Vote for MIrrorMate to Win an Interior Design Best of Year Award!

MirrorMate is thrilled to be up for Interior Design Magazine's Best of Year: Product Design award!  The winners will be selected by industry professionals, so if you're a designer, architect or in commercial facilities management, your vote can help us win! Visit Best of the Year Awards today to vote! Thanks in advance for your support!

New styles for fall

MirrorMate has added even more new styles to the collection, including Chelsea in Pewter Bronze and the Casco Bay line that combines wood tones with metallics.  Best of all, these new styles as well as those that debuted this summer - Providence, Cherokee Slim & Bellemeade - are on sale through October 21! 

Winners Announced in the 2010 MirorMate Makeover Contest!

Earlier this summer we asked..."Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" And today, after 66 mirror makeover entries showcasing some amazing before and after photos, we're so pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 MirrorMate "Rate My Makeover & Win" Contest.  Amazingly, two makeover from Texas took home top prize, one for the consumer category and the other for the professional category - and both used the Tribeca frame in Burnished Brown! You can see those makeovers, as well as the second and third prize winners below.  In addition to cash prizes, the makeovers are also featured on MirrorMate's homepage!

Congratulations to all the winners!  You can read more about the Grand Prize makeovers here.  Thank you to all who participated - we love seeing all those bare mirrors become oh-so beautiful! If you'd like to see some of the other entries and makeovers as well visit the MirrorMate Forum where the entries were submitted. Enjoy!

 

Color Trends 2010

The Color Marketing Group (CMG) recently gathered to discuss color trends for 2010. Larson-Juhl, maker of high-end framing materials used by professional framers, including MirrorMate, participated in the CMG meeting.  Their North American Color Marketing Group representative, Sherran Arthur shared some interesting insights on color coming out of the meeting: 

• There are two major influences to the 2010 color palette.  The first being environment, and the second, economy.  
• "Coastal-inspired colors are incorporated to respect the environment and bring a bit of the outdoors in."
• "Happy colors are incorporated to move out of a downward economy"

Particularly of note with regard to the increasing popularity of gold tones in framing, "gold is influencing metallics as cool metals are slightly touched by yellow.  White nickel and toned down subtle gold reflect elegance."

Sherran also notes the following shifts in colors:

- Reds: Shifting to a truer red with blue influences

- Oranges:   More organic, cross cultural, global infusion

- Yellows:  Moving to lighter sunny tones with a hint of natural green, very happy

- Greens:  Fresher, regenerated, evoking a sense of renewal; Think Earth

- Blues:  Calming blue tones, inspired by the sky and sea

- Purples: Ranging from orchid to deep eggplant 

- Browns:  Nature inspired hybrid neutrals; chameleon tones

Golden Rules

Kitchen & Bath Business today featured an article, "A Warm Front in the Bathroom," on the increasing popularity of gold, brass and bronze finishes.  They note the trend, particularly for oil-rubbed bronze, in everything from faucets to sinks.  We wanted to share some frame options that can complete the look.  The new Bellemeade frame in Champagne has a golden hue, while there's the traditional Old World Gold in Permaquid Slim and Permaquid, and Antique Gold in the Naples style.  And for bronze, try the Bronze Wave in the Venetian style or the Grandezza frame in Bronze.  They're all styles that will add warmth to the bath.

Pemaquid in Old World Gold

MirrorMate Featured on Canada's City Line Talk Show

Designer Jackie Glass of J. Glass & Associates in Ontario is a regular on Canada's national talk show, City Line. She's also a fan of MirrorMate. On Thursday, she took viewers through a demo of how a MirrorMate frame is assembled and some of the range of finishes for the frames. The entire show is online for viewing and featured home improvement ideas throughout - so it is fun to watch. The MirrorMate segment is about 25 minutes in too if you want to skip right through! Enjoy! http://video.citytv.com/video/detail/260879096001.000000/CityLine-July-29-2010-Home-Day/

MirrorMate's New Styles: Providence, Cherokee Slim & Bellemeade

MirrorMate has added eight new frame options to the line.  There are now more than 45 styles to choose from, ensuring there is a frame for every style and decor!   

The Providence frame is a traditional style full of detail, including beading, ribbing and the ever-classic egg and dart pattern.  This frame is available in both bronze and silver.

The Cherokee Slim line adds four rich finishes for deliciously different looks, including nougat, dark chocolate, licorice and cherry chocolate. These looks are simple and can go from modern in the dark, and currently offered chrome styles, to downright beachy in the vanilla nougat color. These styles are value-priced, too.

Finally, the Bellemeade line now features a new design with bead and scroll edges in either champagne or cherry finishes, for a rich look in a classic frame.  Silver will also be coming soon in this ever-popular line.  

We’re seeing growing interest from customers in slimmer, simpler styles.  Cherokee Slim has widths of just two inches and are an excellent choice for the commercial sector, including hotels and condos.

Metallic and rich wood finishes are also extremely popular. We’re adding more metallic options with the Providence line and deep, warm tones with Bellemeade and Cherokee Slim.  

And coming this fall...Casco Bay. More info to come!

"Say Goodby to the '90s"

A great new high-gloss, heavy stock, home remodeling magazine for Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and the South Coast of Massachusetts called "home remodeling," included MirrorMate in the "Just In" section of their Summer 2010 issue.  If you can get a copy, I promise you'll LOVE perusing all the pretty photos and info on New England home remodels.  Who knew an outdoor shower could be so pretty!  In the meantime, here's the MirrorMate snip it from page 14 of the issue...

Infarrantly Creative Gets Creative with a MirrorMate Makeover

Beckie at Infarrantly Creative recently made over her bare bathroom mirror with a MirrorMate frame in Venetian Silver Wave and shared it on her blog at http://infarrantlycreative.blogspot.com/2010/06/mirrormate-frame.html

You can see a quick preview of the beautiful end result below - but don't miss all the details on just how she did it at Infarrantly Creative! Great work Beckie!

An Inch of Gray Blog Bathroom Makeover

An Inch of Gray completed her bathroom makeover with a MirrorMate frame in Acadia White. Lisa helped to select the frame featured in the makeover.  Check out the before and after images, courtesy of an Inch of Gray, and for the full makeover visit http://aninchofgray.blogspot.com/2010/05/you-complete-me.html

Reinvented blog reinvents her MirrorMate frame...

There are a lot of MirrorMate makeovers happening in the blogosphere lately and we love it! Our friend Kimm at Reinvented just reinvented her bare bathroom mirror with a MirrorMate frame in the Pemaquid style in Porcelean White. Here's a sneak peek below and you can see the whole step-by-step process on her blog. Great job Kimm!

Under the Table and Dreaming Blog's MirrorMate Transformation

Blogger Stephanie Lynn recently showcased her addition of a MirrorMate frame to the bare mirror in her son's bathroom in her blog "Under the Table and Dreaming."  It was the start of a bathroom makeover project which she'll continue to showcase in the coming weeks - and what a great start it was! Click here to see the step-by-step transformation in her blog posting.  Stephanie Lynn used Pemaquid in Porcelain White to frame the mirror in the before and after seen below (photos courtesy of the Under the Table and Dreaming blog).

'Tis the Season for Decorating

We're just coming off the heels of National Decorating Month, and isn't it true? The spring just makes you feel like sprucing things up! Take off those extra blankets, dark bedding and heavy drapes.  Open the doors and windows and place some fresh flowers at the table. The extra day light and warmer temperatures inspire us to finish up those projects we've been meaning to do.  What easier project than freshening up the bathroom with a quick coat of paint and a MirrorMate frame.  If it's been on your to-do list, now's the time.  Through May 18 at http://www.mirrormate.com/ you can get 15% off the first frame and - as an added bonus - 20% off additional frames.  Happy Spring!

A Soft Place to Land Features MirrorMate

Today's A Soft Place to Land blog featured a great MirrorMate transformation done in Acacia Dove White. It's always so fun to see the before and after...pretty!!

To see more on the step-by-step transformation, check out Kimba's blog! (She's also got a MirrorMate coupon code for her readers!)

Before & After Photos from the Centsational Girl Blog

We wanted to share these beautiful before & after photos from the Centsational Girl blog! Check out her entire post with her step-by-step detail of how she did and and what else she has planned for her bathroom makeover, as well as all the wonderful reader comments at Centsational Girl.

More on removing mirrored trim...

Jane at Finding Fabulous wowed us with her removal of the mirrored trim around her vanity mirror and replacement with a MirrorMate frame on her blog last week.  That dated trim CAN be removed.  In the case of her mirror it was simply taped on.  Jane was kind enough to share her step-by-step photos with us as well - and you can see them on her blog where we are so thrilled with the results, and wonderful comments from so many readers. 

You can see how she gently pulled the trim away from the mirror and then removed the tape strips and wiped it down with rubbing alcohol to clean off any residue.

Once finished, the standard installation of the MirrorMate frame took place - putting together the corners and taping it to the plate glass mirror.  Here is the before & after to showcase the transformation!

Did you know you can remove the mirrored trim?!

Jane at Finding Fabulous did a wonderful job detailing her MirrorMate transformation - that included first removing the mirrored trim from her vanity mirror - and what a difference it makes! Check out her blog at...

http://decormamma.blogspot.com/2010/03/mirrormatea-mirror-transformation.html

A Design Delight...

I am so happy HGTV finally has some new decorating shows. I know my sister loves watching people look for a house, but I think it is b-o-r-i-n-g! I love the new Australian gardener guy, Jamie Durie. He's brilliant and cute! And of course there's our favorite, Candace Olson. There's also the new show Home Rules, that gets your life and house in order- two things that really do go hand in hand. Don't you just feel better when your home looks good?

Lisa's Guidance for Choosing a Frame Style

We get a lot of calls about what frame styles to choose for your bathroom - after all we have 40 to choose from!  Not that I'm a designer, I sure do pretend I am one!  What I tell people is to frame their mirrors in the same style they would choose to frame a piece of art and put it in that room.  You do not have to match your faucets especially if you do not like their color.  Bring up a color from your floor, your vanity, or countertops instead.  Some of the most popular selections today? Metallics and black - they're always in style. And order samples to be sure you're selecting the one you like best.  If you have questions or thoughts comment here, call us or email becky@mirrormate.com.  We're always happy to help!

A special TGIF Sale just for you...

As a blog, Facebook or Twitter fan, we wanted to welcome you to the weekend with a special sale, just for you.  At www.mirrormate.com, just enter HOUSE at checkout and receive 15% off everything at the site this weekend.  Happy weekend & happy shopping!

Reuse That Mirror!

I talked about my bathroom remodel, but you may be wondering -- what did she do with her old MirrorMate frames and mirrors? Well, my dining room really needed a larger mirror, so I had my handyman install my MirrorMate frame and mirror from my bathroom above the buffet in my dining room. it made the room look so much bigger. Here's the before from my old bathroom, and the after from my current dining room! 

If you have a room that tends to be dark -- my dining room is on the north side of the house and does not get a lot of light -- install a large mirror. Now if I hadn't put in the large mirror, I might have done a grouping of nine Pizzazz® mirror squares™ for a lot of sparkle in this room.

This Old House, Scripps Howard News Service & More!

MirrorMate's been making a splash in the news lately with mentions in This Old House's "100 DIY Upgrades for Under $100" piece, Scripps Howard News Service's "Rethink & Refurbish" article and a review in Charlotte, NC's WaxMamma.com. 

While we love the MirrorMate part, of course, there are some other great design and decor ideas you'll want to check out in the articles too!  Enjoy!

A few more photos of Lisa's bathroom

We just got a few more photos of Lisa's bathroom makeover from Charlotte, NC-based photographer David Norman.  Now we have the full before (without the frame), middle (just after hanging with the picture corners still in place) and after of Lisa's medicine cabinet MirrorMate makeover.  Check out the transformation!

Lisa's New Bathroom

Last spring I bit the bullet and decided to completely renovate my master bath.  It had a large jet tub I never used (though one winter I stored my tropical plants in it), low-quality cabinetry with cultured marble tops, white "Chiclit" tiles and peeling gold faucets. It also had bright pink wallpaper, and though I love color, I really wanted to have more restful bed and bath.  Here's the before...

My good friend and former roommate from our single years, Beth Ledy, helped me design the bathroom. The renovation began with a Curry secondhand chandelier I found at my favorite furniture resale shop, South End Exchange (for all of you living in Charlotte!). I loved its simplicity, sparkle and soft gray finish...

That great painting next to the tub was done by Barbara Jamison, a friend and very talented artist...

One of my favorite features are the Robern medicine cabinets. I found one at a home store that someone else had returned so I got it at a huge discount.  They are deep, so one can store in them big bottles of lotion, cosmetics, even an electric toothbrush.  We built out the walls to incorporate these cabinets.  They are really great for a person with, uh, messy tendencies like me, because I never put anything on the counters; everything fits inside. 

But of course they are not framed, so I installed a Charlotte Silver Leaf MirrorMate frame on mine! You can see it here just as it was done - corners for hanging it straight, still in place...

10 Trends & Budget-Friendly Decor Tips for 2010

We asked our expert Home Stager and Designer Kate Hart to give us her top ten trends for 2010 – and tips to affordably update your home for a whole new decade.

“Many of the trends in 2010 reflect the mood of today’s consumers,” says Kate. “Homeowners are looking to brighten their space and their mindset, stretch their decorating dollars and make the most of the home they have.”

Here’s what Kate highlights as trends and tips to take us through the new year in style:

1.REFURBISHED FURNISHINGS – Reclaim and restore what is old and make new again.

Tip: Reduce, reuse and recycle are décor terms today so reupholster that old chair, add a MirrorMate® frame to your bare bathroom mirror instead of replacing it and repaint a flea market-find dresser as opposed to buying new.

2.CALMING, UPLIFTING COLORS – Create a cheery retreat with cool colors & lighter wood tones.

Tip: Use turquoise, the Pantone color of 2010, as a bold accent when paired with neutrals like black and white or use it with gray or mint green for a more subtle effect. Replace or refinish dark woods with lighter shades of honey or a driftwood-inspired finish for a brighter, more up-to-date look.

3.MIRRORS & METALS – Brighten, lighten and add pop to a room with the shimmer and shine of mirrors and metals .

Tip: Group three or more Pizzazz MirrorSquares (less than $20 each!) in Charlotte Silver Leaf behind a couch or along a wall, add a mirrored chest to a room or silver candlesticks to a mantle. Shiny silver, brushed nickel, antique or oil-rubbed bronze remain popular metal finishes.

4.MULTI-PURPOSE SPACES – Turn unused spaces into something new and useful.

Tip: The space at the top of the stairs, the living room you never sit in, or guest room used twice a year, can do double duty as a home office, den or playroom by adding an armoire-style desk, pull out sofa bed or toy storage.

5.BOLD, GRAPHIC PATTERNS – Replace timid designs with large scale patterns in one or two colors.

Tip: To perk up your living room consider recovering a chair in a new, fun print or simply add some toss pillows to a neutral sofa in exotic patterns like bamboo or natural motifs such as asters or birds.

6.MIX & MATCH PIECES – Mix it up by breaking up matching sets of furniture, adding in new and unexpected pieces.

Tip: Instead of buying a new dining room set, add new chairs to the table you already have or consider hosting a furniture swap with your friends to exchange unwanted piece. You’ll get a whole new look –for free!

7.NATURAL ELEMENTS – Bring the outside in and “green” your home with eco-friendly materials like bamboo and cork.

Tip: A sisal or jute area rug is an affordable way to embrace this look without adding new flooring to your room. Add some recycled glass candle sticks or organic cotton pillows to complete the space.

8.LESS SHABBY, MORE CHIC – Forget the flowers and ruffles, things are looking more tailored in 2010.

Tip: Think fitted bed skirts, drapes that don’t drag and throws that are neatly placed- not draped.

9.HOTEL DÉCOR – Bring the look and feel of the hotel home to enjoy during “staycations” and all year long.

Tip: The bathroom and bedroom are the perfect place to start, adding furnishings with clean lines, plush white towels and a spa-like color palate.

10.DIY DECORATING – Tackle those do-it-yourself projects and save money in the process.

Tip: Pick up the paint brush to refresh your wall color, break out the sewing machine to de-puddle those droopy drapes and resist the urge to spurge on new items like a mirror for your powder room. Reframe the one you have instead with a MirrorMate frame in eco-friendly Pacifica Silver Sheen or Acadia Dove White.

“Trend number 10 is the most inspiring of all because by doing-it-yourself almost all of these trends and tips can be achieved with little to no expense,” concludes Hart. “So many of today’s trends allow you to use what you (or your friends) have, simply re-arranging or adding to it with affordable accents.”

Reflecting on 2009

As we enter a new year, we wanted to take some time to reflect on all the fun we had in 2009 and, of course, all the mirrors we framed and bathrooms made beautiful!  Throughout the year, our design experts shared some great decorating advice, not only for use in the bathroom, but throughout the whole home.  Before we dive in 2010 we wanted to look back at some of our favorite design ideas from 2009...

Updating a Bathroom on a Budget

Decorating with Mirrors  - Expert Advice from Will Smith

Expert Home Staging Tips from Kate Hart

Low Cost Ways to Give Your Home a Whole New Look

 To celebrate our entrance in a new decade in design, we'll soon be sharing our tips for getting the latest trends for less.  Stay tuned!