Everything you need to know to build the home of your dreams.
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Bathroom Mirror Size, Shape and Height Over Vanity
Mirrors are not only essential to everyday life, they also have the potential to transform the bathroom’s look. And even make it feel larger.
But its effect will be the result of a combination of details: how far up does it go? What’s its height over the vanity? Is it as wide as the vanity, or does it continue over the toilet? Is it rectangular or does it have a different shape?
These decisions may depend on your bathroom layout, but they can also be made by you in order to achieve a desired effect. So let’s take a look at some inspiring pictures and get to know all the options you have.
While this article discusses dimensions and shapes, there’s another one on types of mirrors. There I present different ways of buying a mirror – ordering custom and gluing to the wall, buying a framed piece, making a mirrored cabinet… You may want to leave it open while you read this one, so you can refer to it when I mention a type you are not familiar with.
Page Contents:
Bathroom mirror height
In order to be at a suitable height for both short and tall people, the mirror should start at 1.50 m / 5′ and go up to 2.00 m / 6’6″.
This ensures that everyone will see their faces in the mirror. However, it can start lower and end higher. This will influence the effect on the decoration and the possibility of reflecting a larger area of the body beyond the head.
So let’s see some possible mirror heights and their effects.
A short mirror is a nice option for powder rooms. The mirror can either occupy the full width of the wall, forming a very horizontal rectangle…
or be also limited in width, as a decorative mirror – a framed piece, in this case. But for more heavily used bathrooms, it’s interesting to have a taller mirror.
The mirror starting right above the backsplash is the most common positioning in bathrooms that are widely used in daily life. The backsplash protects the wall from dripping, and the mirror is tall enough to reflect a large area.
Another option is to eliminate the backsplash and start the mirror just above the countertop. You can do this because the mirror also protects the wall against moisture, but it will get constantly wet, and it shows the water drops much more than the backsplash. The advantage is that the reflection duplicates the countertop and the tap, which gives an interesting effect. The overall look is cleaner.
A nice idea to enlarge the bathroom is not to limit the height of the mirror: make it floor to ceiling. When the entire wall is mirrored, you get the feeling of duplicating the room. But this idea only applies to cases where there is a visible wall for this. The countertop and the cabinet under it usually cover part of the wall. Project by Izabela Lessa.
Bathroom mirror width
The mirror, whenever possible, is placed in front of the sink, to allow people to use the sink and see themselves at the same time.
The minimum comfortable width for a mirror is about 50 cm / 1’8″, but here, too, this is just a minimum measure, which you can enlarge depending on the desired effect and the characteristics of your bathroom or powder room.
So let’s see to the main options:
If the wall behind the countertop has no windows or other obstacles, you can make the mirror as wide as the wall. Depending on the layout, it will go over the toilet. The advantage is the feeling of expanding the room. The disadvantage is the higher price, because you have to tailor it and the material area is larger. For this option, it can be a flat, floating or cabinet mirror. The beveled and framed models are unnecessary and only diminish the feeling of enlargement, because they interrupt the reflection.
Or you can have a narrower mirror, as wide as the countertop, and leave the rest of the wall free or with shelves. In that case the mirror can be of any type.
You can also make the mirror narrower than the countertop, as a decorative element.
Also narrower than the countertop, here it was made as wide as the cabinet module where the sink is centered. A good option for when the mirror cannot occupy the entire width of the countertop because of a window or when you need space for shelves.
Bathroom mirror possible shapes: rectagular, square,round, oval…
Once the size, height and width have been decided, in some cases there are still format options to consider.
If you decided to cover the entire wall width, for example, of course the mirror will be rectangular.
But if you want to limit the mirror width, take a look at the format options and how each one impacts your decor.
Horizontal rectangular mirrors, the most common, can bring different types of effects, depending on the type and positioning, as we saw in the previous sections. Project by Loft 87.
Vertical rectangular mirrors reflect a good area, but don’t cover the entire wall, leaving room for other elements, such as lighting, cladding, paintings, windows, etc… If not centered on the sink, it has a cool, non traditional look.
The square format brings more emphasis to the mirror as a decorative element than the rectangular, as it has a defined shape instead of occupying the entire wall. The shape, symmetrical and organized, brings an aspect of order to the bathroom, and matches with other minimalist fixtures.
Round mirrors are a way to escape the obvious, highlight the mirror and enhance the wall covering behind it. They are specially interesting when combined with other original elements (as in this photo: copper vessel sink, pendant lamps and geometric wall and floor tiles).
Oval mirrors are another original choice, with the advantage of showing a larger body area then the round pieces.
In sporadically used bathrooms, when the priority is originality and a relaxed decoration instead of practicality, other mirror formats are welcome. A fun mirror will be ideal to combine with other original and decorative elements, as these square pieces were combined with the multicolored tiles.
So, have you decided the size, height and shape of your new bathroom mirror? I hope this guide has clarified the effects, pros and cons of all the options.
Don’t forget to take a look at the article on types of mirrors to learn the difference between flat, beveled, floating and framed mirrors.
