Mirror spots: three ways to build them
Palo Alto already has two mirrors: one in the study room, one in the back hallway on the way to the restrooms. Each one needs three small things: a light that is kind to a face, the name on the glass, and somewhere to set the cup down. Below are three ways to do that, with the sizes to build to. Pick a letter and Garrett can order the parts the same day.
What the spot has to do
Four things, from the mirror brief agreed on Sept 15.
- The reflection has to hold three things at once: the person, the cup, and the name. Drop any one of them and the photo does nothing for us.
- Light has to land on the face, not on the glass. A lamp aimed at a mirror photographs as a white blob.
- The hallway is a walkway. Nothing may stand more than 110 mm out from the wall, and someone taking a photo must not block the way to the restroom.
- Nothing ugly in the reflection: no bin, no mop, no cleaning trolley in the part of the room the mirror can see.
Garrett owns both mirrors and the date is Sept 30.
A warning about the sizes
Every number on this page is written for a mirror 600 mm wide and 900 mm tall whose bottom edge sits 1100 mm off the floor, because that is a common size and nobody has measured the real ones. Garrett measures first. Then the shelf height stays as it is, the decal stays 40 mm in from the corner, and everything else moves to fit.
Option A A clip-on bar light
It needs no electrician and no cable, just three screw holes. Garrett can finish this one on his own.
| Light | A rechargeable LED picture bar, about 400 mm long, matte black, clipped over the top edge of the mirror frame. Warm white, 3000 K, colour rendering 90 or better. Tip the head down about 20° so the light lands on a face and not on the glass. It charges over USB-C and runs for weeks. |
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| Name on the glass | The same in all three: 200 × 46 mm cut vinyl in Sage Deep, 40 mm in from the left edge of the glass and 40 mm up from the bottom edge. Details further down. |
| Somewhere for the cup | A white-oak picture ledge, 600 × 100 mm with a 12 mm front lip, top face 1000 mm off the floor, centred under the mirror. In the hallway the same ledge drops to 300 × 90 mm and may not stand out more than 100 mm from the wall. |
- Cheapest of the three, and nothing has to be wired.
- Lights a face properly, which is the whole job.
- If we get the position wrong, it is three holes to fill.
- Somebody has to remember to charge it.
- A clip-on light gets knocked crooked; check it on the daily walk-round.
- A black bar sits in shot whenever anyone photographs the mirror head-on.
What to buy for option A
- Rechargeable LED picture bar, 400 mm, warm white (2)
- White-oak ledge: 600 × 100 mm for the study room, 300 × 90 mm for the hallway (1 each)
- Cut vinyl decal, 200 × 46 mm, Sage Deep matte, from a sign shop (2)
- Drywall anchors and screws, a small spirit level, alcohol wipes and a squeegee
No prices here on purpose. Whoever builds the cart puts the real price and the real link next to each line, and Jack sees the total before anything is ordered.
Option B Two sconces
The best light on a face, and the only one that needs an electrician.
| Light | A pair of small wall sconces with opal glass, centres 1550 mm off the floor and 150 mm clear of each side of the glass. Warm white, roughly 350 lumens each. Light from both sides fills in the shadow under the chin and never flares on the glass. Either wire them in or buy the plug-in version and run the cord down a paintable channel. |
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| Name on the glass | The same in all three: 200 × 46 mm cut vinyl in Sage Deep, 40 mm in from the left edge of the glass and 40 mm up from the bottom edge. Details further down. |
| Somewhere for the cup | A 250 mm white-oak cube, open front, bottom edge 1000 mm off the floor, fixed beside the mirror. In the hallway a cube sticks out too far, so use option A's 300 mm ledge there instead. |
- The best light on a face of the three, by a distance.
- Nothing to charge and nothing to remember.
- Reads as part of the room rather than something taped on.
- Costs the most, and half a day of an electrician's time.
- The plug-in version saves the electrician but leaves a visible cord.
- Four fixings and a junction box: the hardest one to undo.
What to buy for option B
- Small wall sconce, opal glass, warm white (4, two per mirror)
- An electrician for about half a day, or plug-in sconces plus a paintable cord channel
- White-oak cube shelf, 250 mm, for the study room (1). The hallway takes option A's 300 × 90 mm ledge.
- Cut vinyl decal, 200 × 46 mm, Sage Deep matte, from a sign shop (2)
No prices here on purpose. Whoever builds the cart puts the real price and the real link next to each line, and Jack sees the total before anything is ordered.
Option C A glow behind the glass
The prettiest of the three, and the one that does not light a face.
| Light | A warm LED strip stuck to the back of the mirror on a 5 mm standoff, so it washes the wall behind instead of shining into the room. It plugs into the nearest outlet and the cord runs down a paintable channel. |
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| Name on the glass | The same in all three: 200 × 46 mm cut vinyl in Sage Deep, 40 mm in from the left edge of the glass and 40 mm up from the bottom edge. Details further down. |
| Somewhere for the cup | In the study room, nothing goes on the wall: a 200 mm round oak tray sits on the study desk that is already there. In the hallway there is no desk, so it needs option A's 300 mm ledge. |
- Nothing stands out from the wall, which is what the hallway wants.
- The cheapest parts, and the tray is not fixed to anything.
- Photographs beautifully as an object.
- It is mood light. It will not light the face of the person standing in front of it.
- It only works in the study room, where daylight already does that job. The hallway needs a small downlight on top of it.
- It needs an outlet within reach, and the strip is glued on and comes off badly.
What to buy for option C
- Warm-white LED strip with a diffuser and a plug adapter (2)
- Paintable cord channel (2)
- Round oak tray, 200 mm, for the study desk (1). The hallway takes option A's 300 × 90 mm ledge.
- Cut vinyl decal, 200 × 46 mm, Sage Deep matte, from a sign shop (2)
No prices here on purpose. Whoever builds the cart puts the real price and the real link next to each line, and Jack sees the total before anything is ordered.
The name on the glass
Identical in all three options, so this part can be ordered before the letter is picked.
Why sage and not frosted white
Both mirrors face a bright wall, so they reflect a pale grey most of the day. Frosted white, the obvious choice for glass, sinks into that and all but disappears. Sage Deep #4F5C44 holds up in the same light. Keep white in reserve for a mirror that faces something dark.
Where it goes
Bottom left of the glass, 40 mm in from the left edge and 40 mm up from the bottom edge. Low enough that it never lands on anyone's face, high enough that it is still in shot when the phone comes up.
One thing to settle before the sign shop cuts
The design book asks for KingHwa Old Song and Ana's Rusty Typewriter. We do not have either font file, so the drawing above uses Old Standard TT and Special Elite as stand-ins. They are close, but they are not the same letters. Jack sends the two real files, or we buy them, before anything is cut.
Before Garrett drills
Three photos, about ten minutes on a phone, and this page stops guessing.
- Each mirror straight on, with a tape measure lying along the bottom edge so we get the real width and height.
- The wall around each mirror, wide enough to show the floor, the skirting and what sits on either side.
- The nearest power outlet to each mirror, with the tape measure in shot so we know how far the cord has to travel. This is what decides whether option B or C is even possible.
Send them to the same place as the rest of the reshoot list. With those in hand the mockups get redone on the real walls, and the sizes below become measurements instead of assumptions.
Pick a letter
AClip-on bar light, oak ledge. No electrician. This is the recommendation: the only one Garrett can finish on his own before Sept 30, and it lights a face.
BTwo sconces, oak cube. The best photos of the three, if there is budget and an electrician.
CGlow behind the glass, tray on the desk. The best-looking, but it does not light a face, so only for the study room and only alongside something else.
Mixing is fine: A in the hallway and B in the study room is a sensible answer. Reply with a letter, or a letter per mirror.
Tap any picture to see it large. Nothing on this page has been bought, drilled or ordered.