Moss Mirrors

A moss mirror is a mirror with preserved plants set around the glass instead of a plain frame. The greenery does something a wooden frame cannot: it gives the edge depth, so the mirror reads as an object with thickness rather than as a flat disc stuck to the wall.

A moss mirror also solves a practical problem. Mirrors are useful in hallways and small rooms because they bounce light and make space feel larger, but a plain one is a blank surface that contributes nothing when you are not looking into it. Ours give you both — the reflection when you need it, a green object when you do not.

Types of Moss Mirror We Make

What Surrounds the Glass

Reindeer moss is the usual choice for a moss mirror. Its springy branching structure catches light along the curve of a round mirror and gives the ring an even depth all the way around, which matters more here than in a flat panel — an uneven ring is immediately obvious because the eye compares it against the perfect circle of the glass.

Bun species appear where a piece needs stronger relief, often mixed with flat material so the surface rises and falls rather than sitting at one level. Some moss mirrors include preserved ferns and grasses breaking the outline, so the greenery looks like it is growing around the mirror rather than framing it. Others keep a strict clean edge. The first reads as organic, the second as designed, and the choice is a matter of the room rather than of quality.

Where to Hang a Moss Mirror

• Entryway — the classic position: last look before leaving, and the first thing a visitor sees.
• Above a console or sideboard — pick a diameter around two-thirds the width of the furniture.
• Bathroom — works in ventilated rooms; see the note on humidity below.
• Living room — on the wall opposite a window, where it doubles the daylight.
• Narrow hallway — a round mirror opens a corridor that a rectangular one only makes look longer.
• Bedroom — above a dresser, though not directly facing the bed if that bothers you.

Moss Mirrors in Bathrooms

Humidity is the question we are asked most about moss mirrors, and the honest answer has two parts.

A ventilated bathroom — an extractor fan, or a window that gets opened — is fine. Preserved material tolerates the humidity swings of ordinary use without trouble, and the glycerin in it actually responds to moderate ambient moisture by staying softer.

A bathroom with no ventilation and daily hot showers is a different matter. Constant saturation will not make the material rot, but it will dull the colour over months, and once it goes it does not come back. If your bathroom fogs up and stays fogged for an hour, choose a different wall.

Hanging and Weight

Glass carries weight, so moss mirrors are heavier than a panel of the same size. Most pieces hang from standard plugs, but on plasterboard, larger mirrors need fixings rated for the load rather than the cheapest plug in the drawer.

1. Set the centre of the mirror at eye level, roughly 150–160 cm from the floor for hallway use.
2. Check what is behind the wall before drilling — bathrooms and kitchens hide pipes exactly where mirrors want to go.
3. Use fixings suited to both the wall material and the weight of the piece.
4. Hang it, then check from the far side of the room. A mirror that is slightly off level is more noticeable than any other object in a house, because its reflection tilts too.

Care and Cleaning

The moss needs nothing: no water, no light, no feeding. Indoors it holds its appearance for 7 to 10 years.

On a moss mirror the glass is the part that needs occasional attention, and there is one rule that matters: spray glass cleaner onto the cloth, never onto the mirror. Overspray soaks into the surrounding material, and cleaning products strip glycerin far faster than water does. Wipe from the centre outward and stop short of the edge.

For dust on the greenery, use a cool hairdryer on the lowest setting.

Related Collections

If you want the same texture without the glass, see moss wall art — many customers hang a mirror and a panel of the same species together. For covering the wall itself, moss wall panels.