Rattan Mirrors & Sunburst Mirrors

They are often confused, but they are three distinct fibers. Rattan comes from a climbing palm of Southeast Asia: its solid stems, flexible when heated, bend and weave without breaking, hence the regular rays of sun mirrors. Wicker is made from young willow branches, thinner, with a tighter weave and a more rustic look. Bamboo is a hollow, segmented stem, more rigid: it makes frames with straight lines, recognizable by their nodes. A wicker mirror and a rattan mirror look alike from a distance; up close, rattan is smoother and more golden.

On a sunburst mirror, the rays take up most of the diameter: the glass in the center is often much smaller than the whole object. So choose it as a decorative piece rather than a mirror to check yourself in. Size it by its total diameter, at about two thirds of the width of the furniture below, and check the glass size on the product page if you also want to see yourself in it. For daily use, hang it near a simpler mirror, or choose a round mirror with a wider glass.

Rattan stands on its own. Avoid piling baskets, pendant lights and woven rugs into the same field of view: the look quickly turns into a beach shack. One large boho mirror on a white or sand wall, a linen pendant, a few ceramics: the room stays light. The gold metal sun pairs with rattan for a dressier version, as long as they are not hung side by side. Several small rattan rounds can be arranged in a line above a headboard or in a triangle in an entryway, 2 to 3 in (5 to 8 cm) apart.

In an entryway, a bedroom, a living room or a sunroom: anywhere the air stays dry. Rattan does not handle prolonged humidity well, which makes it swell and darken: avoid bathrooms without a window. Direct sun dries it out and fades it over time, and heat from a radiator makes it brittle: keep a reasonable distance from both. The gold metal sun copes better with these conditions.

Dust the weave every month with a soft brush or the brush attachment of your vacuum. Once a year, wipe it with a barely damp cloth, then let it air dry out of the sun. For the glass, spray the cleaner on a microfiber, never on the mirror: the liquid would soak into the fibers of the frame.