Distinctive Spaces

One of the best things you can do to open up and brighten your space and give the illusion that it is larger than it actually is, is through the use of mirrors.

There are a lot of tricks and techniques that can be tremendously helpful and a few things to keep in mind.

1. Use mirrors and artwork together

When I hang artwork, a general rule of thumb I follow is one large piece per wall. I don’t like to see multiple pieces of art on the same wall (unless it’s a grouping of smaller pieces) because I don’t want them competing for attention and taking away from each other. If I’m dealing with a long wall, I will hang one piece of art and one mirror. It provides some visual interest and contrast and lets each be their own focal point.

In this condo, I hung a painting over the sofa in the living area and a mirror in the dining area. This helps to define and separate the two spaces and the mirror makes the dining area seem larger.

In this dining room, the mirror actually looks like another piece of art as it reflects the image of the painting on the adjoining wall.

Notice that in both of these photos, the mirrors and the artwork are hung at the same height, 60″ to the centre from the floor.

2. Use mirrors in a narrow hallway to widen the space

3. Use mirrors to open up your space and reflect light

I use large mirrors over sofas (a personal favourite) to open up a space. It works especially well if the wall is adjoining some windows as the mirror will reflect the light and bring the outside in. In fact, depending on the positioning, the mirror can actually look like another window, which does wonders for making a room feel large and bright.

4. Use mirrors in dining rooms and kitchens.

Mirrors can be very helpful in a small narrow dining area or kitchen in opening up the room and adding interest.

Yes, mirrors are your best friend. They are inexpensive, come in many shapes and sizes and are a wonderful alternative or compliment to artwork.

We all either have children or used to be children, so we are all familiar with the inherent desire children seem to have to want to write and draw on walls.

It’s a babysitter’s worst nightmare…the children in your care somehow get a hold of an indelible marker and begin to create their masterpiece on the living room wall and you panic trying to find a way to clean it off before the parents arrive home.

Well, here’s a way to bring out your inner child and create unique and reuseable wall art at the same time.

You simply head out to your paint store or local Home Depot and pick up a can of Chalkboard paint, that’s right, chalkboard paint.

For about $25 you can turn  any 100 square foot wall into a chalkboard.

A chalkboard wall can be used in a kitchen to write messages, recipes or shopping lists or it can be used in any room as a blank canvas for you to create your own masterpiece.  Draw cartoons, doodle, anything that flows from your heart, then when you want a change, erase it and start over.

It’s another great way to create unique and personal art, right, literally, on your wall.

I am a HUGE believer in, whenever possible, creating your own artwork rather than buying art off the rack. I find it has more meaning to you and is a way of commemorating special moments in your life. It also creates a fantastic conversation point when guests come to visit.

Now, you don’t have to be particularily talented or artisically gifted. You just have to be a little creative.

Here’s an example of how you can take your old record albums and display them in a way that creates a wall of art. Choose albums that mean something to you. As Roger Hodgson of Supertramp fame says “music is the soundtrack to your life” so try to choose albums that have meaning to you.

Another option for displaying your albums is to head out to Michaels or Urban Outfitters and for about $12 each, you can buy 12 X 12 frames designed to hold record albums. Create a wall of them with 8, 10 or 12 depending on the size of the wall and arrange them in a square or rectangle.

If you’ve lost track of your old prized albums, there are tons of used music stores in the city that have an almost endless selection of old vintage albums and as all things eventually do, records albums are making a resurgence and a lot of retailers are starting to sell current artists in LP format in addition to CDs.

All of us have favourite artists and songs that when we hear them take us back to another time and place. Use that as an opporunity to personalize your walls and create one of a kind artwork that will bring a smile to your face everytime you enter the room.

Stay tuned for more ideas on how to create personalized art for your home……………

It amazes me sometimes what architects add when designing a space.

The bedroom in a recent project I completed at SOHO Metropolitan had a small nook on one wall about 5 inches deep. It was basically unuseable space with no real purpose.

To add some visual interest and provide purpose to the space, I painted the back wall of the nook red to match the accent wall and added some shelves to house paperbacks and decorative accessories.

The result is very, very cool.