The Science of Mirrored Wardrobes

If you are considering installing one of our custom-made fitted wardrobes, you’re probably looking forward to gaining all that extra storage space. However, that’s not all you’ll be getting. Installing a mirrored wardrobe adds light and the feeling of space to a room. 

How Mirrors Work

Light is made up of tiny particles - photons - that travel very quickly (at the speed of light, in fact) away from a light source. Light sources include the Sun, a burning candle and your bedroom lamp. A photon travels in a straight line from a light source until it hits an object. When a photon hits an object one of three things happens:

• The photon passes through - this happens with transparent things like windows.
  
• The photon is absorbed - darker coloured things absorb more photons than lighter coloured things.
  
• The photon is reflected.   
  

Mirrors are really good at reflecting photons. Light passes through the transparent glass at the front of the mirror and hits the polished metal behind it which reflects the light particles back into the room. That’s the science behind what we all intuitively know: a room with a mirror is brighter because a particle of light being reflected by a mirror will pass through your bedroom at least twice.

The Feeling of Space

Having a mirrored door on your wardrobe doesn’t just add light. A mirror also gives a feeling of extra space. Seeing the room reflected in the mirror, will make smaller spaces feel larger. This extra space is an illusion, but the extra storage space inside your wardrobe is real! 

If you would like to increase the amount of light and storage space in a small bedroom, then you should definitely consider a bespoke wardrobe from Mirror Image Ltd. Call into one of our showrooms in Norwich or Cambridge or give us a call on 01603 417577 to find out more.

P.S. We know that Einstein proved that light travels in curved lines. For inter-bedroom distances - as opposed to interstellar distances - we thought it safe to ignore relativistic effects. Please post equations proving otherwise on our Facebook page.