What Type of Mirror is Best for Bathrooms?
What kind of mirrors should go in the bathroom? It’s a moist room that generates a lot of steam, so when choosing a mirror for the bathroom, you should take that into consideration. It’s also a room that sees a high footfall, so a bathroom mirror should be sturdy enough to withstand the movement that goes on around it. Finally, your bathroom is a place of relaxation and tranquillity, so its mirror should have style and elegance and help to bring a beautiful finishing touch to the space.
Moisture resistant bathroom mirrors
A bathroom mirror should be made of tempered glass. The chemical treatment tempered glass undergoes makes it resistant to sharp changes in temperature, which is typical in a bathroom—such as when you run a bath or turn on the shower on a cold day.
Like regular glass, tempered glass will fog when you generate a lot of steam, but you can prevent this by regularly cleaning it with a mixture of water and vinegar. When you wash your tempered glass bathroom mirror with this solution, it should stay relatively free from that annoying steam that stops you looking in the mirror when you step out of the shower.
Which bathroom mirrors are in style now?
Contemporary bathroom mirrors cover a range of different styles, from minimalist to maximalist and everything in between. Which bathroom mirror to choose, of course, depends on your own personal taste, but here are some bathroom mirror examples to get you started:
Bathroom mirrors with lights
Having a bathroom mirror with built-in lights—either in mounted tulip shades or backlit with LED lights—is a great way to concentrate light in the right place when using the mirror.
Bathroom mirror lights will also tend to be slightly less bright and imposing than overhead lighting, so they also help you to create dimmed lighting for a more intimate experience.
When you have a lot of natural light in the space, a bathroom mirror light will help to create a gentle ambience. But can an LED mirror light up a bathroom? Not completely on its own, generally, but it certainly makes a nice additional touch.
Pebble Decorative Bathroom Mirror
Decorative bathroom mirrors
Can decorative mirrors be used in bathrooms? Absolutely, so long as they’re made of tempered glass—and, if not, you should think about replacing the glass.
A decorative mirror in the bathroom is a highly effective way of establishing an interior design theme in the room. The thing is, bathrooms tend to be free from paintings and other types of artwork, because homeowners don’t want them to get damaged by moisture. So an ornate mirror is a great way of filling any missing sense of pizzazz.
Rectangular bathroom mirrors
Which mirror shape is good for a bathroom, would you say? We would argue that the best mirror shape is, absolutely, rectangular.
Rectangular mirrors are just so versatile. They can sit comfortably above your washbasin, they can sit on the wall facing the main bathroom mirror to create a sense of endless depth, and they can be hung in portrait or landscape style.
If you want the benefits of a rectangular mirror but the softness of a round mirror, choose a rectangular mirror with round edges to give the space that relaxed Scandi vibe.
Round bathroom mirrors
If you don’t want a rectangular mirror, circular bathroom mirrors are certainly a very stylish option, but are round mirrors good for bathrooms? Definitely—for the right kind of space.
For a large bathroom, a giant circular mirror can look really impactful. If you have a smaller bathroom, be mindful that a large round bathroom mirror can look a little imposing so make sure to buy the right size or explore an oval option that will give you all the style without dominating the room.
Framed bathroom mirrors
Most modern bathroom mirrors tend to be frameless or to have very narrow frames. That’s because frameless bathroom mirror tends to blend into the space more easily and there’s a trend toward the minimalistic and less decorative in modern design. However, a framed bathroom mirror can help bring a sense of timeless charm to your bathroom space.
Gilt framed bathroom mirrors will give your space a sense of opulence and grandeur, while a bathroom mirror with a wooden frame will make the bathroom feel more rustic and connected to nature. For a more modern feel, you could choose a mirror with a metallic frame, though be mindful that this is more likely to go out of style quickly.
Choosing a bathroom mirror for a vanity
When choosing a mirror for a bathroom vanity unit, be very mindful of the height and width of the unit your mirror will sit above. Your mirror shouldn’t be so tall that it feels like it’s falling off the wall and it should be as close as possible to the same width as the unit so it’s neat, even, and makes sense to the eye.
Also, it’s essential to make sure your vanity unit mirror fits with the style of the rest of the unit. Though mixing and matching in interior design can be a cool thing, a vanity unit and its mirror tend to be looked at as a single piece and, if they clash, they will probably just look a bit weird.
Choosing a mirror for a small bathroom
Tiny house bathrooms, downstairs loos, and second bathrooms need mirrors too. But what kind of mirror is best for a small bathroom? Well, the obvious answer is a small mirror, but it’s not necessarily the case...
A half-bathroom (with a basin and toilet only) can be made to feel much bigger by hanging an almost wall sized rectangular mirror above the washbasin. It will reflect back whatever is behind you and make the space feel less claustrophobic.
However, if your bathroom is small but not so small, then a petite round, oval or rectangular mirror will fit in beautifully, working within the context of the smaller space.
Mirrored bathroom walls
Mirrored walls in the bathroom make the space look twice as big, so they’re great for smaller spaces—and a mirrored wall will make a bigger bathroom feel even more gigantic. Just be mindful that if you get frustrated by steamy mirrors, this is probably not the option for you.
Finally, a bathroom entirely covered in mirrors might be OK if you’re looking to make your space feel like the final scene in Enter the Dragon, but no one wants to get showered in a hall of mirrors in the 2020s. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider a feature wall with a panel or even the whole wall covered in mirrors, though.
Good luck on your reflective journey.
Looking for something else to read? Check out our article on How to Choose Freestanding Bathroom Cabinetry.