Fireplace Mantel Mirrors:
Five Mirror Decorating Tricks
for over Your Fireplace
© 2007, PennVentures Inc.

Mirrors are a traditional way to decorate a fireplace mantel. They add light to the room and seem to expand the area. But just because mirrors are traditional over fireplaces does not mean they need to be used in traditional ways. Below are five decorating ideas for how to use mirrors over your fireplace mantel.

• Mirror the whole wall, all the way to the ceiling, above your fireplace mantel. This is a great way to dramatize your fireplace as well as to visually enlarge the fireplace's room. One huge, mirror is great but expensive. A series of large mirrors without frames can be used, edge to edge, with just as much glamour for a fraction of the price. 
  
  If the fireplace wall juts out from the surrounding wall, mirror at least the fireplace side above the mantel. For extra pizzazz, mirror the short walls on both sides of the fireplace.
  
  If the fireplace wall does not jut out from the surrounding wall, mirror the width of the mantel from the top of the mantel up to the ceiling. Then add moldings painted the color of the walls to the right and left edges of the mirror. This gives the mirror a visual boundary and makes it into an architectural element of the room.
   
• Add a framed mirror to the mirrored wall! A sizable mirror with an elaborate frame is best. This is marvelous for a formal room including a living room, dining room, or a posh bedroom.
   
• Cluster an arrangement of different sized and shaped mirrors in frames above the fireplace mantel. This works best with frames that have something in common such as color, width, or style. Try out different arrangements on the table or floor until you get one that is pleasing to the eye.
   
• Six square mirrors in wide frames can make a great design statement above your mantel. The cost of six smaller, square framed mirrors can be much less than the cost of one, large mirror with a great frame. You have three eye-catching, balanced possibilities:
     Three Over Three Squares

        Three Over Three Diamonds

        "Bowling Pins" Arrangement of Diamonds

               For the "Bowling Pins" arrangement, add something tall, such
               as candles in candle sticks or flowers in tall vases, on either side
               of the mantel to balance out the composition.

• Turn one mirror into multiple vertical mirrors. This is an inexpensive but impressive trick for decorating above your mantel.
  
  Take a large, rectangular, unframed mirror to a glass glazier or framing shop. Have them cut the mirror into three, five, or seven vertical strips of equal width. Hang the unframed mirror strips over your mantel with the middle strip centered and with each mirror strip 1/2 to one inch apart. 
  
  These vertical mirrors look great as long as they are hung exactly the same width apart and they are all hanging straight. Measure carefully. Also, apply a hook-and-loop dot to the bottom back of each mirror strip and its corresponding dot to the wall. That way, you can fiddle with the mirrors until they are perfectly aligned and then "stick" them into place.
   

To coordinate with the shiny mirrors over the mantel, consider adding pewter, polished steel, or chrome fireplace accessories to your fireplace. Fireplace screens, tool sets, and hearth-side firewood holders are all available in either these shiny metals alone or in black with silver-toned accents such as handles and finials.

Mirrors above your fireplace, used in untraditional ways, can create a spectacular display, centering the attention of visitors and family on the natural focal point of the room, the fireplace.

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