Gentle Arch Full Length Mirror 180 x 105cm

Fifteen centimetres over the 180 x 90cm, and it is the fifteen that matters. At 90cm a mirror frames a person with an outfit held up beside them, or two people turned side-on. At 105cm two people stand square to the glass at once, which is the whole point of a mirror in a dressing room shared by a couple, and one person sees themselves with a generous margin of room on either side, which is what makes a living-room mirror read as a window rather than a portrait. A 180 x 105 mirror hung with its bottom edge 20cm up is a 180cm mirror topping out at 200cm and shows anyone to about 205cm head to toe; the height is more than any household needs, and the extra is bought for the wall.

What it costs is wall. A 105cm mirror wants a clear stretch a little over a metre wide with nothing on it, and that rules out most hallways and the gap beside most wardrobes. If the wall is 90cm or you are one person dressing, the Gentle Arch 180 x 90cm at £239.95 does the job; if the mirror is for a bedroom under 3m long, the 160 x 60cm does it at half the weight.

An oddity worth knowing: this mirror is 1.8kg lighter than the narrower Gentle Arch 180 x 90cm, which is 29.8kg, despite carrying 0.27 square metres more glass. The glass itself is 18.9kg at 4mm against 16.2kg, so the difference is in the frame section and backing the maker uses at each size, and the practical result is that the two mirrors are hung the same way. At 28kg this is above the line where our fixing rule for plasterboard becomes timber or masonry and never board alone, it comes on a two-person delivery because it is 180cm tall, and it is a two-person lift to hang. The slimline frame is as slim as the 160s, so the glass is nearly the whole 105cm.

The two hanging points are already fitted, and on a frame this wide they sit well apart, which is good: a wide mirror on two points far apart cannot pivot on a slammed door. Brick or block takes two nylon plugs and screws rated above 28kg, into the brick rather than the mortar. Plasterboard needs the timber studs behind it, and at 105cm wide the hanging points will usually straddle two studs on 40 or 60cm centres; where they do not, fix a batten across two studs and hang the mirror from that. Dot-and-dab wants long frame fixings through to the masonry. No cavity anchors. Set the top of the glass level with or above the tallest user's head, mark both points with a level, and offer it up with two people lifting from the frame sides. The hanging guide covers each wall with the tools named.

Leaning is the dressing-room way to use it and the way two people will most often stand in front of it: felt pads under the base, about 20cm out from the wall for five to eight degrees, and an anti-tip strap or a screw eye and cable at the top fitted before anyone leaves the room, because 28kg pulled forward is a serious accident. Neither is in the carton. The securing guide covers the strap and the cable; the leaner mirror page covers carpet and skirting.

At 1.89 square metres the frame is a long line and the colour decides what the mirror is for. A black Gentle Arch mirror this wide reads as a window: on white, pale grey and sage walls it adds light and depth without adding an object, which is what a living-room wall usually wants. A gold Gentle Arch mirror in satin champagne-brass is a feature at this width whatever is reflected in it, glowing on sage, navy and cream and drifting to warm silver on pure white, which is what a dressing room usually wants. Same steel, same price. The black arch mirror and gold arch mirror pages show the eight arches in each finish, and the large mirror page covers the 180 and 200cm sizes together.

Dressing room first, leant with a strap, where two people get ready at once and the width is the point. Living room second, hung on the wall opposite the window or leant against a chimney breast, aimed at the window or a lamp and never at the television, where a metre of glass makes the room read deeper. Bedroom only if it is over 3.5m long and the mirror can sit on a wall of its own rather than facing the bed. Hallway almost never: a 105cm mirror needs a wall most halls do not have, and a 28kg leaner in a hall is a knock waiting to happen. The full length wall mirror page has the hanging detail and the large mirror page the room-by-room placement for the big sizes.

The 180 x 90cm at 29.8kg and £239.95 is one person and an outfit, or two side-on, on a 90cm wall; buy it when the mirror is for a hallway or a single dresser. The 200 x 120cm at 35.3kg and £399.95 reflects a wall rather than a couple and wants 2.2m of clear height; buy it when the room is the point. The full semicircle at this exact size is the Arched 180 x 105cm at 26.5kg and the same £309.95, for a plain wall that wants more shape. The window designs at 180 x 105cm add the black-frame-gold-bars two-tone for £319.95 to £369.95.

Dispatched within one working day from UK stock and delivered in two to seven working days on a two-person service, to your door and into a ground-floor room where the route allows; free to mainland UK, offshore postcodes quoted by email. A carton 105cm wide travels on its long edge, so measure the half landing and the headroom over the stairs for an upstairs room; the guide to moving a large mirror has the carrying technique. One carton: the mirror with its hanging hardware fitted and the safety backing behind the glass, no plugs, screws or strap. Open it the day it arrives with the carton upright and someone steadying it, check the glass edge to edge and the frame corners, and photograph anything cracked, chipped or marked with the carton and the label within 24 hours; a replacement is dispatched free and the damaged one stays with you. Change of mind is 14 days, unused and in its packaging, at your carriage cost. The delivery and returns pages have the detail, and every mirror we sell is on the full length mirrors page.