Black Full Length Mirrors

Because it does three things at once that no other colour manages. It frames the reflection cleanly, so your eye goes to the glass. It matches the black hardware most homes already have, from door handles and curtain poles to taps, radiator valves and light fittings. And it works in every scheme from a white box room to a navy living room, which matters if you move house or repaint. The search numbers back it: "black full length mirror" is looked up 1,100 times a month in the UK, "black arch mirror" 2,100, "large black mirror" 1,700, and the black versions of long, standing and floor mirrors several hundred each, which between them outnumber every other colour except gold, and gold only ties.

There is a quieter reason too. A thin black line reads as architectural rather than decorative. A gold frame says look at me, which is a fine thing to say in a hallway. A black frame says there is a mirror here, which is what you want in a bedroom you dress in every morning. The trade-off is honest: black shows dust, fingerprints and scratches more readily than mid-tone finishes, and matt black most of all, so the care section further down is worth the two minutes.

Retailers write "black" on the product page and leave it there, but the finish changes the mirror more than people expect. Every black mirror here is matt black: powder coat baked onto welded steel, which absorbs light and reads as a soft charcoal line rather than a hard one. It hides small imperfections in the welds, sits well with matt black taps and handles, and is what the current wave of arched and window mirrors uses. It also shows dust and finger grease the most of the three finishes, and a scratch through the coat shows as a bright line.

Satin black, which has a slight sheen, is the standard on anodised aluminium frames and most painted MDF frames across the market; it wipes clean more easily and hides dust better, and it is the safer choice if you are matching hardware you have not seen in person. Gloss black is rarer on full length mirrors because a reflective frame around a reflective surface looks busy; it suits glam and art deco schemes and lacquered furniture. We sell none of the last two, so if satin or gloss is what the room needs, the table tells you what to look for elsewhere.

The finish is the surface. What it is applied to decides what the mirror weighs, how it survives a knock, and how long the black stays black. Powder-coated steel is what every black mirror here is made of: a frame welded from 15 to 20mm steel section, coated with a dry powder that is baked on, hard and even and properly matt, and rigid enough to hold 4mm glass flat at 200cm. The cost is weight. Our 160 x 60cm steel frames are 14.7 to 15.3kg, the 180cm ones 20.8 to 31.8kg and the 200cm ones 33.2 to 39kg, which is why the fixing advice on this page is about studs and masonry rather than picture hooks.

Anodised or painted aluminium is what the £40 to £120 market uses, and it is a decent material rather than a compromise: light, rust-free, and able to take a satin black through anodising rather than paint, so it cannot flake. The frame is thinner and less rigid than steel, which is why aluminium arches lean on a backboard for stiffness and tend to stop at around 170cm. Painted MDF is what budget rectangles and most wavy mirrors use; fine indoors in a dry room and easy to shape into curves, but it swells if it gets damp and the paint lifts at the edges. We stock neither. If the mirror is going in a spare room and £60 is the budget, aluminium is the right buy and we would rather say so than pretend a £149.95 steel frame is the same purchase.

Black is forgiving but it is not invisible, and the wall behind it changes what you see. On white and off-white walls a black frame gives maximum contrast and the mirror becomes a crisp outline; this is the classic look and the reason black arches sell into white bedrooms. Keep the frame thin, 15 to 20mm, so the line stays elegant rather than heavy, which is the only width we stock. On pale grey any black works. On mid and dark greys a matt black frame can go flat and merge into the wall; if the grey is a deep slate, the gold full length mirror range may serve the room better, or pick a black window mirror whose bars give the eye something to hold.

On sage, olive and the other greens, matt black is the best pairing we have, and the combination has been the dominant bedroom scheme for several years. On navy and near-black walls a black frame disappears completely, which is exactly the point for a wall-to-wall dressing room mirror and a mistake if you wanted the mirror seen; a black window mirror gives definition without a colour change. On terracotta, pink and warm neutrals black works as a deliberate contrast: keep the frame thin and match it to at least one other black element in the room so it looks intended.

Shape is covered on the shape pages, but black shifts the balance, because a dark frame makes shape more visible. A black arched full length mirror is the most searched version in the country, and the curve softens the hard line of the black frame while sitting above head height so no reflection is lost; a black arch at 160 x 60cm suits a bedroom, and at 180 x 90cm or 200 x 120cm it becomes a hallway or living room piece; the eight black arches have their own black arch mirror page. A black rectangle is the most glass for the money, fits an alcove or the gap beside a wardrobe, and in a thin frame is the most discreet mirror we sell; it reads as a window rather than an object. A black oval is the flattering one, slimmer than its measurements suggest and right for a narrow wall. A black window mirror, with its grid of welded bars, is the statement option and the natural finish for the style, because windows are not usually gold.

All 24 are below, by design. The black and gold two-tone on the four window designs at 180 x 105cm is the one place the finish mixes: a matt black outer frame with gold glazing bars, for a dark hallway that wants a hint of warmth without a gold frame.

All 24 lean and all 24 hang, and none has feet, so a black standing mirror in the strict sense, on a stand, is not something we sell; the free standing mirror page explains what to look for in one. A black floor mirror here means a black leaner mirror: rested against the wall at five to eight degrees, the tilt lifting the reflection, and a matt black frame against a pale wall leant beside a wardrobe is the single most photographed mirror arrangement in the country for a reason. Fit an anti-tip strap or a screw eye and cable at the top on the day it arrives, because a 15 to 39kg mirror that tips lands with all of it; the leaner mirror page covers straps, angles and floors.

A black full length wall mirror is the cleanest of all and the right choice for window mirrors, for hallways and for anything over 180cm. The hanging hardware is already fitted to the back; wall plugs and screws are yours to choose, because they have to match the wall, and above 20kg, which is every 180 and 200cm mirror, that means studs, a batten or masonry rather than plasterboard anchors. The full length wall mirror page has the fixing tables by wall type and weight. One black-specific tip: the frame hides fingerprints better than any other colour at the point where you grab it to hang it, which is a small mercy on a two-person lift.

A large black mirror here is 180 or 200cm tall: the oval at 21.7kg, the arches and window mirrors at 180 x 90 and 180 x 105cm from 20.8 to 31.8kg, and the 200 x 120cm pieces from 33.2 to 39kg, all in matt black. Black large mirrors do a different job from the 160s: they reflect a room rather than a person, and in a dark hallway or a north-facing living room a black-framed two metres of glass facing the window changes the character of the space while the frame itself stays quiet. Every one of these travels on a two-person service, wants two people to hang, and wants fixings into studs or masonry; the large mirror page covers door and stair clearances and the weight-to-fixing table.

Black is the finish we would pick at this size for most rooms, because a 200 x 120cm gold frame is a large statement and a 200 x 120cm black frame is a large window. The exception is a dark wall, where the black vanishes and the gold earns its place.

For the strip of wall beside a wardrobe or a door frame, the three 160 x 60cm designs in black are the answer: the Rectangular at 15kg and £189.95 for the tightest alcove, the Gentle Arch at 15.3kg and £199.95 under a picture rail, and the Arched at 14.7kg and £199.95 if the curve is the point. A black long mirror at that proportion, 2.7 times as tall as it is wide, shows anyone up to about 185cm head to toe when hung with its bottom edge 20cm up, or anyone at all when leant, and a tall black mirror in a thin frame reads as a window rather than furniture, which is what you want in a gap. Our narrowest is 60cm; if the gap is under that, the long mirror page says what to buy elsewhere and what to check.

Black shows what other colours hide, so a little care goes a long way. Dust settles visibly on matt black; a dry microfibre cloth once a fortnight keeps it crisp, and a damp cloth leaves streaks on matt powder coat, so use it only for marks and dry straight after. Never use abrasive pads or cream cleaners on a powder-coated frame; they dull the finish for good. Scratches are the main risk, usually from moving the mirror, and a scratch through powder coat shows as a bright steel line; a matt black touch-up pen from a hardware shop hides it from two paces. Lift a mirror by the frame edges with two people and never drag it across a floor on its base.

Glass cleaner belongs on the glass, not the frame. Spray the cloth, not the mirror, so liquid does not run into the join between glass and frame where the backing is most vulnerable; that is also how you avoid the black edge spotting that develops when moisture gets behind a mirror. The cleaning guide has the streak-free method.

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

From £12 to £400, and because black is the finish every retailer makes, it is the best colour for comparing like with like. At the bottom, B&Q lists a black 125 x 34cm at £12 and a black arched 120 x 40cm at £42, and Wilko a black metal floor mirror at £39: thin glass, light frames, spare-room mirrors. In the middle sit the specialists, and usefully William Wood publishes weights, so the comparison is honest: its Theo 160 x 50cm is 12.5kg at £199, its Liberty 160 x 60cm 16kg at £199, and its Arcus 170 x 80cm 24.5kg at £239 with a 50mm deep frame. Our 160 x 60cm black mirrors are 14.7 to 15.3kg at £189.95 to £199.95 in a 15 to 20mm frame, and our 180 x 80cm oval is 21.7kg at £239.95. John Lewis's Yearn Deluxe black arches are £300 at 160 x 60cm and £400 at 180 x 80cm. Mirror Outlet's black window-style leaner at 174 x 110cm is £259.99, against our 180 x 90cm window mirrors at £299.95 to £339.95.

Our view: at 160 x 60cm the specialists cluster at £190 to £200 for 15 to 16kg of welded steel and 4mm glass, which is the price of a black mirror you keep, and anything £100 above that is paying for a name. At 180 and 200cm, weight is the thing to compare, because the frame and backing that keep a big sheet flat are what the extra kilos are.

Every black mirror here ships from UK stock within one working day on couriers who handle glass daily and arrives in two to seven working days; everything 180cm and taller goes 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.