Bedroom Sets with Glass and Mirrors: Advantages, Care and Who They Suit

Short answer: bedroom sets with glass and mirrors genuinely help in small rooms and rooms with little light; a mirror deepens the room visually and a glazed door breaks up the mass of a wardrobe. In exchange, these surfaces show fingerprints and dust far more quickly than plain wood, they are heavy, and they carry a risk of breakage when moving. In homes with small children, glazed sections above chest height are a wiser choice than full-length mirrored doors.

The difference between glass, mirror and reflective surfaces

• Mirror: a fully reflective surface silvered on the back; it does not show what is behind it. Used on wardrobe doors and on top of chests of drawers and dressing tables. This is the surface that visually enlarges a room.
• Clear glass: it shows what is inside. Used in display compartments, glass-based drawers and shelves; because the order inside stays visible, it does not forgive mess.
• Reflective / smoked glass: the middle ground. It half reflects and half transmits; the inside shows faintly through a hazy screen, and the surface takes on colour when the wardrobe's interior light comes on. Bronze, smoke and grey tones are common.

Reflective glass is the most popular middle solution: it gives some of a mirror's room-opening effect without the feeling of "seeing myself everywhere". On the Rams Corner Wardrobe with Mirror the doors are bronze reflective glass; on the Viral Bedroom Set a smoked-glass section sits beside plain wooden doors. The Larin Bedroom Set is an example for those who prefer fully mirrored doors.

Advantages and disadvantages

↔ Scroll the table sideways to see all of it.

Where a mirrored wardrobe goes, and where it does not

A mirror's job is to multiply what is opposite it. The real question is not "where does the mirror go" but "what is opposite the mirror".

Good positions: a mirrored door on a side wall, seeing the window at an angle, spreads daylight through the room. A long wall parallel to the head of the bed is good too; the room reads as longer.

Positions to avoid: directly opposite the bed is the most common mistake; it reflects movement when you wake in the night and unsettles most people. Directly opposite the window throws the summer sun straight back. In a narrow corridor where the door opens, a mirrored door both risks knocks and collects fingerprints constantly. Avoid any position that reflects the untidy corner of the room; a mirror doubles disorder too.

Does a mirrored wardrobe really help in a small room?

Yes, but not as much as claimed. A mirror does not add square metres, it changes perception: a wardrobe with mirrored doors visually dissolves its own bulk and the room feels less cramped. But if the walkway in front of the wardrobe is inadequate, no mirror will rescue it. Settle the dimensions first, then decide on the surface: our articles on wardrobe dimensions and interior layout and how to fit a bedroom set into a small room explain that order.

A practical middle way: rather than having every door mirrored, have one or two mirrored and leave the rest in the body colour. The effect is kept and the cleaning load drops.

Caring for glass and mirrored surfaces

Care is the main source of dissatisfaction in this product group.

• Do not spray directly onto the glass. Spray the cloth and wipe with it. Liquid sprayed directly runs off the edge into the mirror's silvering and the wooden frame; the black marks that form over time do not come back.
• Do not use cleaners containing ammonia. Most classic glass cleaners contain ammonia and eat the silvering from the edge. A few drops of vinegar in water, or an ammonia-free surface cleaner, is enough.
• Do not use abrasives. Scouring powder, wire wool, hard sponges and scraping with a fingernail permanently scratch glass.
• Keep two cloths. One damp, one dry microfibre. Wipe with the damp one and polish immediately with the dry one; a single cloth leaves streaks.
• Dry the edges and frame. Moisture collecting where the glass meets the wood is the main cause of the wood swelling.
• Frequency: around the handle weekly, the rest of the surface every two weeks.

For wooden, fabric and lacquered surfaces see our article on furniture care.

Scratches and marks

A deep scratch in glass cannot be removed. Vinegar in water works on limescale, and a little alcohol-based cleaner on a greasy mark. The black darkening at the edge of a mirror is degraded silvering and does not come out with cleaning — that glass has to be replaced. The point is not to remove the mark but to keep water away from the edge.

What to look for when buying

• Glass thickness and type: ask about the thickness; thin glass vibrates as the door gets larger. In a home with children choose toughened glass: if broken it goes into small granules rather than sharp pieces.
• Edge finishing: the glass edge should be ground. If you feel sharpness running your hand along it, the workmanship is poor.
• Hinges and runners: a glass door is heavy; soft-close hinges and a solid sliding track are essential. On a weak track the door starts to rub within months.
• Wall fixing: a mirrored or glazed wardrobe must be fixed to the wall; this is the item never to skip at installation.
• Reflection quality: look at the mirror from an angle; if the image ripples the glass is not flat, and that fault is visible every day.
• Lighting: the effect of reflective and smoked glass depends on the interior light. Without light, a reflective door looks dark and dull.