Mirrors & Mug Hooks

My parents' house, my childhood home, has a foyer or entryway of modest size. As a child, at most there were art pieces, or family photos displayed on the inside way of this space. Toward the end of my grade school years, after certain updates had been completed, or at least were in progress, in other areas of the house, I'd commented about there being few mirrors - just the one's in each bedroom & one included with the vanity in the bathroom & powder room, neither of which were within a few steps of the front door.

This acknowledgement wasn't necessarily dismissed, yet no mirrors appeared in this important space where we'd be collecting ourselves, making certain that ties were in place around collars, necklaces & earrings balanced with our necklines, etc. all the while straightening our coats into place which we'd just snagged out of the front closet. A decorative, yet useful, mirror would have been most appropriate & instead we were assisting one another (& trusting!) as best we could...Then running for the powder room as a final check if we simply weren't content & actually had the spare minutes before we'd be "behind schedule".

The bathroom was, sort of closest, yet up a full flight of stairs, & likely whomever hadn't come down to the main floor of the house yet, would still be using the bathroom to finish preparing themselves - as there was only one bathroom for the second floor's use. Originally the powder room was on the same side of the house as the house's entrance, yet it was rather snug & narrow as its space had been claimed from a portion of the kitchen, just so that the house had a powder room.

Around the time adolescence began, so did house upgrades. In went an actual, more realistic sized, powder room -- on the other side of the house's main floor, completely catty-corner -- & therefore, that much further away from the house's front door. Then a decorative bench, one where two toddlers could sit together, filled the foot space beneath the art pieces on the entryway wall. Seasonal throws, pillows, & such were placed atop the bench (no toddlers sat there 😉).

It may have been about this same time; it might have been during the college years, maybe even after then when an entrance mirror appeared upon that entryway wall hanging above the decorative bench. Memory makes me think it was during college, or shortly thereafter as I recall mostly having, along our flea market travels, happening upon a small, quaint mirror with catch on the back, ready to be hung up. It also happened to have roughly a handful of mug-type hooks screwed in horizontally along the bottom edge of the wood.

Always preferring natural wood (nature in general!), this item had initially caught my eye as it's in a wooden frame, & stained wood at that. These mug hooks were a keen bonus! (A modern, simple version of this mirror, sans wooden framing, would be this.) If I recall accurately this treasure didn't stay tucked in my loot for too long before I added a nail above the light switch panel right inside my own front door. Even if we were missing an entryway mirror al those years ago, I now had one - one in a wooden frame & with the mug hooks for key rings, of which I did have a need...one for driving...one for getting to work...a spare...& others...so, happenchance, clever organization prevailed.

Sometime after making this addition, in the entryway of my parents' house a mirror appeared upon that wall. Gone were the embroidery artwork pieces. A mirror (this one is similar) edged in a pattern, a few feet tall & nearly as wide. Its size & shape suited the wall (as well as the decorative bench below) & its detail suited its neighboring room as if a cousin as well as equally suiting its owners.

My front doors have varied through the years though mirrors & hooks have almost always been nearby. Convenient to have at one's fingertips upon entering as well as exiting: organization.

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This one is fairly similar to the simple mirror I'd hung above my light switch panel & next to my front door:



This one is fairly similar to the decorative mirror which hangs in their front entryway:





These are a variety of decorative hooks & mirrors which, in combinations could suit the same needs:










This is 89-pieces of picture hangers - an assortment including a Cup Hooks Kit for artwork, clocks, picture frames, paintings, photos, mirrors, canvas, signs, banners, wall hang mount & display. With this, it's possible to hang up to 53 works of art...or, entryway mirrors & mug hooks for key rings...