Uses of mirrors

For most people, mirrors are indispensable grooming aids, but they can also be decorating tools to create accents, transform space and dematerialize mass. They can also be used to establish mood, to provide more security and even to help babies develop faster.

Mirrors have been around since ancient times. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans made small hand-held mirrors of polished metal. Glass mirrors were rare until the Venetians perfected the art of casting sheet glass and silvering it. They jealously guarded their technology so that they could maintain a monopoly on the mirror trade.

In 1670, the French persuaded a number of Venetian glass craftsmen to set up glass factories in France. French interior designers embraced the mirror, and used it in a number of innovative ways to enhance a design scheme. Even though the mirrors were used on a grand scale in Baroque and Rococo palaces, the techniques developed are useful for smaller rooms today.

For example, it is possible to create the illusion of infinite space by placing mirrors on facing walls. The mirrors reflect their opposite images, projecting a feeling of extreme depth. This effect, called glaces repetition, can be effective in opening up a small room and making it seem larger. Another way to open up a small room is by hanging a mirror slightly above eye level so it reflects space. The traditional and most practical place for this type of mirror is above the fireplace.

Mirrors can also be used to dematerialize mass. Hung on a wall or solid object, they make it seem smaller or less dense. Many department stores achieve this effect by encasing free-standing walls or columns with mirrors. In the home this technique can be used to make the walls between windows seem less massive. The mirror, called a pier mirror, is mounted between two windows; it creates the illusion of a third window between the two others.