking up some sun, and putting my phone and laptop away were all good for my soul and I’m feeling recharged to finish off our reno and get back to blogging too. I brought a big ole stack of magazines and catalogs on our trip that I hadn’t had a chance to read and bookmarked so many beautiful new finds including a bunch of really fabulous round mirrors. Don’t ask me why but I’m a total sucker for a good round mirror – I have way more in my home than is probably normal 🙂 . They’re just so good for kicking a room up a notch by softening a space, filling awkward ones, and more – I thought it would be fun to share all of the ways that I use mine while I take you on a little round mirror tour of our home – hopefully it will give you an idea or two for using them in your own home! (post includes affiliate links – full disclosure statement available {here}}
Use Round Mirrors To… Soften Spaces with Straight Lines
Let’s kick things off with my absolute favorite round mirror – the wood + iron one in our foyer. This beauty does a great job of softening the space by adding some more curves to all of the straight edges. If you’re struggling with what to hang over a chest, dresser, or console, the simple combination of a round mirror over a rectangular piece of furniture works every time!
A good general rule of thumb is to choose a mirror that’s between 1/2 – 5/6 the width of your furniture piece it’s hanging above (you can go closer to 1/2 for a wide furniture piece and closer to 5/6 for a more narrow one). My wood and iron mirror is a pretty big guy measuring in at 35″ – the best prices I’ve found on it are {here} and {here}.
Around the corner in our master bedroom, I have {this large round mirror} with a fun little faux hook at the top that reminds me of an old-time pocket watch:Â
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It’s a pretty long dresser so even though my mirror’s fairly big, it needed some weighty pieces added to the top to fill up the space a bit. And while I’m sharing this mirror, I also wanted to share a little trick I used for changing the finish of it – it actually came in a bronze finish but since I couldn’t find a mirror that I liked the design of quite as much in the brass finish that I was looking for, I simply used {this gold leaf Rub ‘n Buff} to change it up. If you’ve never used Rub ‘n Buff, give it a try! It comes in lots of different finish options and is a super quick and easy and way to change the look of metals. To use it, I hung my mirror up, put paper behind it so the Rub ‘n Buff wouldn’t get on my walls, and then went around my whole mirror rubbing in a small amount of Rub ‘n Buff around the entire metal edge using a rag. It literally took me less than 15 minutes to do! So definitely always something to think about if you find a metal framed mirror that you like in a finish that you don’t.Â
My oldest daughter’s room has a similar (but smaller) mirror that comes in brass if you don’t want to be bothered with changing the finish. It’s a steal at under $50 and is available {here} (it looks like right now it’s not available to ship but if you order online for pick-up in the store, you can get the online sale price!).Â
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Use Round Mirrors To… Add Interest to the Back of a Bookcase
The back of a bookcase is a great place for a small decorative round mirror – starburst mirrors are my favorite for this! In our home office I have {this starburst mirror} that comes in both gold and silver options:Â
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I have another starburst mirror as part of my art gallery wall on the other side of the room and a third one stashed in my hoard closet that I used in our old home but haven’t found a spot for in this one (but I love it so much I don’t want to get rid of it!). Even though I’ve reached my starburst mirror limit (#pathetic), I’m totally crushing on these too:
Use Round Mirrors To… Reflect Light or a Favorite View
Our living room is one of the darkest rooms in our house so having a mirror on the mantel helps bounce the light around and also reflects some of the pretty view out the large bay window directly across from it. When our large rhododendron blooms in the spring, the color coming through our bay window plus the color that gets bounced around by our fireplace mirror turns the whole room pink – I love it!
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Our round wood fireplace mirror was an inexpensive IKEA find that’s unfortunately no longer available but {this round wood mirror} is a similar look and size.Â
Use Round Mirrors As… Simple Over-the-Bed Decor
Decorating the space above a bed isn’t always easy, especially if you have a taller headboard and shorter ceilings like I do – it doesn’t leave a ton of space above the bed left to work with. I’ve found that a single round mirror is a really simple, beautiful solution that almost always works! I have one over the bed in our guest room that I snagged it at HomeGoods which is one of my favorite places to mirror shop.Â
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And if you’re looking for other ideas for decorating that awkward space above your bed, be sure to check out {this post} from several years back with more over-the-bed decorating ideas.
That wraps up my little tour of the round mirrors I chose for my own home and the ways that I use them – I’ll leave you with some round mirror eye candy including a few that I have and love along with several new favorites (I especially crushing on #3 – so fun!):
ONE – 28.5″ antique brass sunflower mirror available {here} | TWO – white rattan mirror in three size and color options available {here} | THREE – 34″ gold floral mirror available {here} | FOUR – 48″ (huge!) round wood mirror available {here} | FIVE – 30″ ball mirror with natural wood finish available {here} | SIX – gold or silver mirror with rays of steel wire available in two sizes {here} | SEVEN – 32″ antique bronze wire floral mirror available {here} | EIGHT – 37″ jute rope mirror available {here} | NINE – 24″ acacia wood mirror available {here} | TEN – 35″ layered natural wood mirror with black iron accents available {here} and {here} | ELEVEN – 36″ bronze metal framed mirror available {here}
Do you guys have a favorite? Wishing you all a nice weekend – if you have a few minutes, check out my Shop page because I added a lot of great weekend deals such as these:
The promo codes and more favorites are on my Shop page {here}. I’ll see you guys back on the blog and on Instagram Stories next week – there’s going to be some bigtime progress on our kitchen reno!!!
Very good advice. I always like a round mirror. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post Audrey! 🙂
hi Kris! Another great and uber in formative post. The big takeaway for me is a mirror in a bookcase……never thought of that and it’s simply brilliant!
hugs to you
Debra
I’m so glad you got something out of the post Debra! XOXO
What a relief, I thought I was the only one! I have five up now, my SIL thinks I love to look at myself LOL! I guess she doesn’t know what a great decorating tool they are. Thanks for new ideas.
Ha! They are so much easier than finding art!
Kris,
I love mirrors and probably don’t use them as much as I could. Thanks for the leads on some pretty mirrors for great pricing. It’s fun to tweak a few areas of the house this time of year. 🙂
xo,
Karen
I agree Karen – it’s all about the minor tweaks that can create a whole new look! 🙂
I love numbers 3 and 10. I actually bought the Hawthorne mirror recently for my dining room. It’s an awesome mirror. I’m so glad I saw it on your blog.
I too have a love for big round mirrors. And one of my favorite things about them is they are NEVER crooked!
That’s hysterical – I never thought of that but you’re right – huge bonus!
I love all the mirrors! The idea of putting a mirror in the bookcase is a unique and unusual idea and I can’t wait to try it in my home! You have definitely come up with some great ways to put these beautiful mirrors! I also love the mirror on the mantel, do you have to hold it there with something? Love your blogs!
I’m glad you enjoyed the post Brenda! My mantel mirror is just propped up there with nothing holding it in place – so far so good with it staying there!
Loved reading all your info on mirrors. I have a question: I was thinking of putting a mirror on a wall in my upstairs hallway. The wall has a bit of a curve to it and it’s 9′ H and 10″ W. It’s a darker area and I thought a mirror would add some interest and also help reflect light in the area when the lights are not on. Would you recommend a round or oval mirror and what size would be appropriate? I would appreciate any info you could give me.