Today I’m sharing my new dressing room! Dressing in colour is a joyful part of my creative life. And the best way to do it well is to have a well designed space to create outfits in.
Learning to dress with colour
At the beginning of the pandemic, when I discovered this fashion stylist and started to truly master how to dress with colour, my closet got a lot bigger. Okay, crammed.
Here’s the bottom line, if you want to wear colour and you want to do it well, you need to have options.
This is what it looked like in our last house before we moved in December.
The dressing room before
The existing primary closet in our new house was a small walk-in with a work-out room attached to it.
So we took out the old closet with the wall in between and this is what it looked like during construction:
Everything in this house was taupe when we took possession.
A happy yellow ceiling with white cabinets
And here is my new closet and dressing room.
Ceiling colour: BM Hanna Banana
Because the cabinets were white–which they had to be because my clothes are colourful–I added colour to the ceiling instead and added some roman shades in the same yellow with white stripes.
Mixing old (vintage) with the new
The vanity I found on Marketplace and the vintage chair was a gift from a client I’ve had for many years and the plant stand is also vintage.
The neutral leopard rug is from Stanton.
Lucy got into the photoshoot! My dress is from Banana Republic. Photography by Macy Yap
Double sconce | Beaded Chandelier
Getting the design details right
As usual, if I had anything to say about it, no Swiss cheese holes in the ceiling so we did double sconces instead. I love them so much!
My valances are not functioning, they sit exactly like this at all times and as you can see that they’re installed directly below the crown moulding and cover the header of my 2″ blinds. They were custom made.
I love having my costume jewelry on hooks (from IKEA) so I can see what I have. When you can see it, you wear it.
Don’t make this design mistake
Notice I have knobs on everything. I have seen too many 4″ pulls slapped on everything in my day so I prefer this look.
Since I had a little wall space left over, I installed a leaning shelf for straw hats in the summer and scarves and winter hats in the winter time.
Halfway through construction when I kept calling it my walk-in closet, my bestie Jan who managed the reno pulled me aside and said “Maria, it’s a dressing room.”
“Oh,” I replied, “Thanks.”
I am so blessed to have this fabulous space in our new home, and wow is it ten times easier to create an outfit each morning!
Related posts:
How to Wear Colour and Own It
A Better Way to Organize your Closet & My Favourite New Light
The Magical Art of Closet Organization: Before & After
