The great car manufacturer Henry Ford, founder of the eponymous car company, famously said: “Any customer can have a car painted any color (sic) that he wants so long as it is black.” He said a great many other wise things too but it is this which concerns us today.
Only today we’re not talking about cars but mirrors. For at the moment if you are buying a mirror that you intend to fix on the wall, then you can have any shape you want as long as it is round. That’s not to say that other shapes aren’t available. It’s just the round ones are utterly the shape of the moment. Square and rectangles are great but traditional. If you want something a little different you must go round.
So yes, there is fashion but that’s not all. There is also the fact that houses and furniture often have a lot of straight lines and hard angles. Throwing in a circle can soften all that and bring an unexpected touch to a space. Over a fireplace for example. Where you would traditionally find a rectangle. Or in a hall – a long thin space. A round mirror looks a bit different. The point I am making is that although round is currently having a moment, that shape actually has more longevity. It will look as if you thought about it and considered what to hang rather than just buying a mirror.
I would go one step further and say if you can find a large round mirror with a foxed, or antique finish – that’s aged brown spots in short – that will look even better downstairs than a straightforward modern one. Keep those for upstairs where you might actually need to see your reflection.
I have done a round up of some of the best ones I have found. Foxed mirrors are hard to find. You might need to have one cut specially. I have only managed to come up with one. But the others are a mix of brass, silver, wood and bronze. In theory one to suit every finish that might be required.
You may beg to differ. I have given you a starting point though.
They aren’t doing round mirrors yet but @Sandstone_interiors_ on instagram have started doing some big beautiful hand made & foxed mirrors…
Some bright DIY Blogger made her own for next to nothing from one of those large round mirrors used to identify a “hidden vehicle” coming!
I bought the Laura Ashley Constance mirror which is 100 cm wide and I painted it black. A great price as I got 40% off!
Check out Notre Monde’s (part of the Ethnicraft group) round and large rectangular antiqued mirrors–just bought the latter for the dining room, a whopping 1m20 x 1m50! Beautiful-
Love round mirrors. I have the maisons du mode one above my fireplace and it’s brilliant. It’s really big for the price and the quality is good. I was a bit worried about it arriving broken since it came from France but it was very well packaged too. I recommend it!