Many underestimate the importance of selecting the right size for your bathroom mirror, especially when trying to create a perfect proportion with your vanity. A balanced, well-proportioned vanity and mirror pair act as the bathroom’s centerpiece, creating cohesion and tying the room together.
This guide to choosing the perfect size for your vanity mirror will provide all the guidance you need to build the bathroom of your dreams.
Can Your Bathroom Mirror Be Bigger Than Your Vanity?
As a general rule, the mirror should never be larger than the vanity. The rule of thumb is to measure the width of your countertop and purchase a mirror that’s at least several centimetres narrower, with the exact measures depending on factors such as the type of mirror, frame, mirror height, or room lighting.
Wall-to-wall mirrors are a notable exception to the rule — a somewhat unorthodox solution that is guaranteed to make a small, compact bathroom appear twice its size. Still, it doesn’t work for every bathroom and type of bathroom furniture, apart from usually being quite expensive.
Bathroom Mirror Sizing: Steps for Selecting the Ideal Size
The vanity is the focal point of your bathroom and is typically one of its most visually striking features. Even when making wholesale changes to a bathroom, many people leave the vanity intact for this very reason. It’s usually the other bathroom furnishings that are chosen to fit the vanity as well as possible.
On the other hand, installing new mirrors is one of the most common upgrades made to a bathroom. They’re prone to rusting and decaying, and replacing them is an easy way to add some dramatically new flair to a bathroom with minimal effort. Many style options are available at your disposal, depending on the overall aesthetic you’re going for.
Still, before committing to an exact style, the most important step is determining the right dimensions to make it fit perfectly with your bathroom vanity. This is especially tricky if you have a particularly large, wide vanity, or want to install two or more mirrors.
These instructions will help you find the right mirror size for your bathroom, no matter the size and design of your vanity counter.
Step 1: Measure Vanity Dimensions
First, you must know the length, width, depth, and height of your vanity. All you need is a flexible measuring tape, and potentially a second person to help you pull the tape across the vanity.
Step 2: Mark Down the Countertop Width
All vanity dimensions will be of help if you want to finetune your mirror proportions, but the most important one is determining the width of the counter. The most important criterion is having your bathroom mirror be several centimetres narrower than the counter, so mark the exact number down.
Step 3: Choose the Right Size Bathroom Mirror
Now, it's just a matter of finding the correct size. Here's a table of recommendations for bathroom vanity mirror sizing depending on the counter width.
|
Bathroom Countertop Width |
Bathroom Mirror Width |
|
60 cm |
55 - 58 cm |
|
75 cm |
70 - 73 cm |
|
90 cm |
85 - 88 cm |
|
105 cm |
100 - 103 cm |
|
120 cm |
105 - 118 cm |
|
180 cm |
175 - 178 cm |
Having the mirror always be at least 2-5 cm narrower than the counter width ensures that the mirror-vanity combo always looks balanced, no matter which mirror style and height you opt for.
You have a lot more design freedom when choosing how tall your mirror is, although taller is generally better as it provides more viewing angles and a more open view of the room’s reflection. If possible, try to ensure that the top edge of the mirror is at least two metres high, while the bottom edge reaches 120 cm above the floor or lower.
Considerations for Double Mirrors
Perhaps you want to add double mirrors to match your wide bathroom vanity. You can still rely on the steps above to deduce the optimal size of your mirror.
Measure the vanity’s width, and then purchase double mirrors that are each at least 2-5 cm shorter than the vanity’s total width divided in half.
A pair of taller mirrors is an excellent option to combine with a double vanity counter since it balances out the vanity’s wide proportions. The taller the mirrors, however, the more space should be left between them, also leaving an opportunity to mount a wall light in between.
Choosing the Right Type of Bathroom Mirror: All the Styles at Your Disposal
Although every type of bathroom mirror should be smaller than the width of the vanity as a fairly hard design rule, you otherwise have complete design freedom regarding the way you want to combine bathroom mirrors with your vanity. It’s still a decision you must weigh carefully, as certain mirror styles complement certain layouts and features better than others.
Here are the types of vanity mirrors you might consider for your bathroom.
Rectangular Mirrors
The crisp angles created by a rectangular mirror make it a classic choice for any bathroom. A popular choice for most medicine cabinets, rectangular mirrors can be simple or more ornate with etchings and illumination.
Taller, narrower rectangular mirrors are among your best choices for high ceilings. The mirrors are thin enough to bring attention to your ceiling height without overwhelming the room. A set of stately double mirrors would be an especially striking choice for this style.
Backlit LED Mirrors
Apart from looking incredibly striking and visually impressive, a backlit LED mirror casts no shadows, allowing you to see your face more fully and evenly and making it perfect for shaving or makeup. These mirrors are available in any style imaginable, used either as double mirrors or as a single mirror, and can both accentuate high ceilings and fit into smaller spaces.
Complementary to pedestal sinks and modern vanity styles, these mirrors will add a unique, futuristic touch to your bathroom. They’re utilitarian, too — as the backlight keeps the bathroom illuminated, you can navigate to your bathroom sink in the middle of the night without tripping over something in the room or stubbing your toe on the vanity.
LED lighting can illuminate your bathroom for thousands of hours, sometimes working for up to 20 years.
Circular Mirrors
A round mirror is a more unconventional choice, making it an appealing option for smaller bathrooms in particular. The eye-catching shape of the mirror, which can either be a perfect circle or a longer oval, is another excellent way of adding character to your bathroom.
If you're worried about this mirror style being overwhelmed by a taller ceiling, you can always get a circular mirror on a hanging rod.
Venetian Mirrors
One of the most beautiful, classic mirror styles available on the market is the Venetian. If you want to turn your mirror into your bathroom's focal point, these ornate mirrors are the perfect way to attract anyone’s attention. Depending on the design and shape, they may have crisp angles or soft, circular styles.
In most cases, it's the mirror frames that drive up the visual interest. The frames are hand-carved with the finest, most complex details, including ribbons, frills, and small figurines. They make for an ideal combination with similarly designed, ornate vanity counters, as well as classic wooden or marble ones.
Frameless Mirrors
Modern and appealing, frameless mirrors are a great option for a narrow bathroom. They increase the perception of size, so your bathroom will feel larger and more spacious. They're a great complement to a minimalist design and other contemporary styles.
Tips on Choosing the Right Height for the Bathroom Mirror
You're ready to choose a mirror, but the next question is: what is the correct hanging height?
The center of the mirror should be always placed at a person's eye level, with at least 30 cm left above and beyond the eye line. There’s no universal answer to this, and the mirror’s height should be adjusted according to your and your household members’ height. The average adult person is around 170 cm tall, which provides a starting point for configuring the right height.
You should consider that the mirror’s height will be much shorter if installing a mirror above a kids' vanity if they have a separate bathroom. Keeping their fast growth in mind, too, you might have to reconfigure the mirror’s hanging height in a child's bathroom several times over a year.
Do It Yourself or Hire Professionals: Which Option Is the Best for Hanging Your Mirror?
Are you the type of person who loves a good DIY project? If so, then you might be tempted to carve out a workspace around your sink and quickly install the vanity mirror you selected yourself.
Doing this job yourself has both advantages and disadvantages compared to hiring professionals to do it instead.
Most importantly, tackling the job yourself means that you can control costs.
Most bathroom mirror projects aren't expensive, but the prices can creep up once you add lighting or select an unconventional shape. If you have other projects in mind for the bathroom, such as new floor tiles, you might want to reduce unnecessary expenses as much as possible.
However, positioning the mirror at eye level, choosing the correct mirror shape and size for your space, and securing the mirror so it doesn't crash-land on your sink (and risk potentially breaking the sink too) can all be complex.
Professional installation ensures that the job is well done the first time around. The team responsible for installing the mirrors will have worked in many bathrooms with all sorts of configurations, such as a narrow wall, little floor space, or a taller ceiling. They can also recommend an appropriate mirror size based on your available space and the size of the vanity.
They will know how and where to hang the mirror so it brings out the best of your bathroom, all while using reliable mounting techniques. A professional service will make you feel confident that your mirror size, shape, and security are all chosen and taken care of in the best way possible.
Wrapping Up
Choosing the right bathroom mirror may seem like a no-brainer, but we’ve seen that many factors should be taken into account when combining a new mirror with your bathroom vanity, including the dimensions, overall proportion, ideal hanging height, and more.
Now that you’ve armed yourself with theory, the next step is putting it into action. If you’re looking for the perfect mirror to use in your bathroom, check out our catalogue of bathroom mirrors and find your ideal option immediately today!
