Bathroom mirrors buying guide
A bathroom mirror has to fit the wall, sit at the right height, suit the room, light the face if the room cannot, and survive steam. The practical call for most bathrooms is a mirror about three quarters the width of the vanity, centred on the eye line of the people who use it, with copper-free glass. Add LED light if the only light in the room comes from overhead. The sections below take each decision in turn, give the reason, and send you to the collection that holds the choice you land on. Searches for a bathroom mirror, an LED bathroom mirror or a backlit mirror all come back to these questions, so each is answered once.
What a bathroom mirror has to survive
A bathroom is wet for hours a day, and a mirror that is fine in a hallway can fail in a few years here. Bathrooms carry heavy moisture and steam, a regular mirror cannot cope with that humidity over time, and moisture can damage the frame, especially wood or metal framing. Bathroom mirror glass should also be tempered, so that it does not shatter into large pieces if broken.
How wide the mirror should be
Width is the first decision, and there is a rule to start from. If the mirror is not the same width as the vanity, make it 70 to 80 per cent as wide, so it looks smaller than the vanity without looking shrunken. When wall lights sit either side of the mirror, work to 60 to 70 per cent of the vanity width, divided between mirrors if you use more than one. A single wide mirror over a double vanity works, and so do two matching mirrors, one over each basin.
The range here runs from compact pill and arch mirrors about 450mm to 500mm wide up to wide rectangles of 1200mm, 1500mm and more. A narrow mirror suits a powder room or a single basin. A wide one suits a long vanity where two people stand side by side. If you want a mirror to span the full wall above a vanity and splashback, see wall mirrors.
Height and eye line
The mirror has to cover the eyes of everyone who uses it. A functional mirror should reach about 30 centimetres above and below the eye line of its users. Average eye level runs from 1600 to 1750mm and households vary, so measure the people who will stand there. Centre the mirror at eye level, usually 1.5 to 1.6m from the floor. Where the household includes a tall person and a short one, choose a mirror with enough height to cover both rather than raising the mount.
One mirror, two mirrors or wall to wall
Three layouts cover most bathrooms. One mirror is the simplest and works best centred on the basin. Two matching mirrors over a double vanity balance each other and give each user a mirror at their own basin, and a single wide mirror treats the vanity as one station. A wall-to-wall mirror, often reaching the ceiling, can make a compact bathroom feel larger. Wall lights beside the mirror light the face well, which is the reason the narrower 60 to 70 per cent width rule applies when sconces are in the plan.
Shape
Shape changes how a mirror sits against the room more than how it performs. Round mirrors suit pedestal basins and bathrooms with many hard surfaces, and they leave more empty wall at the corners than a rectangle does. Straight edges suit tiled walls and rectangular vanities, and pill and arch shapes sit between the two. Each shape has its own collection: round mirrors, oval mirrors, arched mirrors, pill shape mirrors, square mirrors and rectangular mirrors.
Frame or no frame
Frameless mirrors suit modern, minimalist rooms, ornate frames suit traditional ones, and a simple frame only a few centimetres wide suits nearly any space. Frames add a line around the glass and a colour that can echo the tapware. Frameless mirrors read as glass only and let the wall finish carry the room. Compare framed mirrors with frameless mirrors. For a warm, natural look, Ingrain timber framed mirrors show the timber option.
Plain glass or a lit mirror
A plain glass mirror needs light from elsewhere. If the bathroom already has good side lighting, a plain mirror is enough. If the only light is a ceiling downlight, it casts shadows across the face, which makes shaving, makeup and skincare harder. The design rule is simple: lighting beside the mirror at about face height suits grooming best, and a downlight sitting behind the person at the mirror throws shadows over the face. A lit mirror puts the missing side light into the glass.
Beyond light, lit mirrors bring controls and a demister. Touch sensors are the usual control here, and some ranges add stepless dimming or memory settings. Compare LED mirrors for the whole lit group, or go straight to the range you prefer from the brand section below.
Frontlit, backlit or both
Two terms cause most of the confusion in this category. A frontlit mirror sends light from the mirror face, or the front edge, toward the user. That light reaches the cheeks, jawline, eyes and neck more directly, and is usually stronger at reducing shadows on the face. A backlit mirror places the LEDs behind or around the glass so the light washes the wall behind the mirror. That light is indirect, because it reflects off the wall before it reaches the face. Some mirrors, known as double-lit, combine a frontlit task light with a backlit glow.
Each suits different rooms. Frontlit suits shaving, makeup, skincare and contact lenses, backlit suits evening routines and a spa or hotel feel, and frontlit or combined lighting suits a shared family bathroom. By room, choose backlit for a small or bright bathroom, frontlit for a dark or windowless one, and frontlit or combined for a large one. Backlit mirrors work best alongside good ceiling downlights, since backlight alone may leave the face underlit when a room has a single overhead fixture.
The call: if the mirror is the main light for grooming, choose frontlit or double-lit. If the room already has good lighting and you want atmosphere, choose backlit. Browse Ingrain frontlit mirrors with demister, Ingrain backlit mirrors with demister and Ingrain frontlit and backlit mirrors to see the three side by side.
Colour temperature and brightness
Colour temperature is measured in kelvin. Warm light sits near 3000K, neutral white near 4000K, and daylight at 5000 to 6500K. Adjustable colour temperature from 3000K to 6000K covers warm evening light through to cool daylight. We suggest 4000K for most of the room and 4000K or 5500 to 6500K at a mirror used for makeup. Several of the mirrors here have a fixed 6500K daylight setting, and the Otti ranges offer an adjustable choice of 6000K, 4000K and 3000K.
Power, wiring and who installs it
A lit mirror needs power, so read the installation line on the product page. Hardwired mirrors connect to the building's wiring, often concealed behind the glass. Plug-in mirrors come with a lead and need a power point within reach, and the Ingrain mirrors have a 1m lead. A number of these mirrors require hardwired installation by a licensed electrician. Others, including the Otti LED ranges, are plug-in, and a few come as plug-in or hardwired.
Fog and the demister
A lit mirror does not stay clear in a steamy room by itself. A demister is a heated pad fixed behind the glass that warms the surface so condensation does not form. Better models link the demister to the light switch or touch sensor, so it only runs when the mirror is in use. Many lit mirrors here include a demister, and the Otti mirrors have an anti-fog mirror instead. See mirror demisters for the group, and check the product page for how the demister switches on.
Magnifying, makeup and shaving mirrors
A wall mirror gives a true-size view, and some jobs need more. Magnifying mirrors add a 3x, 5x or higher view for brows and liner, and shaving mirrors are arm or wall mounted for close work at the vanity. If the lit mirror is mainly for grooming at the basin, makeup mirrors shows the lit wall mirrors with adjustable colour. For a mirror that shows the whole outfit rather than the face, see full length mirrors.
Choosing by range
The brand collections are grouped by maker, so each page shows one design language at a time. Ingrain mirrors include frontlit, backlit, timber framed and brushed gold options; the Ingrain LED mirrors page holds the lit group. Otti mirrors are metal framed or frameless LED mirrors. Radiant LED mirrors carry hardwired mirrors with demisters. Timberline mirrors and Marquis mirrors are framed mirrors in a range of widths, and Turner Hastings mirrors are framed and pivot styles. Thermogroup mirrors include polished and bevelled edge glass and heated mirrors. If you need a mirror quickly, in stock mirrors narrows the range.
Care and cleaning
Care is simple, and it protects the silvering. Clean the glass with a soft microfibre or lint-free cloth rinsed in warm water and wrung out well, then wipe gently with a soft dry cloth. Avoid glass cleaner, window cleaner and chemical agents, because they can damage the silver coating and leave brown marks. Wipe the surface rather than spraying it so that liquid does not run into the edges, and keep cleaner away from touch sensors. Switch the light off while cleaning.
Putting it together
A short route through the decisions, with the reason for each:
- Narrow wall or powder room: a compact portrait mirror, because the 70 to 80 per cent width rule leaves little room to spare.
- Long vanity or double basin: a wide horizontal mirror or two matching mirrors, centred over each basin.
- Only an overhead light: a frontlit or double-lit mirror, because it adds the side light a downlight lacks.
- Good lighting already and a wish for atmosphere: a backlit mirror, because it adds glow without competing with the room's lights.
- Steamy ensuite or coastal home: a demister, IP44 or better, and copper-free glass.
- No spare wiring: a plug-in mirror with a power point planned, or a hardwired one fitted by an electrician.
The final check is the same for every mirror: width against the vanity, height against the eye line, light against the room, and the installation line against your wiring.
