A Mirror by the Window: Keeping the Last of the Daylight

In Chibougamau, by early November, the sun gives up around four. In most of Canada and the northern US it isn't much better. A room that was warm with light at three can read as blue and tired by half past four. One of the quieter ways to push against that — quieter than more lamps, more candles, more layering — is to put a mirror where the light last lands.

The Idea

A mirror doesn't produce light. It only sends what reaches it back into the room. But in a season where every bit of daylight has to work twice as hard, that is enough. Position a mirror so that the window hits it directly, and you double the brightest surface in the room for as long as the sun is up. When the sun has gone, the mirror does nothing special — and that is also useful, because it steps out of the way and lets the lamps take over.

Finding the Right Wall

Walk through the room in late afternoon on a bright day and watch where the light lands on the floor. The wall opposite that square of light is where a mirror earns its keep. Hang it low enough that the reflected light bounces back across the room at waist height, which is where most of your sitting-level life happens. A mirror hung too high reflects the ceiling and nothing else.

Choose a frame that disappears. In a Nordic room, that usually means a thin dark frame, a pale wood frame, or no frame at all. Heavy ornate borders fight with the quietness of the rest of the scene. A plain round mirror and a plain rectangular one behave the same way for this purpose; pick whichever matches the geometry of the window across from it.

A Second Use

A mirror by the window also softens the darkest months because it lets you see through the room rather than at it. The eye travels from the window, across the floor, into the glass, and out again — the room gains a layer of depth that a wall of flat paint can't. In a small apartment, this is sometimes the difference between a room that feels like a room and a room that feels like a corridor.

Pair the mirror with one quiet light source nearby — a low ambient lamp works — so that in the hour between sunset and full lamp use, the mirror still has something to catch. The transition from day to evening becomes gradual rather than abrupt.

What Not to Put Opposite It

Avoid clutter in the mirror's line of sight. Whatever is behind you is also now in front of you. A styled shelf is fine; a stack of mail or a tangle of chargers is not. If the opposite wall is busy, think about simplifying it before you hang anything reflective. See our mirror collection for shapes that sit quietly in the room, and our home décor collection for the few pieces that belong beside one.

Warm regards,
Byhimself