Ideal Self-Portraits

Reflecting Reality with Kindness

People who live alone can go days at a time without seeing another human in person.

Meanwhile, they'll still likely see hundreds or even thousands of people, but only on a screen, where essentially all photos are heavily filtered or perfect images of perfect people who never even existed. This gives people a warped view of reality and what people look like. When they see themselves in the mirror, it might the only unfiltered image of a person they see that whole day.

For the sake of their self-esteem, it is worthwhile to go to great lengths to make that image look as good as possible. While we should not alter the image itself, what we can do is treat it with the same honor and respect as a work of art.

What's in a Frame?

After all, what is art other than what we treat as art?

If we were to take a beautiful painting and stick it in a cheap frame, light it poorly, and cram it in a dark corner surrounded by junk, it wouldn't seem so much like a masterpiece anymore. However, if we were to take a blank canvas and frame it beautifully, light it professionally, and mount it at eye-level as the sole element on a gallery wall, it will look like art.

Presenting any image with this much reverence and thoughtfulness causes the viewer to perceive it as a work of art, even an image of themselves. For that reason, all mirrors at Cloud Nine Studios were framed, lit, and placed as though they were fine art to make each resident's perception of herself as positive as possible.

Creating an Ideal Image

For the full-length mirror, a live edge solid wood frame is not only an opportunity to introduce more natural materials to the space, but also a way to frame the image with beautiful asymmetry. Optically, surrounding an asymmetrical image with a symmetrical border highlights and exaggerates the asymmetry—yet while all humans are asymmetrical, almost all mirror borders are symmetrical. Here, a frame where no sides match makes any asymmetry in the image between them look natural and normal. This effect is less important in the bathroom since people will often be too close to have the frame in focus to form a cohesive image; nevertheless the mirror is an irregular shape with only one axis of symmetry.

When looking in the full-length mirror, the two pieces of moss-and-flower art that normally welcome residents as they enter instead serve to add visual interest and natural beauty to the background of the reflected image. Similarly, in the bathroom, the marble mosaic is visible in the reflection. In both cases, these natural background elements distinctly complement the aesthetic of the frame, following the same Gestalt principles that govern art to combine the frame, background, and subject into a more visually pleasing, unified whole.

In the bathroom, two different sets of dim-to-warm lights give residents plenty of options to light their whole face in a variety of color temperatures while minimizing shadows. For the full-length mirror, a dedicated dim-to-warm spotlight and a large nearby window with types of light control screens provide similarly ideal conditions for full-body portraits. Plus, residents on the top floor get even more choices with a skylight in each location.

Trauma-Informed Mirror Mechanics

Home design gurus tout mirrored closet doors as the easiest way to make a room brighter and feel bigger, calling them a must for any small space. However, many people recovering from trauma are already struggling with self-image issues, so mirrors are sources of discomfort. Plus, depression can cause fatigue, executive dysfunction, or feelings of worthlessness, all of which can cause people to fall behind on hygiene to the point where being constantly forced to see themselves not looking their best can fuel a self-reinforcing cycle of negative thoughts, feelings, and actions.

For this reason, even though the apartments at Cloud Nine Studios are fairly small, we did not use this very popular feature. On the contrary, the full-length mirrors are mounted behind the front door, so they are not seen when entering the apartment and not visible from the main room. People only see their reflections when they choose to stand in a specific spot, or for a brief moment when they are leaving, when it is useful to take a quick glance anyway before heading out. Furthermore, just as the placement of the mirror is trauma-informed, so is the size. The massive scale of the mirror and generous viewing distance allows women of all sizes to be framed comfortably with room to spare, which helps to avoid triggering negative feelings in those struggling with body negativity.

Flanking Negative Self-Image

Despite our best efforts, we cannot make people with extremely negative self-images like what they see in the mirror, at least not quickly and not through visual enhancements alone.

While we may not be able to make them feel good as a result of looking at themselves, what we can do is take extra measures to make them feel as good as possible for other reasons whenever they are in a position to see themselves.

In these stubborn cases, we don't seek to , but only to create a pattern of positive experiences that removes the barrier preventing traditional therapy from helping/making progress

If we create a long-term pattern of whereby they feel good while they see themselves, over time, through operant conditioning the emotional barriers may be eroded to the point where they become receptive to other therapeutic modalities, like cognitive behavioral therapy,

and they see themselves when they stand in this spot, and they stand in this spot to use the vanity, so I want to do everything I can to make it so they're in a good mood when they're using it.

To try to help these people feel better about themselves eventually, additional measures were taken to enhanc the overall experience of being in the bathroom, particularly when standing in front of the vanity.

For that reason,

Even with all the effort put into creating ideal full-length self-portraits, still more was put into enhancing the overall experience of being in the bathroom, particularly when standing in front of the vanity.

we can't make them happy

However, we can approach it another way, and instead aim to make them feel good while they are looking at themselves despite how they feel about their appearance.

We know that residents will have to regularly stand in a very specific spot, i.e., right in front of the sink, and that as a result of trauma, many of these residents will have a stubbornly negative self-image. While we cannot force them to feel good as a result of lookin at themselves, what we can do is take extra measure to make them feel as good as possible for other reasons whenever they are in a position to see themselves.

and we can many measures to make them feel as good as possible whenever they are standing in the spot where they see themselves.

Make bathroom bright, with natural light when possible, and easy to clean so their mood rises, or at least doesn't fall, when they enter.

Make it comfortable, with comfortable towels that dry efficiently so that mildew doesn't form.

We can try

For them, we

For people who

As much effort as was put

As with all other features, the person using the mirror doesn't have to know any of the reasoning; the mirror's design and placement will naturally steer them to see a more ideal image of themselves. Over time, this kind self-portraiture can have a measurably positive effect on self-image and self-esteem // increase confidence and self-worth, //

Explain how I wanted to make this space right here a spot that makes the residents really happy, because when they're standing here, they're looking in the mirror and seeing themselves, and I want them to be happy when they're looking at themselves. (All arguments about mirrors, especially for people dealing with self-esteem and self-image issues after trauma.)

Now making someone happy when they stand in this spot is a tall order, especially for the people who don't exactly like looking in the mirror. I want them to look in the mirror and get used to being happy seeing themselves. And I want them to be happy standing in this spot because this is the spot where you do a lot of self-care. So this is a bit of a Skinner box, and if these people don't necessarily love themselves yet, maybe I can get them to love using this vanity.

I don't want them to love this vanity. Couldn't care less about that. I want them to love themselves. I want to create a long-term pattern of operant conditioning whereby they feel good when they see themselves, and they see themselves when they stand in this spot, and they stand in this spot to use the vanity, so I want to do everything I can to make it so they're in a good mood when they're using it. I want to design an environment that leads to that happening. The decisions I make here about what to put where, how much to spend, how much care to put into it, can ultimately affect whether people smile or frown, and I want people to smile when they stand here, because then they'll see themselves smiling. (That sounds dangerously close to patriarchal "You'd look better if you smiled more," but I think I'm safe.) And, like all the best design, it just needs to all work without anyone So I want to make sure they have as good of an experience in this spot as possible. Get those nice pressure relieving pads to stand on because they're fun to stand on and feel good in bare feet. Add custom dividers to drawers, work to really trick out the inside with organization. Hair dryer holder.

Unused

The mirrors in the apartment bathrooms should have pretty, decorative frames rather than the utilitarian frameless mirrors you'd find in a hotel.

These homes are primarily for abuse and trauma survivors, and it's hard to think of people who more deserve to feel beautiful.

So I want to make sure they have as good of an experience in this spot as possible. Get those nice pressure relieving pads to stand on because they're fun to stand on and feel good in bare feet. Add custom dividers to drawers, work with Machi to really trick out the inside with organization. Hair dryer holder. (Opposite for Haven House; they need to get in and get out.)

For lighting, the bathroom mirror has two different sets of dim-to-warm lights, while the full-length mirror has a dedicated dim-to-warm spotlight and a large adjacent window with two types of light control screens. These give residents plenty of options to light themselves optimally in a variety of color temperatures while minimizing shadows. Plus, on the top floor, each location has a nearby skylight, giving those residents even more choices.

In both locations, a combination of optimally placed dim-to-warm fixtures, controllable natural light, and skylights on the top floor

More important in the bathroom is the lighting, where two different sets of dim-to-warm lights plus skylights on the top floor give residents plenty of options to light their whole face in a variety of color temperatures while minimizing shadows. For the full-length mirror, a dedicated dim-to-warm spotlight and a large nearby window with a translucent light screen (plus another skylight on the top floor) provide multiple lighting options for a full-body portrait.

The Mirrors at Haven House

In Haven House, mirrored closet doors were eliminated (for TID) and custom mirrors were added to the insides of the doors, framed in a shaker style. This moved them as out of the way as possible to reduce conflict in double-occupancy rooms. Plus, the heavy mirror added significantly to the weight of the door (for perceived security, reference Saturn car case study) and the sound dampening (for privacy and sleep quality).

However, the need there is lesser because, while living in a group home, each resident will see several other real women every day.

In Haven House, all bathrooms are shared, so the bathroom mirrors were optimized for harmony, which, in a bathroom means maximizing utility and cleanliness. Having the larger, prettier, framed mirror in the bedroom encourages residents to spend more time using those rather than taking more time unnecessarily in the bathroom, as being forced to wait to use a shared bathroom is one of the most common sources of conflict in a shared living environment.

Large frameless mirrors

The layouts