Design SolutionsO'Driscoll Furniture must be one of the most highly regarded makers of contemporary furniture in this country.

Apart from producing furniture to commission for companies such as Chase Manhattan Bank, they also do a ready-to-go line of pieces for the home.

At the moment Simon and Tadhg - the two O'Driscoll brothers behind the company - are showing new pieces at 100% Design in London alongside the likes of Habitat designer Tom Dixon.

The photograph here was taken in Simon's new home in Harold's Cross: it's a small cottage that he extended to create a bathroom.

While there's nothing particularly new about using mirror to make a space seem larger, it works very well here.

"It's a long narrow space so we mounted most of the two side walls with mirror," says Simon. "The ceiling is sloped - it's not really a proper-sized room - and needs mirror to give the illusion of space.

"Also, the two skylights are north-facing and so don't get a lot of sunlight, so mirror helps bring as much daylight as possible into the space."

The mirror was bought from The Glass Centre in Inchicore, which also installed it in the bathroom. The small white round mosaic tiles - which are set in undetectable squares - are from Mosaic Assemblers.

"The mirror and mosaic give a very clean finish to the bathroom. It's a simple, bright place. There's also nothing superfluous, like skirting boards, which helps keep it streamlined."

This no skirting board idea is a particularly good thing as letting tiles run over the floor and up the wall makes a bathroom very easy to clean and gives a neater, slicker look.

Two mirrored doors hide cubbyholes for the washing and drying machines (a good example of making use of dead space in a small house).

These are run right down to the floor, something that also helps the space-creating effect because more of the floor can be seen. In the end, though, it's the positioning of mirrors opposite each other that makes the most difference, as everything is reflected a multitude of times.

O'Driscoll Furniture

26-28 Lombard Street East, Dublin 2.

Tel 01 6711069

www.oddesign.com

The Glass Centre

Unit 1, Goldenbridge Industrial Estate

Tyrconnell Road, Inchicore, Dublin 8

Tel 01 4541711

Mosaic Assemblers

38 Upper Sandwith Street, Dublin 2

Tel 01 6765328