Kind Self-Portraiture
At Cloud Nine Studios, a great deal of care went into the selection and placement of the mirrors.
Trauma-Informed Design
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 pain / so they don't want to look at themselves all the time.
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 forced to see themselves not looking their best can fuel a self-reinforcing cycle of negative thoughts, feelings, and actions.
For them, a giant wall of mirrors forces them to see themselves constantly, triggering a steady flow of negative thoughts about themselves.
So even though these apartments are fairly small, we did not use this very popular feature.
Had we used them here, a giant wall of mirrors would have indeed
For them, these very popular closet doors are a giant wall of negative thoughts they cannot escape.
For them, a giant wall of mirrors forces them to see themselves constantly, triggering a constant flow of negative thoughts about themselves.
leads to constant intrusive thoughts and downward emotional spirals, deregulation.
this very popular feature / forces negative, intrusive thoughts
The oversized mirror helps people with weight issues
Accepting Imperfection with Grace
The 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 between them look natural and normal. (e.g., Tom Cruise, considered one of the most attractive people in the world, many never noticed his teeth used to be way off center until tabloids ran photos of him straight on with a line running down his face.)
(In the bathroom mirror, the top is not symmetrical with the bottom, plus people will often be close enough to not have the frame be in focus with themselves in their field of vision at the same time.
The natural materials
It Just Works
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, //
Why So Much Trouble?
People who live alone can go days at a time without seeing another human in person. They'll likely see hundreds or thousands of people a day, however 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 look in the mirror, it might the only unfiltered image of a person they see that whole day, so for their self-image -- while we can't apply Instagram filters -- I think it's worthwhile to make them look as good as possible. What makes everything look better? A nice frame. What is art other than what we treat as art? If we treat their bathroom mirror as artwork, then what appears in it, i.e., themselves, can be presented with the honor and respect we show to artwork.
I believe very strongly that the mirrors in the apartment bathrooms should have pretty, decorative frames rather than the utilitarian frameless mirrors you'd find in a hotel. You see, people who live alone can go days at a time without seeing another human in person. They'll likely see hundreds or thousands of people a day, however only on a screen, where essentially all photos are heavily filtered, especially photos of women. This gives people a warped view of reality and what people look like. When they look in the mirror, it might the only unfiltered image of a person they see that whole day, so for their self-image -- while we can't apply Instagram filters -- I think it's worthwhile to make these women look as good as possible to themselves in their own homes. What makes everything look better? A nice frame. What is art other than what we treat as art? If we treat their bathroom mirror as artwork, then what appears in it, ie, themselves, can be presented with the honor and respect we show to artwork. 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.)
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