Asymmetric mirror frame: any opinions?

[Jay Aubuchon]

I am making a black walnut mirror frame to go with a black walnut medicine cabinet and vanity base. The doors on those two pieces have zebrawood panels, so I want to add a zebrawood accent to the mirror frame. This is what I have in mind.

Mirror2.jpg

The overall dimensions are 32" by 22", dictated somewhat by the intended location. The stiles and rails are 2 3/4" wide. The medicine cabinet will be to the right of the mirror. Any opinions?

Of course, I could put a matching inlay on the other stile, but that somehow seems too busy to me.

[Wayne Lomman]

It depends on the effect overall. It could work but you will need to assess it in it's context. Are the cabinets symmetrical? Using the same species adds symmetry but your design does not. This may be okay. It doesn't do it for me but I should add that I am not personally a fan of the current trends towards asymmetrical design in architecture. Reading back over this doesn't seem to offer much help so good luck! Cheers

[Jerry Miner]

The asymmetric thing doesn't do it for me. I would probably do something more symmetric, maybe like this:

Mirror Frame 9-19-16.jpg

[Alan Caro]

Jay Aubuchon,

Asymmetry can be very interesting when it's balanced and made a bit bolder and deliberate-looking:


Asymmetrical Mirror_SCW_9.20.16..jpg

This is a quick idea to joint two L's -( 3.25" wide to make it a bit stronger) of the two materials that are separated by a block of another material in the room. In the sketch, this is brushed stainless steel, but could be stone, a contrasting wood or gold mirror.

Alan Caro

[Brian Tymchak]

I am making a black walnut mirror frame to go with a black walnut medicine cabinet and vanity base. The doors on those two pieces have zebrawood panels, so I want to add a zebrawood accent to the mirror frame.

If 1 of the other pieces is constructed with asymmetric design, then OK. However if the other pieces are constructed with symmetry, I feel that your proposed mirror frame will just look out of place.

Maybe if you had 2 asymmetric mirrors that were mirror images of one another, with the zebrawood stiles back to back. Putting symmetry back into it.

Maybe a inlay band of zebrawood around the mirror? Or inlay accents in the corners and/or midway on the rails/stiles to tie the piece to the others.