Bathroom Mirrors

Choosing a bathroom mirror

The bathroom mirror is the one you use every day and the one that has to cope with steam, so it is worth getting three things right: the size against the vanity unit, whether it lights your face, and what happens when the room fills with steam.

Size and height

Keep the mirror to 70 to 90 per cent of the width of the vanity unit below it and leave 15 to 25 cm between the top of the unit and the bottom of the glass. Centre it on the basin rather than on the wall – the two are rarely aligned. Over a double unit, either one wide mirror or two smaller ones centred on each basin will work; what does not work is a single mirror centred between two basins, because neither person ends up in front of it.

With lights or without

An LED mirror lights your face from the edge of the glass, from both sides at once, which is the direction that avoids shadows under the eyes and chin. It also replaces a separate fitting above the mirror and the cable that feeds it. For make-up, choose neutral (4500 K on Basic LED, 4000 K on Power and Philips) or cool white 6500 K with CRI 90+ – never warm white, which shifts skin tones. If there is already a good light above the mirror, a plain frameless mirror will do the job perfectly well.

Steam, heating and what we do not make

Heating is a heated pad behind the centre of the glass that keeps the surface warmer than the air, so condensation does not form. The centre clears in about two minutes and the whole surface in about five, which is why it is best switched on before you shower rather than after. Three things worth saying plainly. Our mirrors do not include a shaver socket, and they are not battery-powered – LED mirrors run on 230 V, and most Irish bathrooms already have a lighting point above or beside the mirror that an electrician can work from. We also do not make mirrored cabinets; a glass shelf from 40 to 170 cm wide is available as an add-on if you need somewhere to put things.

Shape

Round mirrors with LED lighting soften a room of straight lines and light the face evenly all round. Rectangular and square mirrors use the full width of a unit. Arch mirrors sit well above a basin, with a flat base that lines up with the unit and a curved top that does not. An oval bathroom mirror is the softest option of all, and although we do not stock ovals as a ready-made range, we cut unlit mirrors in oval and irregular shapes to size in the configurator. If none of the standard LED sizes is right, enter your exact size on the product page for your chosen LED mirror. For a mirror without lighting, the cut-to-size configurator accepts dimensions to the millimetre.

Bluetooth, a clock and a smart screen

An LED mirror is the one surface in a bathroom you look at every morning, which is why the add-ons live there. A Bluetooth speaker sits behind the glass and pairs with your phone at up to 10 metres, so it works from anywhere in the room and keeps playing while the light is on. A digital clock shows through the mirror surface, and the Google TV SmartScreen turns a corner of the glass into a screen. All of it is hidden behind the mirror, so nothing changes on the outside.

Finishes and frames

Frameless is standard and keeps a small bathroom calm. If you want the mirror to pick up your taps and handles, an anodised aluminium frame in matt black or champagne gold ties a rectangular or round mirror to brassware, and a black frame is the usual pairing with a dark shower enclosure. We make and deliver every mirror to order and deliver free of charge nationwide, Dublin, Cork and Galway included.