Mirrors are one of the most powerful tools in any home. Placed well, they make a space bigger, brighter, and more alive. Placed poorly, they can create restless energy, disturb your sleep, or push away the good energy and vitality you want in your home. The approach I use is based in classical feng shui, where mirrors are viewed as the expression of the Water element: cool, reflective, calming, and constantly in motion.

Here is the best (and the worst) placement of mirrors in your home, room by room, to help you use them in ways that bring most joy and benefit.

The Main Entry Mirror

A mirror in the main entry is usually a good placement for several reasons: it brings more light into the often small entry, it works on a practical level to check your look before leaving home, and it can also add a touch of luxury, especially if the mirror frame is glamorous, golden and unique. Be mindful to avoid placing a mirror facing the front door; this is one of the worst mirror placements in any home. Why? Because it pushes back all the good energy before it even has a chance to enter your space.

A Mirror Facing A Staircase

Your hallway can benefit from mirrors just as much the main entry can, this applies to both big and small hallways. A good question to ask in any area of your home, but especially in a hallway, is: What will the mirror reflect if I place it here? The placement to avoid at all costs is a mirror facing the staircase because staircases carry busy energy, and you definitely do not want to double it by placing a mirror to reflect it. The same applies to a mirror facing a bathroom, a laundry room, or the garage door. Double the good energy, not the bad one.

Big Mirrors Facing Each Other

While a big mirror in any space looks appealing because it adds beauty, light, and a sense of spaciousness (especially if the mirror is beautifully framed), positioning mirrors to directly reflect each other is usually best to avoid. This placement creates a constant bouncing of energies similar to an active, chaotic movement; not something that is desired in a home. However, if you have a sleepy area where you want the activate the energy, this can be the placement of your choice. Just be clear and intentional; know what you are creating and why.

Mirrors in the Living Room

Your living room can benefit from a variety of mirror placements, even a generous and creative collection of them, if you choose wisely. A gallery wall of mirrors can look stunning and create excellent energy. If you go for this, be sure the mirrors are placed high enough that they work as reflectors of light, not as actual mirrors. You do not want anyone in your family (and especially the little ones) to see their reflections chopped and incomplete.

A Mirror Above the Fireplace

One of the most popular placement of mirrors is above the fireplace. A mirror here calms the fiery nature of the fireplace and brings tranquil, soothing energy to the space. This placement is especially good if your fireplace sits in a part of the home that needs more cooling, balancing energy.

Mirrors in the Dining Room

A mirror in the dining room is a traditional example of excellent use of mirrors, because they visually (and energetically) double the amount of food, inviting more abundance. It also creates more light in the space, especially if there is a nearby window, so this is always an excellent choice. Be sure to place the mirror so as to reflect the dining table, or to draw in fresh energy from the window view, rather than reflecting a door to the nearby bathroom, staircase or a closet.

Bathroom Mirrors

Mirrors here are obviously a necessity. Usually the bigger the mirror the better, as it will create a purifying and cleaning sort of action and a fresh reflection of the light around them. That is, if you keep your mirrors clean, of course.

A Mirror Above the Bed

A mirror above the bed is really not recommended. Apart from the practical sense of the possible danger of having a heavy item above your head while you sleep, mirrors constantly circulate energy. This is the sort of movement that is definitely best to avoid behind your back (or close to your head) when your body needs cocooning and resting at night. Mirrors carry cool, moving energy that works against the warm and restful quality a bedroom needs.

A Mirror Reflecting the Bed

Another undesirable placement of a mirror is in the bedroom, reflecting the bed. This is definitely a placement to avoid. A mirror facing your bed weakens your personal energy, the energy of your love relationship, and can trigger conflicts.

Mirrors in the Kitchen

Unless tiny and decorative, a mirror in the kitchen is usually not a very good idea. Mirrors bring the cooling energy of water and the kitchen is the domain of fiery warmth. However, use your best judgment if you have an open concept kitchen that seamlessly flows into the breakfast nook or the dining area, or if you have a really big, or a really small kitchen.

Mirrors in the Home Office

The worst positioning of a mirror in your home office (or in a child’s study) is behind your back while sitting at the desk. Other than that, you can use the same judgment in placing mirrors in your home office as you do in the living room: be mindful as to what the mirror reflects. You also do not want the mirror to face the office door directly as this will push away the incoming good energy and leave the space without energetic nourishment.

The worst ways to place a mirror:

• On the wall facing any door, especially the front door

• Facing the bed or above the bed

• Behind your back in the office

• Reflecting challenging energy (staircase, closet doors, bathroom doors, etc)

• Showing a chopped reflection of any family member, especially children.

The best ways to place a mirror:

• Reflecting light or an inspiring, beautiful view

• In the dining room, reflecting the table

• Above the fireplace

• Seeing yourself fully (the closet area is ideal for a full-length mirror).

Make sure your home has at least a couple of well-placed mirrors in spaces that can benefit from their refreshing energy. On an energetic level, mirrors also help communication flow better in the family, there is more clarity and space, and less conflicts and misunderstandings. Of course, mirrors have to be well placed, with as much intention as appreciation for their cooling beauty.