Juxtaposing classic and contemporary styles seems to be all the rage these days; everyone wants their chance to do a modern take on a classic piece or pattern. UK Furniture manufacturer Viable has an interesting twist on this new theme with designer Charles Trevelyan’s Cortes Mirror — but you’ll have to look it up on Viable’s all-flash (ie: no-link-love) site.

Trevelyan’s design hides an ornate gilt frame inside a lacquered MDF box. The result is a mirror that looks like a simple, contemporary black box from a distance, but then reveals the bright golden contrast of the renaissance style frame hiding within as the viewer gets closer. The MDF box is also lit from within to give a soft glow proving, in this case, that beauty isn’t just in the eye of the beholder…it’s also where the beholder stands.