Charleston Living Magazine Nov-Dec 2021

WELL STYLED | DESIGN
T
Tis the season for decorating anything and everything
to bring the holidays closer to home. Amplify the celebratory
spirit even more with the strategic use of mirrors. Decorating the
mirrors in your home for the holidays and optimizing their placement
can add limitless value to the look and feel of your festive display.
60 | CharlestonLivingMag.com
Mirror, Mirror
Deck out your mirrors for the holidays
Niki Miller, owner/decorative painter at
Charleston Fine Finishes, shares her expert
tips and tricks on how to make mirror magic
in any room and style your reflective decor for
the season.
Mirrors can be expensive, but finding the
right ones for your home décor doesn’t have
to break the bank.
“Quality always holds its value and good
taste is timeless. For those reasons, I love
antique stores. There’s an attention to detail
expressed on older finishes that I respect and
admire,” says Miller, who appreciates the
masterful mix of old and new.
If a vintage find doesn’t quite match the
finishes of other parts of your home, professionals
like Miller, who specialize in solving
decorative challenges with furniture, walls,
ceilings and beyond, can help masterfully mix
the old and new to create a cohesive look. For
example, a new mirror that looks “too new”
can have the mirror and metal antiqued, or
By SHELBY SIMON
the frame of a mirror can be refinished to
match the walls.
When deciding where and how to place
mirrors in your home, “keep in mind that you
will see two of whatever that mirror reflects,”
says Miller, so make sure you like the view.
“Be sure to notice the reflection from every
direction… sit on the chairs and the sofa to
see what it reflects.”
Large mirrors placed opposite windows will
bring in twice the light, while strategically-placed
mirrors can create the illusion of more space.
One benefit during the winter holidays?
“Twice the Christmas!” says Miller. “Place that
tall mirror adjacent to your tree—now it looks
like two trees, and you’ll get to enjoy it from
another angle and possibly another room.”
For a large floor mirror, add dimension
and adapt according to your style or holiday of
choice. For an optical illusion Christmas tree,
Miller suggests stacking several boxes wrapped
in green paper, graduating in size from largest
(on the bottom) to smallest, leaning against one
side of the mirror. Add lights, a large bow and a
garland, and the reflection will look like a tree!
Many homes have an entryway featuring
a hanging piece of art and a small table. Instead,
Miller suggests replacing the art with a
mirror and using small tabletop trees or other
thematic decor for a touch of whimsy. A DIY
holiday mirror decor idea that Miller loved
creating with her kids was the creation of a
Candyland tree: she took an old mirror and
painted it pink, then glued on a ton of fake
glittered gumdrops. They loaded their white
bottlebrush tree with lights (on a white cord),
lollipops and gingerbread men. Their DIY
holiday mirror bounced the light and made
the glittered ornaments extra sparkly.
You can think of your home’s windows as
mirrors and vice versa and apply the same decorating
approach to both, according to Miller.
Her pro tips:
» For a glowing effect, use sticky strips to attach
small fairy lights to the back of your mirror.
» Hang a boxwood or frasier fir wreath with
a wide ribbon right onto the mirror, the same
way you would windows. Make sure the wreath
is in proportion to the mirror — the bigger the
mirror, the bigger the wreath should be!
» Floral arrangements in front of mirrors are
twice as impressive. Using easy-to-find foliage
such as cuttings off the tree and magnolia
garlands that adorn the historic houses of the
Lowcountry is a great way to add local flair.
» Evergreen fronds are perfect vase fillers
for clove-pierced oranges or pomegranates on
green floral sticks. Vary the height. Big, clear
cylinder vases filled with shells or pecans are
beautiful and accessible local elements to display.
» Use dried fruit, pinecones, pheasant,
guinea hen or turkey feathers in a premade
garland and hang it above the mirror. (Remember
that fresh fruit is heavy to use in
arrangements.)
» Mirrors placed behind candles in a fireplace
hearth or over the mantle cane make the room
feel larger.
» Window film in red or green can temporarily
tint the mirror.
» Let it snow with a holiday stencil and apply
artificial snow spray on the mirror. Use a
razor blade to clean.
Whatever your choice of mirror style or
placement, the options for creativity are endless.
With well-placed mirrors and the extra
sparkle, lights and reflections they provide,
they are sure to make a statement and a stunning
display at home for the holidays. •
PHOTO ADOBE STOCK