Gym Mirrors: Building Your Home Gym

Step 1: Measure Your Space

First, measure the width of the wall where you want to put your gym mirrors (horizontally, from corner to corner) using a measuring tape. Also measure your room from floor to ceiling – you'll need this information later.

Example: In this example, the width of the wall where we want to install mirrors is 120 inches or 10 feet wide.

Scenario 1: 48" Mirrors

Divide the total width (in inches) of the room by 48 to find out how many 48" mirrors will fit and how much space will be left over.

Example: In our example, 120 divided by 48 is 2.5.

Now, allow some space for borders along the outside edges of the mirrors - you don't need the mirrors to be flush up against the adjacent walls. You'll want an equal border on both sides.

Example: : In this scenario, we have an excess of half of a 48" mirror to use, since you can't buy half of a mirror. That means there is 24" of space that can be used for the borders on the sides. For this example, divide the total border area by 2 and you'll have your border size of 12" each. If you leave 12" borders on each side, and hang two 48" mirrors side-by-side, you'll have the maximum amount of coverage you can get using standard width mirrors. In this case, you're using fewer mirrors (meaning fewer seams) but you'll have a larger border.

Scenario 2: 36" Mirrors

Divide the total width (in inches) of the room by 36 to find out how many 36" mirrors will fit.

Example: In this second example, 120 divided by 36 is 3.33. That is 3 full 36" mirrors and 1/3 of a mirror, or 12". If you subtract the width of three 36" mirrors from the width of the room (120-108), you're left with 12" for borders. You would want to create equal 6" borders on the sides. In Scenario 2, you have smaller borders, but more seams because you would have more mirrors.

Which option you choose is your preference.

1. Now decide the height of the mirrors for your room. The mirrors come in two standard heights: 72" and 60". Refer back to your measurement of the height of your ceilings. For most standard homes this is between 8' and 10' (96" and 120", respectively). For these heights, a 72" high mirror is a good choice.
2. Also, keep in mind that in most home gyms, you'll hang your mirrors ABOVE 24" from the floor if there are any outlets on that wall (outlets, by code, are installed with the tops at 24").
3. If you are going to be doing floor exercises like yoga, you might want your mirrors to be closer to the floor. However, you'll still need to account for outlets, so you might need to configure your mirrors as shown in the example.

4. If your ceiling height is 7' (84"), consider choosing a 60" high mirror.