This Mirror Trick Will Help Make Your Living Room Feel Brighter

Many of us wish we had living rooms filled with natural light courtesy of massive windows stretching along several walls, or light streaming in from nearby rooms in an open-concept design. However, that's not always the case; depending on your home's layout, your living room may be a lot darker than you would deem ideal. As Style by Emily Henderson highlights, there are many ways to make a dark room feel a little bit brighter, such as adding reflective accent pieces or strategically layering different types of lighting. That said, there's one game changing design feature that you definitely don't want to overlook — mirrors.

If you're only decorating with mirrors in areas of your home where you want to check out your reflection, you're missing out on just how transformative the simple décor element can be. Living Etc. explains that mirrors can strategically reflect light throughout a space, which can make a huge impact in a dark living room. As an added bonus, mirrors create an illusion of depth, so your living room won't just feel brighter — it'll feel a little bigger as well. Whether you want something small with an ornate frame or something super-sized with a sleek, modern shape, you can find mirrors in any size to fit any design aesthetic. There are definitely options out there that will fit perfectly in your particular space.

While you definitely want to select mirrors that match your aesthetic and fit well in your living room, there are other important aspects to keep in mind regarding positioning them in order to fully reap the power of their brightening benefits. Hollywood Mirrors flags the ideal positioning as right beside or in front of whatever natural light source you have in the living room. If you have multiple windows, you can pick which one your selected mirrors would look best near to or across from. If you have just one window, well, all the more reason to amplify that light however possible. This trick works to brighten the room because the natural light flowing in will be captured by the mirror and bounced throughout the space, creating a much brighter overall feel in your living room.

If you don't have any natural lighting in your living room, don't worry. This illusion works with other light sources as well, as Oka highlights. In that case, you'll want to place the mirror (or mirrors) near whatever light source is available, such as a lamp. It'll capture and disperse the light from an artificial source the same way it would with natural lighting. You might even consider adding an arched, paned mirror styled and shaped to look like a window in order to create the illusion of one in the space.

When choosing mirrors to help brighten your space and make it feel open and airy, there are two size directions to consider. As Sonoma Magazine outlines, if you have the room available, it's a great idea to go as tall and large as possible with your mirror selection. The more surface area it has, the better its ability to reflect light throughout your living room. Alternatively, if there's not really a great space to set up one massive mirror, you can try to capture some extra reflective square footage by incorporating several smaller mirrors. Selecting frames strategically will transform a few mirrors into a decorative focal point, adding an artistic touch to your living room, and the smaller mirrors will bounce light in different directions, helping to bring that brightness into the dark space.

For a small space where hanging multiple mirrors feels overwhelming, there's yet another alternative. As per House of Oak, mirrored furniture can have the same optical effect as do standard decorative mirrors. So, you may wish to consider placing a reflective piece of furniture near the room's best light source in order to brighten up the room. You definitely don't want to go overboard — endless mirrored furniture pieces and mirrors combined could give off a carnival funhouse vibe — but selecting one piece of mirrored furniture to pair with a smaller framed mirror can achieve a nice effect.