You're setting up a home gym, but there's a missing touch. You need a mirror or several...maybe you need one for each side of the room, or should there be only one mirror for bodyweight exercises? You need some Home Gym Mirror Ideas to help you figure out what mirror to get and where to put it, and we're here to help.
1) Backlit
Backlit televisions are common, but have you ever had a backlit mirror? While it's most typical for a bathroom or vanity mirror to help people put on makeup, it'll help in any environment to prevent strange shadows that can distort images. This will make a clearer image for when you're checking your posture in the mirror, and frankly, backlit mirrors just look cool. You can make your own by stringing LED lights behind the mirror when you hang it.
2) DIY Many Small Mirrors
A mirror wall is typical for a big gym, and if you want something similar for your home gym, you might be looking at a hefty bill. Tami Kraus from Tami In Between found that it'd cost around $1,000 for a single large mirror, so she found a way to get a big mirror for much cheaper. Instead of buying one big mirror, she bought $100 worth of small mirrors and wrote this post to tell you how to design a mirror wall just like hers!
3) Find Them Cheap
Mirrors are expensive, and if you don't know where to go, you'll end up paying full price for a mirror that's only going to be used in a gym. While your home gym is important, it's a functional space, and you probably don't need a fancy or pretty mirror that's good enough to check your makeup in. Watch this youtube video to learn how to find mirrors cheap, and even learn to install them in difficult places like garages or basements if you're not sure how.
4) Floor Mirror
If you have a basement or unfinished garage gym, you might struggle to figure out where to put a mirror. After all, the walls are probably exposed studs or made from concrete, and it can be hard to figure out how to use that kind of space. You can hang a mirror on either wall type, but you might find that it's easier to get a floor mirror like this one from Amazon. Floor mirrors are also a cheaper way to get a heavy, large mirror for a lower cost.
5) What Kind of Gym is it?
What kind of home gym do you have? Is it designed for aerobic exercises like dancing? Does most of your equipment consist of free weights or strength training machines? This will determine how and where you place mirrors. Read this article from The Mirror Company to learn more about how the gym type should influence your mirror choice. This will give you some extra things to keep in mind once you pick a mirror and need to figure out how to hang it for the most effective use.
6) Single Full-Length Mirror
If only one person will use this home gym at a time, there's no need for a huge wall of mirrors. Instead, get one full-length mirror like this to check your posture during exercises. Since it's a single mirror, you won't have to worry about seams between mirrors distorting your view or frame edges blocking your view. It won't cost as much as huge, expensive mirrors, or even a large space filled with smaller mirrors.
7) Don't Be Limited by Your Space
Where is your home gym? Are you in an easy-to-work-with space like a bonus room, or are you trying to work around obstacles in a cramped basement? What type of walls do you have? If you have walls that aren't typical studs covered in drywall, you might wonder if you can hang a mirror or if you have to have a freestanding one. You can mount a mirror almost anywhere, from a concrete wall to brick or even outdoors. You can use this article by Alex Smith to learn how to mount a mirror on concrete.
8) Hanging Barn Door Mirror
If you have a rustic home or want a more attractive mirror, you don't have to sacrifice utility to make your gym look good. Try getting a mirror like this one from Amazon that looks like a sliding barn door. It's still a practical full-length mirror, but it has a slight decorative touch that's great for a rustic home or simply to keep the gym from being too minimalistic or industrial. Think about mounting a bigger mirror on an actual barn door if you have the time, energy, and interest.
9) Self-Installation
Mirrors are expensive, but they can be worth it if you want a high-quality home gym. If you buy a good mirror from a garage sale or eBay, you'll need to install it yourself, and if you buy it from a mirror company, you might save money by doing so. You can save installation costs and make sure your frameless mirror is positioned how you want it by hanging the mirror using the instructions in this video.
10) Framed
Gyms can feel cold and sterile, and while you probably want them to be clean and efficient, there's no reason your home gym can't feel welcoming. One way to subtly make your home gym feel more comfortable is to get a framed mirror. The mirror frame will make the area look less minimalistic, even if it's a simple frame, and this can have a positive psychological effect during a workout. This can go along with colorful cushions on benches you rest on between workouts or bright carpet and mats.
11) Frameless
If you're thinking about getting several mirrors, or if you're not sure how big of a mirror you want, you may want to get a frameless mirror like this from Amazon. Since they don't have a frame to get in the way, you can more easily place two mirrors next to each other to make a larger mirrored area, so these are great if you haven't figured out what you want yet. These mirrors also fit better if you like an industrial or minimalistic home gym.
What type of atmosphere do you want, and on what budget? Your mirrors have a significant effect on your home gym, and we'd love to hear what you'd like to do with them! Let us know in the comments below.
