Iron Framed Floor Mirror – Polished Brass or Matte Black Finish

The frame is iron, and the two finishes take it in opposite directions. Polished Brass reflects light along its edges so the frame reads as a bright line drawn around the glass. Iron Matte Black absorbs instead, letting the frame fall into shadow while the reflection does all the work. As a floor mirror it is seen at full height rather than as a border sitting above a console.

Iron is the traditional frame metal for a large mirror because of stiffness rather than strength. A frame's real job is holding glass flat, and any flex across the span shows immediately as distortion in the reflection, which is how a heavy mirror in a soft frame develops a wave down its middle over years. Iron does not give. The weight that comes with it is the trade-off, and it is also the reason a floor mirror this size stays where it is put.

It suits a bedroom, a dressing corner, or the end of a hallway. Brass warms a room that already has wood in it; matte black sharpens a pale one.

• Frame material: Iron
• Finish: Polished Brass or Iron Matte Black
• Orientation: Floor mirror