Living room and lounge mirrors

Overmantel mirrors

The mirror above the fireplace is the one British living rooms have had for two centuries, and the proportions are worth getting right. An overmantel mirror should be 70–90% of the width of the chimney breast, or of the mantelshelf if the breast is much wider than the fireplace itself. On a typical 120 cm chimney breast that is a mirror 85–105 cm wide. We would leave 10–20 cm between the mantelshelf and the bottom of the glass. Too small and it floats; too wide and it fights the fireplace it is meant to crown.

Landscape or portrait above a fire?

A landscape mirror follows the line of the mantel and suits a low ceiling. A portrait or arched mirror draws the eye up and suits a high-ceilinged Victorian room. Whichever you choose, the centre of the glass wants to sit at standing eye level, not seated – an overmantel is looked at, not looked into.

Mirrors for light and space

Away from the fireplace, the job changes. A large lounge mirror hung opposite a window doubles the daylight in the room – the single most effective thing a mirror does. Hung on the long wall of a narrow room, it widens it. Hung above the sofa it fills the wall that always needs filling, though there the mirror should be around two-thirds of the sofa width and hung 20–30 cm above the back.

Reflect something worth reflecting

A mirror doubles whatever is in front of it, which cuts both ways. Facing a window, a garden or a lamp: good. Facing a television, a radiator or a doorway into a cluttered hall: less so. A large mirror above a console table has the same effect in miniature. It is worth standing where you usually sit and checking what the mirror will actually show.

Shape and finish

In a living room the mirror is furniture, so the finish matters more than in a bathroom. Bevelled edges suit period rooms. Wavy and pebble shapes read as art rather than a fitting. Tinted glass – bronze, smoked or antique – is the answer when a clear mirror at that size would be overwhelming.

Sizes

A mirror without lights can be cut to your own size in the cut to size configurator – rectangles up to 200 × 200 cm and circles from 13 to 150 cm across. There is also an irregular option, where you upload your own outline. On LED mirrors you pick from fixed sizes on the product page. Need something larger? Get in touch.

Every mirror is cut, polished and packed in our own workshop and dispatched within 4 working days. delivery is free on all orders