Your bedroom should be the ultimate haven of peace and comfort – and from all the elements that make it so, the most important one will always be the bed. This is why the bed is often the first piece of bedroom furniture chosen when moving to a new home, with the expectation that everything else will fit around it.
If you are like most people, said bed will be put directly against one of the bedroom walls. This often leaves a wall section just above it that looks perfect for an oversized mirror. But will this improve your bedroom’s overall feel?
Is a Mirror Above Your Bed a Good Idea?
Just like with all big décor dilemmas, there is no easy answer to this question. A mirror above your bed may look fantastic or terrible, depending on the room’s layout, the rest of the furniture, and the amount of light that you are comfortable with.
But will it fit in well with yours?
Pros of a Mirror Above Your Bed
Provided you are not looking to fill up space with whatever is on sale, mirrors can offer several advantages to your bedroom. These include:
They can make the room appear larger
Big, wide mirrors can create an illusion of a larger room. This can work especially well if this magic wall is the first one you see when you enter the room. So if you have a relatively small room, where the bed is directly across the door, a mirror may just fall in the perfect place.
They offer a practical purpose for a space that often goes unutilized
Unless you are really tiny (or under 12), the chances are that jumping or walking on top of your bed is not safe anymore. Because of this, the wall on top of our beds is rarely a good place for shelves or extra storage. A mirror, on the other hand, will serve a practical purpose.
They won’t produce any reflected light that may impair your sleep
If you are a light sleeper, your daytime moods will depend on a completely dark, quiet room. Because of this, many people steer clear from bedroom mirrors or try to hide them inside a walk-in closet: just a little ray of reflected light, once it falls on your eyes, maybe enough to interrupt any nap.
By placing the mirror directly on top of your bed, this will hardly ever happen – unless the sun and curtains are conspiring against you.
Cons of Placing a Mirror Above Your Bed
Despite the benefits we mentioned above, mirrors are not a failsafe choice. They don’t necessarily match every decoration style, plus they have a few disadvantages and hazards. These include:
It goes against Feng Shui
Feng Shui is a discipline that dates back thousands of years. Its practitioners believe that the way we arrange a room’s furnishings can affect the way energies flow through it. Even people who do not directly practice Chinese spirituality often prefer to respect the rules of Feng Shui, as it tends to create harmonious and elegant spaces.
Unfortunately, Feng Shui guidelines are not very keen on mirrors above beds. This can be especially true if the mirror will be facing a door directly or if the mirror ends up reflecting a corner of the bed.
It won’t let you see yourself fully
A mirror with a nice frame or an unusual shape may be a great esthetic accent, but mirrors can just as easily be utilitarian. If your main priority is to get a good canvas in which to perfect your street style, however, a mirror above the bed may not be for you.
Why? Simply put, you won’t be able to use it to get a full-body look at yourself. Even if your bed is very low, you will end up leaving out everything below the knee. So steer clear from this mirror placement unless you have another full-body mirror somewhere in the house, or you are willing to experiment with a very tilted frame. And this is where we run into the next issue.
It may be a hazard
Any mirror or hanging accent could potentially fall and break under the right circumstances. However, a mirror above your bed can be especially hazardous: first, it is likely to shatter after it falls, and it would fall on you when you are at your most vulnerable.
There are many good ways to safely secure a mirror to the wall. If you live in an earthquake-prone area, you may want to limit your experiments to very light, stick-on mirrors.
This Style Will Be Great for You If…
There are some situations in which a mirror above the bed will become an almost unequivocal choice. They will either just match the style perfectly or will correct other major room flaws. These include:
- Rooms decorated in a 1920s style, where silver details and accents dominate
- If your bed has a large, solid headboard, but the ceiling is low, a mirror will help the room feel airier
- If you have very appealing art on the opposite wall, a mirror will allow you to admire it from additional vantage points
- If you have blackout curtains, a mirror will help the bedroom remain luminous even during the winter
Still unconvinced? If you dread the prospect of leaving a blank space above you, there are many alternatives to a mirror. A minimalist shelf can give you some extra room for knickknacks or other items. You can also set up a large painting or a small portrait gallery, with framed photographs of people close to your heart. If you want to play it safe, or can’t drill the wall, you can also try with a textured mandala, tapestry, or an exotic ethnic textile.
At the end of the day, there is no right way to approach bedroom décor. This room is meant to be your sanctuary, so it should privilege your comfort above everyone else’s. A mirror above the bed can help the room feel more like you, but only if that’s what you really like.
