I recently visited a home where the occupant had framed mirrors on virtually every wall in her home. Admittedly, this is unusual. Her justification for this was that she thought it made her space look bigger. The reality of her surroundings is that she had way too much furniture, clutter and knick-knacks which were the real culprits in shrinking the perceived size of her space. As well, she kept her windows partly covered with drapes or blinds, thus making her space look darker and that also makes a space look smaller. In essence, she was defeating her own purpose.

In general, mirrors are not necessary at all in order to create good feng shui in a home. Popular, misleading books indicate that mirrors have magical powers and can make flawed design features "disappear." The only really safe place for a mirror is in a bathroom. As well, it is usually harmless to have mirrors in a living room because mirrors do have the ability to stir up the chi in a room. This is fine for a living room where you are usually not sleeping or needing to concentrate.

Mirrors have a potential to cause sleep disturbances, so they should be avoided in a bedroom. This is the most popular place to find a mirror, because of convenient proximity to our dressing habits. If you have big, mirrored closet doors in your bedroom and can sleep through a light earthquake, then you may not need to do anything about the mirrors. But I have found that most clients who go to the trouble of covering or removing the mirrors in their bedroom will report back a tangible improvement in the quality of their sleep or a reduction in the tension between them and their sleeping partner.

Mirrors used to be made of polished brass or bronze, so they were initially used as a metal remedy in the "olden days." Nowadays, people over-use them because they have heard through the feng shui grapevine that they posses some kind of inherent value.

Most of the time, I only recommend that a wall be mirrored when there is a constrictive entrance that needs to feel bigger than it is. This just makes the occupants feel more comfortable when entering a tight space.

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