Martha Stewart's Use of Mirrors
Posted by Carter Davidson on Sat, Jun 04, 2011 @ 11:18 PM
Martha Stewart showcases various ways she recommends mirrors as deocrating tools to make your home pop with style.
Sparkle Plenty
An interior entry hall with no windows or natural illumination becomes a dramatic blaze of flashing light nonetheless, thanks to walls lined in beveled-mirror tiles that are studded with delicate glass rosettes at each corner. An elaborate Murano-glass chandelier, a mirrored Art Deco console table, highly polished dark-wood floors, and even a nickle-plated doorknob all add to the reflected glory.
Circular Thinking
Mirrored plateus, often etched with fanciful patterns, were used to multiply the effects of candlelight in dining rooms in the 19th century and have lost none of their appeal.
Empire State
American Empire mirrors take on new purpose when their battered veneer frames are patched and unified with oil paint, letting the colors and shadows of the old mirrors themselves become the center of attention.
Light Work
Mirrors are timeless and work in traditional and contemporary interiors. And vast expanses aren't necessary to have an effect. Lining the backsplash of a sleek galley kitchen in a modern high-rise expands the narrow space and magnifies the light from adjacent windows. Because large sheets are used, there are few seams to disrupt the clean lines and minimal details.
Bright Ideas
In an eclectic living room, mottled antique mirrors, both real and faux, contrast with gleaming expanses of new mirrors to create seemingly infinite reflections. Screens of Venetian-style antiqued mirrors flank a mantel that is topped with a sheet of new mirror, on which hangs an English bull's-eye girandole that dates to the 1830s. A 1950s American mirrored cocktail table and 1960s Italian mercury-glass lamps add further reflections. Neutral colors ensure that the play of light remains the focus.