How to Hang an Irregular Mirror: Choose the Orientation and Mark the Fixings

To hang an irregular mirror, let the hanging hardware on the back decide which way up it goes, then mark the fixings from the hardware itself, not from the outline. Measure each hanger up from the mirror's one straight edge, copy those points onto a paper template, and level the template by that straight edge. Don't assume the hangers are level with each other: on the Cascade X we photographed, the two keyholes sit about 2.5 to 4.5cm apart in height, so two screws set level would hang the mirror turned by 1.6 to 2.7 degrees. A rectangle forgives lazy marking because its edges show you the error straight away. An irregular outline hides it, until you notice the base running downhill next to the skirting.

This guide is about the hanging. For choosing an irregular shape and size in the first place, start with our irregular mirror guide, and if you're torn between irregular and curvy, see our curvy mirror guide. For choosing fixings by wall type, see the plasterboard hanging guide or the concrete and brick guide. If you'd rather lean it, our guide to securing a leaning mirror covers the restraint, and a round mirror has its own guide on how to hang a round mirror.

Which way up does an irregular mirror hang?

The way its hangers say. An irregular mirror has no obvious top the way a rectangle does, but its back always does. Keyhole plates, D rings or a cleat are fitted for one orientation, and three things follow from that.

• Find the hangers first. The edge they sit nearest is the top. On a keyhole plate, the narrow slot runs upwards from the round hole, because the screw head goes in through the round part and the mirror drops until the screw sits at the top of the slot.
• You can't flip it left to right. The silvering is on one face, so the mirror image of the shape isn't on offer. If you love the outline but want the curve on the other side, that's a different mirror.
• Turning it round moves the hangers. Upside down, they end up near the base. On its side, they end up on one edge. Neither works without new hardware, and we wouldn't drill into the back of one of ours to add it.

On a Cascade X the hangers settle it: the peak goes at the top, the flat base at the bottom, and the long, nearly straight edge on the right as you face it. That matches our own photos of it hung in a studio and a living room. Its product page lists it as wall mounted vertically or leaned against the wall, and hanging it on its side isn't one of the options.

So what are you actually choosing?

Where it sits and what its straight edge lines up with. On an asymmetric mirror, the straight side looks deliberate next to another straight line, like a door frame, a wardrobe or a window reveal, and a little accidental out in the middle of a wall. The curved side reads better with open wall or window light next to it. Put the mirror so its straight edge runs beside a vertical line in the room, as in the photo at the top of this page, and the room's own geometry does half of your levelling check for you. For the wider styling question of centred versus off centre, our irregular mirror guide goes into it.

If your mirror has no hardware at all and the maker allows you to fit your own, tape a paper outline to the wall in each way up you like before you decide. The flattest or widest edge usually wants to be at the bottom, because a mirror sitting on its broad end reads settled and one balanced on a point reads like it's about to tip. Then fit the hangers for that way up, following the maker's instructions.

Measure the back before you touch the wall

Lay the mirror face down on a blanket, with two people, because a Cascade X is 32kg of glass on a 10mm MDF backing. You need a single straight edge to measure from, and on an irregular mirror there usually is exactly one. On the Cascade X it's the flat base: our straight on photo shows a straight, level run about 58cm long across the bottom. The long right side is nearly straight as well, but on our photo it wanders about 1cm from vertical over its length, so it's a second check, not the reference.

Write down three measurements:

Measure	How	Our photo of a Cascade X
Height of the curved side keyhole	From the flat base straight up to the top of the narrow slot. Hold a square or a long level against the base so you measure at right angles to it.	about 121.0cm
Height of the straight side keyhole	The same way, on the other side	about 125.3cm
Distance between them	Across the back, slot top to slot top	about 91.2cm

Our measurements: the keyhole centres read off a 3,000 pixel straight on product photo, scaled from the published 200 x 100cm size (both axes agree within 0.1%). A second photo of the back, taken leaning against a wall, puts the height difference at about 2.5cm rather than 4.3cm. Every C&F mirror is handcrafted, and the product page allows 1 to 2cm of tolerance for placement, so your figures will differ. That is the reason to measure.

The number that matters most is the difference between the two heights. Most people mark two screws on a level line, because that's how you hang a picture. On a mirror whose keyholes aren't level, that turns the whole mirror. The keyholes are about 91cm apart, so every centimetre of difference tilts it by about 0.6 of a degree:

Keyhole height difference	Tilt if both screws are set level	Drop across the 58cm flat base	Lean of the straight side, per metre
1cm	0.6°	0.6cm	1.1cm
2cm	1.3°	1.3cm	2.2cm
2.5cm (our second photo)	1.6°	1.6cm	2.7cm
4.3cm (our straight on photo)	2.7°	2.7cm	4.7cm

Our calculation: tilt = the angle whose tangent is (height difference ÷ 91.2cm); drop across the base = 58cm × tan(tilt).

A base running 1.6 to 2.7cm downhill sits right above the skirting board, the straightest line in the room, and it shows. Mark each keyhole at its own height and the base hangs level.

Set the height

You look at yourself in a strip of the mirror, not the whole thing. To see your feet, the bottom has to sit at or below half your eye height. To see the top of your head, the glass has to reach halfway between your eyes and your crown. With a 200cm mirror, the height is set by what's around it, not by you: a base 15 to 25cm off the floor clears the skirting, shows everyone's feet and leaves 15 to 25cm under a 2.4m ceiling.

An irregular mirror adds one more question: how wide is the glass where your head lands? A Cascade X narrows to its peak, so we checked. With the base 20cm off the floor, the top of a 195cm person's head lands about 31cm below the peak, where the glass is still about 77cm wide. For a 175cm person it's about 51cm below the peak, where the glass is over 90cm wide. The narrow tip is above everyone in the house.

Base above the floor	Peak above the floor	Gap to a 2.4m ceiling	Curved side keyhole	Straight side keyhole
15cm	215cm	25cm	136.0cm	140.3cm
20cm	220cm	20cm	141.0cm	145.3cm
25cm	225cm	15cm	146.0cm	150.3cm

Keyhole heights = base height + the heights from our photo (121.0cm and 125.3cm). Replace them with your own measurements. Eye height taken as 12cm below the top of the head.

Take those heights from a level line on the wall, not by measuring up from the floor at two points. Plenty of New Zealand floors are a few millimetres out over a metre, and measuring up from them copies the slope into the mirror.

Mark the fixings with a paper template

A template is the one step people skip, and on an irregular mirror it does the most work. It lets you see the outline on the wall, move it until it sits right against the door frame or the furniture, and level it by its base, all before you drill a hole you can't take back.

1. Trace the outline. Tape together enough lining paper or builder's paper to cover the mirror, lay it over the back, and trace round the edge with a soft pencil. Mark the front and write UP at the peak.
2. Mark the keyholes. Measure from your own mirror and mark the top of each narrow slot on the paper. That's where each screw will sit once the mirror drops into place.
3. Draw the base line long. Rule the flat base onto the paper and carry it on 30cm past each end. This extended line is what you'll level.
4. Tape it up and stand back. Try it where you plan to hang it. Check the straight edge against the door frame or wardrobe beside it, and the base against the skirting.
5. Level the base line with a spirit level laid along the extended line, or a laser. Leave the keyhole marks alone: once the base is level, they're wherever they need to be, even though they aren't level with each other.
6. Mark through the paper at each keyhole point with a bradawl or a sharp pencil, then take the template down.

Fixings: 32kg on two points

We traced the outline off our photo and found its balance point: about 1.7cm right of centre across the width. So the weight splits almost evenly, roughly 15.3kg on the curved side keyhole and 16.7kg on the straight side one when it hangs still. While you're hooking it on, though, one screw can briefly take nearly the whole 32kg. Our rule for heavy mirrors is that the fixings together should be rated for at least twice the weight, so 64kg or more for a Cascade X, and we'd make each one good for the full 32kg on its own.

Most New Zealand internal walls are timber studs at 400mm or 600mm centres behind plasterboard, and our plasterboard guide's rule for anything over 20kg is to fix into timber. With the keyholes about 91cm apart, if one lands on a stud the other lands about 29cm off at 600mm centres, or about 11cm off at 400mm. So:

• On a lined wall, fit a fixing rail. Screw a straight, dressed timber batten across the studs at keyhole height, into every stud it crosses, with screws that reach at least 25 to 30mm into the timber. A batten 90mm or deeper covers both keyhole heights, even with a 4.5cm difference between them, and the keyhole screws go into it wherever your marks land. The rail holds the top of the mirror off the wall by its thickness, so fit a strip of the same thickness behind the lower part of the mirror, or it will lean forward.
• In unlined framing, fit dwangs between the studs at the keyhole heights.
• On concrete block or brick, plugs can go wherever the marks fall. Follow our concrete and brick guide for drilling and plugs.

Check for pipes and cables before you drill. If the wall is unusual, or you'd rather not lift 32kg of glass to head height, a builder or handyman is worth the call.

Step by step: hanging it

1. Measure the back and write down both keyhole heights and the distance between them.
2. Make the template and mark the slot tops and the extended base line.
3. Find the studs and services across the area with a stud finder or a strong magnet.
4. Place and level the template by its base line, then mark both keyhole points through it.
5. Fit the timber: the rail across the studs (or dwangs), then the matching strip lower down.
6. Drive both screws at the marks, leaving each head standing off by the same small amount, enough for the keyhole plate to slide behind it.
7. Lift with two people, holding it by the long sides, never by the peak. Line the round holes up with the screw heads and lower it until both screws sit at the tops of their slots.
8. Run the checks below before you let go of the job.

How to check it's hanging straight

1. The level on the base. Lay a spirit level along the flat base. The bubble should sit centred. If it doesn't, one screw is in the wrong place, and the fix is to move that screw, not to pack behind the mirror.

2. The skirting check. Measure from the base down to the top of the skirting at both ends of the flat run. The two measurements should agree within about 2mm. This is the check your eye does every time you walk past.

3. The door frame check. If the straight side runs beside a door frame or wardrobe, measure the gap at the top and bottom of the straight run. On our photo the edge itself drifts about 1cm per metre, so expect a small difference and look for one bigger than that.

4. Don't trust the reflection for this. A mirror turned flat against the wall, like a picture hung crooked, shows exactly the same reflection as a straight one. The door frames and shelves in it stay upright. Only the outline moves. So judge a tilt by the edges against the room, not by what you see in the glass.

5. The seating check. Press down gently on both sides. The mirror shouldn't drop or shift. Shine a torch down the gap behind each side to check the screw is sitting at the top of its slot, not caught in the round part.

The mirror in this guide

You can see the rest of the shape family in our irregular mirror collection.

Frequently asked questions