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Is there any kind of 'rule of thumb' regarding the size of elements over a fireplace mantel.

The reason I ask is that the apartment we rented for a year had a small fireplace and I got a great round mirror for it. Our new house has a considerabely larger fireplace mantel and I can't decide if the same mirror will be too small. If the scale is off. My husband thinks it is fine.

thanks
margaret

Scale is important. If the round mirror seems too small for the newer, larger fireplace you might still use it if you flank it w/ wall sconces or create a mirror gallery there.

Another issue re. a mirror hung over a fireplace addresses what it's reflecting. Often it's reflecting a blank ceiling. Some advise to tilt it slightly downward to reflect something worth repeating. A web pg. suggests the following alternative too:

If you want to hang a mirror over your mantle, then think about putting a vase with a huge bouquet of flowers in front of the mirror. This gives you the reflection of the vase and flowers instead of a blank ceiling. Greenery also works well as do statues or anything else where the back and front are both attractive.


Back to scale, the mirror should not be so large as to overpower the fireplace. It should also not be hung so high as to be disconnected to it.
An inexpensive way to visually enlarge your round mirror is to add a square picture frame molding so many inches beyond the mirror frame. Paint the field of wall behind it a contrasting color to your wall color (a darker value perhaps) and the molding white. This will create the illusion of a frame inside a frame. This alternative assumes the wall above the fireplace is flat vs. stone, brick or tile and that the room's molding is white however.

The advice re. the size of the mirror (or art) when hung over a lg. pc. of furniture such as a sofa, pretty much applies to hanging one over a fireplace. It's often advised that the mirror or art should be 2/3 the width of the object beneath it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Froo Froo,