Charleston Living Magazine Nov-Dec 2021
We end the year with a bang - festive holiday tablescapes to help set the table for entertaining, and holiday fashion for the latest trends in what to wear this season. We also showcase our top picks for dining over the holidays.
We end the year with a bang - festive holiday tablescapes to help set the table for entertaining, and holiday fashion for the latest trends in what to wear this season. We also showcase our top picks for dining over the holidays.
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WELL STYLED | DESIGN<br />
T<br />
Tis the season for decorating anything and everything<br />
to bring the holidays closer to home. Amplify the celebratory<br />
spirit even more with the strategic use of mirrors. <strong>Dec</strong>orating the<br />
mirrors in your home for the holidays and optimizing their placement<br />
can add limitless value to the look and feel of your festive display.<br />
60 | <strong>Charleston</strong><strong>Living</strong>Mag.com<br />
Mirror, Mirror<br />
<strong>Dec</strong>k out your mirrors for the holidays<br />
Niki Miller, owner/decorative painter at<br />
<strong>Charleston</strong> Fine Finishes, shares her expert<br />
tips and tricks on how to make mirror magic<br />
in any room and style your reflective decor for<br />
the season.<br />
Mirrors can be expensive, but finding the<br />
right ones for your home décor doesn’t have<br />
to break the bank.<br />
“Quality always holds its value and good<br />
taste is timeless. For those reasons, I love<br />
antique stores. There’s an attention to detail<br />
expressed on older finishes that I respect and<br />
admire,” says Miller, who appreciates the<br />
masterful mix of old and new.<br />
If a vintage find doesn’t quite match the<br />
finishes of other parts of your home, professionals<br />
like Miller, who specialize in solving<br />
decorative challenges with furniture, walls,<br />
ceilings and beyond, can help masterfully mix<br />
the old and new to create a cohesive look. For<br />
example, a new mirror that looks “too new”<br />
can have the mirror and metal antiqued, or<br />
By SHELBY SIMON<br />
the frame of a mirror can be refinished to<br />
match the walls.<br />
When deciding where and how to place<br />
mirrors in your home, “keep in mind that you<br />
will see two of whatever that mirror reflects,”<br />
says Miller, so make sure you like the view.<br />
“Be sure to notice the reflection from every<br />
direction… sit on the chairs and the sofa to<br />
see what it reflects.”<br />
Large mirrors placed opposite windows will<br />
bring in twice the light, while strategically-placed<br />
mirrors can create the illusion of more space.<br />
One benefit during the winter holidays?<br />
“Twice the Christmas!” says Miller. “Place that<br />
tall mirror adjacent to your tree—now it looks<br />
like two trees, and you’ll get to enjoy it from<br />
another angle and possibly another room.”<br />
For a large floor mirror, add dimension<br />
and adapt according to your style or holiday of<br />
choice. For an optical illusion Christmas tree,<br />
Miller suggests stacking several boxes wrapped<br />
in green paper, graduating in size from largest<br />
(on the bottom) to smallest, leaning against one<br />
side of the mirror. Add lights, a large bow and a<br />
garland, and the reflection will look like a tree!<br />
Many homes have an entryway featuring<br />
a hanging piece of art and a small table. Instead,<br />
Miller suggests replacing the art with a<br />
mirror and using small tabletop trees or other<br />
thematic decor for a touch of whimsy. A DIY<br />
holiday mirror decor idea that Miller loved<br />
creating with her kids was the creation of a<br />
Candyland tree: she took an old mirror and<br />
painted it pink, then glued on a ton of fake<br />
glittered gumdrops. They loaded their white<br />
bottlebrush tree with lights (on a white cord),<br />
lollipops and gingerbread men. Their DIY<br />
holiday mirror bounced the light and made<br />
the glittered ornaments extra sparkly.<br />
You can think of your home’s windows as<br />
mirrors and vice versa and apply the same decorating<br />
approach to both, according to Miller.<br />
Her pro tips:<br />
» For a glowing effect, use sticky strips to attach<br />
small fairy lights to the back of your mirror.<br />
» Hang a boxwood or frasier fir wreath with<br />
a wide ribbon right onto the mirror, the same<br />
way you would windows. Make sure the wreath<br />
is in proportion to the mirror — the bigger the<br />
mirror, the bigger the wreath should be!<br />
» Floral arrangements in front of mirrors are<br />
twice as impressive. Using easy-to-find foliage<br />
such as cuttings off the tree and magnolia<br />
garlands that adorn the historic houses of the<br />
Lowcountry is a great way to add local flair.<br />
» Evergreen fronds are perfect vase fillers<br />
for clove-pierced oranges or pomegranates on<br />
green floral sticks. Vary the height. Big, clear<br />
cylinder vases filled with shells or pecans are<br />
beautiful and accessible local elements to display.<br />
» Use dried fruit, pinecones, pheasant,<br />
guinea hen or turkey feathers in a premade<br />
garland and hang it above the mirror. (Remember<br />
that fresh fruit is heavy to use in<br />
arrangements.)<br />
» Mirrors placed behind candles in a fireplace<br />
hearth or over the mantle cane make the room<br />
feel larger.<br />
» Window film in red or green can temporarily<br />
tint the mirror.<br />
» Let it snow with a holiday stencil and apply<br />
artificial snow spray on the mirror. Use a<br />
razor blade to clean.<br />
Whatever your choice of mirror style or<br />
placement, the options for creativity are endless.<br />
With well-placed mirrors and the extra<br />
sparkle, lights and reflections they provide,<br />
they are sure to make a statement and a stunning<br />
display at home for the holidays. •<br />
PHOTO ADOBE STOCK