G-M003 Wall Mirror: what a frame-over-mirror design does

Most framed mirrors are a sheet of glass with a border around the edge. The G-M003 Wall Mirror is described differently: a frame-over-mirror design, where the gold frame is laid across the reflective surface rather than finishing at its edge. It is a round piece, listed at 80cm across.

The frame sits over the glass

That one difference changes what you are buying. A border frame leaves you an uninterrupted reflection and decorates its outline. A frame laid over the glass divides the reflection instead, which is where the visual depth the listing describes comes from. The listing calls it both a practical mirror and a statement piece, and does not say how much uninterrupted reflection the frame leaves, so that is a judgement to make from the photographs rather than something to assume either way.

So if the job is checking your appearance on the way out of the door, that is the thing to settle before you order. If the job is giving a flat wall something to look at, the layering is the reason to choose this one over a plain round frame.

One size: 80cm across

The listing gives a single size as a diameter, so no orientation to decide and no ambiguity about which figure is which. What it does not give is the frame's material, its depth off the wall, or the proportions of the pattern, and the Art Deco description tells you the style rather than the geometry. Two photographs are on the product page; a question to the shop is the way to settle a depth if the mirror is going somewhere people brush past it, such as a narrow hall.

Where a decorative round mirror earns its place

The listing suggests hallways, bedrooms and living areas, and the reasoning holds. An 80cm circle is large enough to carry a bare wall on its own and small enough to work in a group. Three ideas that suit this kind of piece:

• In a pair. Two circles of the same size, hung with a gap between them of roughly half their diameter, cover a wide wall more comfortably than one mirror of twice the size.
• On a stair wall. A circle does not have to be levelled against a sloping line the way a rectangle does, which makes it far more forgiving where the stair string cuts across.
• Off centre, above a low piece. Hung towards one end of a long sideboard with a lamp at the other, it balances rather than competing.

What to confirm before ordering

No weight and no fixings are listed. A round mirror usually hangs from a single point, so the weight all lands in one place and plasterboard wants a proper fixing. Ask the shop what is on the back of the frame and what it weighs.

If you prefer the gold border to run around the glass instead of over it, the G-M002 Wall Mirror is the same 80cm diameter with a round gold frame. The same layered idea in a tall format is the G-M005 Wall Mirror at 60 x 180cm. Browse the rest in Wall Mirrors, or go straight to the G-M003 Wall Mirror. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond.