Why does a large mirror make a room larger?
A large mirror makes a room look larger because it creates an illusion of depth. It tricks the eye into thinking there is more space than there really is. The optical illusion occurs as the mirror reflects light and color across the room. Our eyes perceive the bouncing reflections as increased volume, making the room look bigger.
So I decided to make a mirror tile wall.
I picked the wall that faced my board & batten accent wall. It's the wall that connects my living room and dining room and I wanted it to give an optical illusion that it looks a lot wider than it really is.
First, I took down the floating shelves that I used to have on that wall. Then I spackled all the holes left from the nails that held the shelves.
I sanded and painted the whole side of the wall where I will be installing my mirror tile wall . I wanted it to look really bright so I settled for a regular white Benjamin Moore regular semi-gloss paint.
I ordered 12" x 12" mirror tiles from Ikea which came 4 in a pack for $9.99. Each pack came with two-sided adhesive tapes . To make the mirror stick better I bought 3M double sided tape and cut (1) inch tapes and stuck them to the back of the mirror before adhering them to the wall. This way even if the summertime brings moisture to the wall it wouldn't be a problem.
I wanted 4 mirror tiles horizontally and 6 vertically which I separated with the use of wooden dowels that I picked up from the Dollar Tree.
I painted the wooden dowels using black acrylic paint from Michael's. I let them dry and did a second coat.
I used nail glue to put the painted towels in between the mirror tiles. I held each dowel for a few seconds to make sure that they're completely adhered & secured on the wall before I put the next one.
I had left over MDF primes from my first board & batten wall so I used them to frame the mirror tiles. This would make everything look like it's one piece. I measured how much I needed for each side, spray painted them black, used nail glue to adhere them to the wall and caulked to make everything look cohesive.
Would you try doing this yourself? It's fun and easy and gives you an illusion that you have so much space than you really do.
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