Palace of Versailles Hall of Mirrors…….

I have always been fascinated with mirrors, no, not to gaze at myself but rather how they reflect light, give depth and, in my decorating, add dimension to a room.

When I was a little girl I would shop with my Mother when she was getting new outfits and I would sit on the floor fascinated with the infinity of the floor length mirrors in the dressing room.  I always wondered, and quite frankly still do, what was at the end of that endless expanse of mirror reflected over and over and….

Infinity mirrors….

Mirrors obviously reflect our own images (is what we see really how we look to others, a question that really has no answer!), add to the decor of a room, give us stories such as Alice Through the Looking Glass or Snow White and the wicked Queen with her magic “Mirror Mirror on the Wall”!

Alice entering the looking glass world.

 

The Evil Queen in Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Paintings throughout the ages have had many interpretations of subjects with mirrors

Berthe Morisot’s Woman At Her Toilette, 1895 in the Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Picasso’s Woman At The Mirror, 1932 in the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Obviously, none of these are in my collection…but here are a few that are…

The requisite mirror over the fireplace mantle. I purchased it at a long ago Arlington Park Antique Show for $100.00 to say the least, I was beyond thrilled! I like the way it reflects the room.

Several, not stellar photos (it is very difficult to photograph mirrors when you don’t want to be reflected in them!), of the layering of mirrors in my minuscule bathroom.

Probably the best shot of the group…here you can see how I hung an elaborate baroque carved wooden mirror, which was painted black before its new white coating, over the existing standard bathroom mirrors.  It is fastened above the chrome molding with piano wire. Each of the mirrors was in another color and for each I used a different shade of white paint, some I distressed others I painted in solid white.  Another, you see below is Venetian glass and others, I have acquired over the years were already in shades of white.  I feel they all give major depth to a very, very small space.

One of my older mirrors that was gilded, you can still see some of the gilt where I rubbed off the white paint.

A vintage find, probably from an old medicine chest, love the beveled mirror and how it is affixed to its frame,  from the Randolph Street Market several years ago, very reasonably priced, actually the one above it was also from RSM. http://www.randolphstreetmarket.com

Have I mentioned I also collection cherubs and angels…here a closeup of a metal cherub mirror that was almost black in color before I distressed it with white paint.

Behind the door mirrors and some of my white McCoy and Hall’s pottery collection, yet another post!!  The shell mirror was natural colored shells before the distressing took place!

The ultimate “mirror” Cloud Gate Anish Kapoor 2006 Millennium Park, Chicago.