Black Arch Mirrors

Because the arch supplies the softness and the black supplies the discipline. A rectangle in black can look severe; an arch in gold can look like a statement you have to live up to. A black arched mirror sits between the two: the curve takes the hard corner out of a wall full of straight lines, and the matt black frame reads as architecture, a window or a doorway, rather than a decoration. It also matches the black hardware most homes already have, from door handles and curtain poles to taps and light fittings, which is why it is the arch most people buy for a bedroom they dress in every morning.

The search figures put the two finishes neck and neck: "black arch mirror" 2,100 a month against "gold arch mirror" 2,200, with "arch full length mirror" and "black arch mirror full length" sitting in the black cluster. Where the finishes part is the wall. Black is crisp on white, pale grey and sage and vanishes on navy; gold is the reverse. The arch mirror page covers the shape, and the black full length mirror page covers the colour across every shape; this page is the eight mirrors where the two meet.

Every black arch here is matt black: powder coat baked onto a welded 15 to 20mm steel frame, which absorbs light and reads as a soft charcoal line rather than a hard one. It hides small marks in the welds, sits well with matt black taps and handles, and is what the current wave of arched mirrors across the market uses, including the hand-painted matte black William Wood lists on its Theo and the matt black Habitat lists on its 150 x 50cm arch. It shows dust and finger grease more than any other finish and a scratch through it shows as a bright steel line, so the care section further down matters.

Satin black, with a slight sheen, is the standard on anodised aluminium and painted MDF frames and hides dust better; gloss black is rare on full length mirrors because a shiny frame around a shiny surface looks busy. We sell neither, and we say so because a buyer who wants a sheen should go and find one rather than be sold matt and told it is the same.

The curve sits above your head, so the rule is the same as for any mirror: half your height in glass as the minimum, and comfortably 150cm or more once you allow for shoes, the gap above the floor and air over your head. The average British man is 175.0cm and the average woman 161.3cm; a 150 x 60cm black arch hung with its bottom edge 20cm up shows the average man to the top of his head and no further, and the 160 shows anyone up to about 185cm. Leant, either shows anyone, because the tilt lifts the view. The 180 and 200cm sizes are about width and about the room, not about height; a black arched full length mirror for anyone in the house is the 160, and the sizes above it are bought for the wall.

Black lets you go a size up without the mirror shouting. A 180 x 105cm gold arch is a feature wall; a 180 x 105cm black arch is a big window, which is why the black is the finish we would pick for most living rooms and hallways at the large sizes and the gold for dressing rooms where a feature is the point.

Depth of curve. The Arched range is a true semicircle: on the 160 x 60cm the curve starts 30cm below the top and the top of the frame is one continuous black bend, the outline people picture when they say arch mirror. The Gentle Arch range flattens the curve so the top edge rises only a few centimetres at the centre; in black it reads as barely more than a rectangle with its shoulders rounded, which is exactly what a room with a picture rail, a beam or a sloping ceiling wants, and what a very modern room wants too.

Choose on the wall. A plain wall with a wardrobe or a door beside it takes the full arch and gets the most shape for the money. A wall under a rail or a low ceiling, or a room that is already busy, wants the gentle arch. Same glass, same frame section, same price at each size; the Gentle Arch adds the 150 x 60cm at the bottom and is the only black at 180 x 90cm, and the Arched is the full semicircle at 160 x 60, 180 x 105 and 200 x 120cm.

White and off-white give maximum contrast: the arch becomes a crisp outline and the room reads as having gained a window, which is the classic look and the reason black arches sell into white bedrooms. Pale grey works with any black. On mid and dark greys a matt black frame can go flat and merge; if the grey is a deep slate, the gold arch may serve the room better. On sage, olive and the other greens, matt black is the best pairing we have and has been the dominant bedroom scheme for several years. On navy and near-black walls a black arch disappears entirely, which is the point for a wall-to-wall dressing-room mirror and a mistake if you wanted the mirror seen. On terracotta, pink and warm neutrals, black works as a deliberate contrast; match it to one other black element in the room so it looks intended.

Keep the frame thin, which with ours is the only choice: 15 to 20mm. A black arch in a 40mm frame is a different, heavier, more traditional object and needs a bigger wall to carry it.

Both, from the same box. Every black arch here arrives with its hanging hardware fitted and leans as well as it hangs. A black arch leant beside a wardrobe against a pale wall, strapped at the top, is the single most photographed mirror arrangement in the country, and the tilt lifts the reflection and shows more of your head. The strap is not optional: an anti-tip kit costs a few pounds, takes one screw and four minutes, and stops a 15 to 35kg mirror coming forward onto a child or a dog. It is not in the box, and neither are wall plugs or screws, because those have to match your wall. The leaner mirror page covers angle, carpet and the strap.

Hanging is the cleanest look and the right call in a hallway, a toddler's room or for the 200cm sizes. Two plugs and screws in brick or block carry anything here; on plasterboard the 150 and 160cm arches take two rated cavity anchors at the least and the 180 and 200cm arches want studs, a batten or masonry. The arch adds one step: the hanging points sit well below the top of the curve, so measure from the hardware to the floor, not from the top of the arch, when you mark the wall. The full length wall mirror page has the fixing tables and the hanging guide the steps.

A large black arch mirror is where the finish earns its keep, because two metres of black reads as a window and two metres of gold reads as a statement, and most rooms have more use for a window. Our 180 x 90cm Gentle Arch is 29.8kg, the two 180 x 105cm arches are 26.5 and 28kg, and the two 200 x 120cm arches are 33.2 and 35.3kg; William Wood's 170 x 80cm Arcus, for comparison, is 24.5kg in a 50mm-deep frame. All of ours from 180cm come on a two-person delivery, want two people to hang, and need a wall with no picture rail or coving low enough to catch a curve that reaches 2.2m when hung with the bottom edge 20cm up. Go large for a dark hallway that wants the window reflected into it, a living-room end wall, or a dressing room; stay at 160 for a bedroom. The large mirror page has door and stair clearances and the weight-to-fixing table.

Dust shows on matt black, so a dry microfibre cloth once a fortnight keeps the frame crisp; a damp cloth streaks matt powder coat, so use it only for marks and dry straight after. No abrasive pads, no cream cleaners, no solvents, all of which dull the finish for good. Scratches come from moving the mirror and show as a bright steel line; a matt black touch-up pen from a hardware shop hides one from two paces. Lift the mirror by the frame edges with two people and never drag it on its base. Glass cleaner goes on the cloth, not the mirror, so it does not run into the join where the backing lives; the cleaning guide has the streak-free method.

The ones we would talk you out of, with the number behind each.

From about £40 to £400 for a full length one, and black is the finish every retailer makes, so the comparison is clean. At the bottom, B&Q lists a black arched 120 x 40cm at £42, which is a hallway mirror rather than a full length one, and the thin-aluminium tier runs to about £120. In the middle sit the specialists, and because William Wood publishes weights the comparison is honest: its Theo 160 x 50cm is 12.5kg at £199, its Liberty 160 x 60cm 16kg at £199, its Arcus 170 x 80cm 24.5kg at £239. Our 160 x 60cm black arches are 14.7 to 15.3kg at £199.95 and our 180 x 90cm Gentle Arch 29.8kg at £239.95. John Lewis's Yearn Deluxe black arches are £300 at 160 x 60cm and £400 at 180 x 80cm.

Our view: at 160 x 60cm the specialists cluster at £199 for 15 to 16kg of welded steel and 4mm glass, which is the price of a black arch you keep, and £100 above that is paying for a name. At 180 and 200cm compare weights, not just prices, because the frame and backing that keep a big sheet flat are what the extra kilos are.

Every black arch here leaves UK stock within one working day on couriers who handle glass daily and arrives in two to seven working days; the 180 and 200cm sizes travel on a two-person service. Delivery is free to mainland UK on all of them. The delivery page has the detail and the offshore postcodes we quote separately.

Unwrap it the day it arrives. If the glass is cracked or the black frame is chipped or marked, photograph the damage and the packaging and email us within 24 hours; we send a replacement free and you keep the damaged one for disposal rather than posting glass back. Change of mind is 14 days from delivery, unused and in its packaging, at your carriage cost. The returns page sets both out.