There are a ton of ways you can decorate a niche – a piece of art, a mirror, a vase, books, etc. Well, I happened to have not one, but two very large niches in my stairwell, and after contemplating for months on what to do to fill each of them, I came up with an idea. It would require a little handy work and a few supplies, but I gave it a shot. Here is How to Fill a Stairwell Niche with Full Length-Mirrors!
This is week 4 of the New Year, New Room Refresh Challenge where I’m working on a Stairwell Spruce Up, and I’m so excited to show you how my mirror project turned out! I still have another very large niche to fill, light to replace, and carpet install [today!] before the Reveal next week.
Wish me luck!
You can check out the rest of my NYNR Challenge posts over the years, click here or the recent challenge posts below:
WEEK 1 // STAIRWELL SPRUCE UP BEFORE PHOTOS
WEEK 2 // STAIRWELL SPRUCE UP MOOD BOARD
WEEK 3 // STAIRWELL UPDATE
WEEK 4 // How to Fill a Stairwell Niche With Full-Length Mirrors
WEEK 5 // STAIRWELL REVEAL!
Casa Watkins Living and all of the other super talented creators are sharing their week 4 updates at the end of the post, so don’t forget to pop around!
How to Fill a Stairwell Niche With Full-Length Mirrors
At first, I was looking for large mirrors to hang in the niche, but when I realized all of the price tags were over $800, I decided to look for other options. I had my mind set on creating a piece of art for the other larger niche and didn’t want to have to coordinate art pieces or have them compete with one another, so I kept looking for other ways to incorporate mirrors.
At first I thought I would stack several squre mirrors, like you saw in my Stairwell Spruce Up Mood Board. But the costs just kept adding up and this was a space I wanted to keep on a low budget. Even square IKEA mirrors were almost $40 each and I needed at least 6!
So, when I found this mirror…Here is what I did!
SUPPLIES FOR HANGING FULL-LENGTH MIRRORS IN A STAIRWELL NICHE
- tape measure
- pencil
- full-length mirrors [my space holds 8 of these mirrors]
- picture hanging strips
- ladder
INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW TO HANG FULL-LENGTH MIRRORS IN A STAIRWELL NICHE
ONE // MEASURE NICHE
In order to be able to determine which mirror and how many, you’ll need to get the exact dimensions of your niche. Since I have an arched niche, we had to measure the shortest point [the height from corner to corner]. I then found the mirror, this super inexpensive $7 mirror from Target and was able to use 8 – 4 across and then 4 below.
All the mirrors will be touching so as to look like one large piece, similar to this one or this one!
Basically a paneled or window-pane dupe!
TWO // PURCHASE MIRRORS & ADD PICTURE HANGING STRIPS TO THE BACK
The mirrors didn’t come with hanging mechanisms on the back, so we opted for hanging strips and attached them to the corners and one on each long side. These large size were perfect. I actually cut down the XL ones and then used mediums to supplement on a few mirrors, but the large would have been ideal!
Just make sure you take into account the amount of weight the strips can hold as well as how heavy your mirrors are.
THREE // ATTACH MIRRORS TO WALL INSIDE THE NICHE
My Dad used his 10′ ladder to hang each mirror one by one. We measured the center point of the niche and then made sure that the two inner mirrors touched along that point. We were really tight on space with zero wiggle room, so we had to basically press the mirrors up so the bottom of the bottom row of mirrors touched the bottom of the niche.
He started with the 4 lower mirrors [the 2 middle ones first] and then the outer mirrors. Then he hung the top 4 mirrors. We barely cleared the top! The top corners were tight!
TA DA!!
They are up and I’m in love. It took us about 90 minutes from start to finish. He was the only one up on the ladder – measuring and hanging. I stayed down and cleaned the mirrors, attached the picture hanging strips and spotted him.
It really does look like a custom piece!
He is so helpful with these projects and I’m grateful for his patience and willingness to step in and help when I get an idea!
Remember when he helped me build that DIY Canvas using a wall tapestry for the Fall 2022 One Room Challenge?! And refinish my Dining Room table for the Spring ORC?
We’ve got another project we’ll be working on together on Wednesday, so stay tuned! You’ll be able to see it in the Stairwell Reveal next week!!
*Update: here is what the stairwell looks like with the new light fixture & wall art in the other niche. I still can’t believe the power of this mirror project!
STAIRWELL PROJECT TO-DO LIST
- swap out light fixture – delivered, but have a dilemma – ordered a different one and hoping it arrives in time!
replace or paint railing– railing painted!paint or wallpaper niches– decided on paint – done!add art or other wall décor to both niches– mirror niche done, working on art tomorrow- replace carpet – carpet install is scheduled for today!
- add light source to other niche??
- window treatments??
- MISCELLANEOUS DIY PROJECTS:
- ___create canvas with tapestry_- working on this tomorrow!
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
That’s it for today!
You can check out the rest of my NYNR Challenge posts over the years, click here or the recent challenge posts below:
WEEK 1 // STAIRWELL SPRUCE UP BEFORE PHOTOS
WEEK 2 // STAIRWELL SPRUCE UP MOOD BOARD
WEEK 3 // STAIRWELL UPDATE
WEEK 4 // How to Fill a Stairwell Niche With Full-Length Mirrors
WEEK 5 // STAIRWELL REVEAL!
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