Rectangular Full Length Mirror 160 x 60cm

Because sometimes the room has enough going on. A plain 160 x 60 mirror in a slim black line reads as a window rather than an object, and in an alcove, between a wardrobe and a door frame, or on the return of a chimney breast, that is what you want: the full 160 x 60cm of glass with nothing drawing the eye to the frame. It is also the choice for a room with other hard lines you want to keep, a modern flat, a home office, a hallway with a straight run of panelling, and the only 160cm mirror here that turns on its side to become a wide mirror over a chest of drawers or a sofa.

The arches are the better buy when the wall is plain and needs softening, which is most bedrooms, and the Gentle Arch and Arched at the same size cost £199.95. This mirror is £189.95, weighs 15kg to their 15.3 and 14.7, and shares the glass, the mounting and the finishes; the £10 and the curve are the whole difference.

This is a deeper frame than the arches. The maker builds the Rectangular with a 5cm deep steel section and a square-edge profile, finished so the corners show no visible seam, which does two things. It gives the mirror a shadow line against the wall that makes the plain shape look deliberate rather than cheap, and it means the mirror sits proud of a skirting board when leant, so the lean comes out right without the bottom edge rocking on the board. The face stays slim, so the glass is still nearly the whole 60cm.

The glass is 4mm safety-backed float; at 2.5kg per square metre per millimetre the 0.96 square metre sheet is 9.6kg of the 15kg, and the welded frame and backing are the rest. A welded steel rectangle holds a 160cm mirror flat; the £40 aluminium rectangles with plastic corner joints that this competes with on price do not, which is why they ripple at 160cm.

Turned on its side the Rectangular becomes a 160cm wide, 60cm tall wall mirror, and the maker specifies the hanging hardware for either orientation, which is unusual in this range; the arches and window mirrors are portrait only. Landscape over a chest of drawers, a console or a sofa, facing a window, it doubles the apparent width of the room and throws the daylight back across it. You lose the head-to-toe function entirely at 60cm of height, so if the mirror is for getting dressed keep it portrait; if it is for the room, landscape over a piece of furniture is often the better use of the same glass.

Hang it landscape with the bottom edge 15 to 20cm above whatever sits beneath it, from two fixings a long way apart so it cannot pivot, and level it twice, because a 160cm straight line shows a lean that a tall mirror would hide.

Two hanging points are already on the back. Buy the wall side to match the wall: plugs and screws into brick or block, wood screws into timber studs, or two metal cavity anchors each rated above 15kg where no stud is in reach, which is acceptable at this weight and not at the 180 and 200cm sizes. Dot-and-dab wants long frame fixings through to the masonry. Set the top of the glass level with or above the tallest user's head for portrait, mark both points with a level, and offer it up with two people. The hanging guide has each wall with the tools named, and the full length wall mirror page the tables.

Leaning is simpler and the 5cm frame makes it stable: felt pads under the base, 15 to 20cm out from the wall, and an anti-tip strap or screw eye and cable at the top on the day it arrives. The strap is not in the box and is a safety line, not a hook. The securing guide covers it. A rectangle leant in a bedroom beside the wardrobe is the quietest mirror arrangement there is; in a hallway, hang it.

On a rectangle the colour is a line, so it matters less than on an arch and the rule is simple: a black rectangular mirror where the room's fittings are black or chrome and the walls are white, grey or sage, where it disappears into a window; a gold rectangular mirror where the fittings are brass or champagne and the walls are navy, cream or green, where the satin champagne-brass warms the room. Gold on pure white drifts to warm silver. Both are powder coat on the same steel at the same price, wipe clean with a dry cloth, and take a touch-up pen if a scratch shows the steel beneath. The black full length mirror and gold full length mirror pages make each case; the long mirror page has the other tall, narrow options.

One carton: the mirror with the hanging hardware fitted and the safety backing behind the glass, no plugs, screws or strap. Open it the day it comes, lay it face up on the flattened carton, check the glass edge to edge and the four corners of the frame, and look at the reflection of a door frame from one side to confirm the line stays straight. Anything cracked, chipped or marked gets photographed with the carton and label and emailed within 24 hours for a free replacement, with the damaged one staying with you. Dispatch within one working day, delivery in two to seven, free to mainland UK, on the delivery page; 14-day change of mind at your carriage cost on the returns page. The whole range is on the full length mirrors page.