This is pretty exciting for me. I decided in August that I was going to be giving my dressing room a little bit of a makeover before we started on the work to the guest bedroom/office. The reason for this is because I knew I would need the now (mostly) empty guest bedroom to do some of the DIY work I had planned and I didn’t want the chaos of doing two projects at once – I also knew that with a bit of a push, it could be done relatively quickly.

And quickly done it was. The whole room was finished within 5 weeks. Now, for me, this is HUGE. I mean, we work pretty slowly on projects (let’s remind ourselves of the bathroom remodel, shall we?) but with the summer winding down and the cooler Autumn weather setting in, we still had the longer days to work without the heat or draw of outdoors that summer brings with it.

As you can see, Meisha has already made herself very much at home in the space.

One of my aims was to really tone down all the turquoise and pink that was originally in the space and give it a more grown-up palette of predominately mint, golds and browns… I know, ME using brown, it’s practically unheard of! But I truly think it works really well in here.

Now, you’ve already seen the new lighting, the painting of the chest of drawers and it’s new ‘faux marble’ top and the makeover my Billy Bookcases. Well, I’m excited to share the rest of the room now but I’ll be going into more detail in future posts so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I’ve linked as many sources as I could so you can see where I got some of the new items.

But for now, here’s my newly grown-up eclectic, a bit boho and definitely glam dressing room…and I have to say, I freaking love it.

Welcome to Dressing Room 2.0…

My absolute favourite part of this makeover is the new vanity. From the beginning I wanted something with a fuller skirt but my first attempt didn’t use nearly enough material. I’m going to share how I made it really soon but for now, shall we just bask in it’s prettiness?

I also finally purchased a proper pretty vanity mirror(I used to hide my old chrome one under the skirt of the vanity so trust me when I tell you it was pretty ugly.)


And of course, I couldn’t resist adding a Maidenhair fern in the space (thanks to a surprise gift card from my friends at Homebase) and I dressed up the pot with a little bit of washi tape. The new white wood clock is another addition, entirely necessary but subtle (the display turns off when I’m not in the room).

Of course, my other favourite change was seeing the Billy Bookcases completely transformed. It’s made such a difference to the room. Swapping out the inexpensive roman blind with white wood blinds and a DIY pelmet covered in the same fabric as the skirt really finishes things off.

The addition of the leopard print wallpaper to the backs really gives the shelves a bit of depth. The funny thing is I always felt that my darker shoes and accessories looked a bit strange against the original pale turquoise backs. Now those darker items seem to fit in just fine.

I added a couple of baskets as well to one of the shelves to house my flipflops, flat sandles and fuzzy slippers! And I purchased a clear acrylic bracelet display to keep them all in one place.

Of course, you’ve seen the new light fixture but here she is in all her gilded glory… And no, we still haven’t centred her properly because I keep forgetting. So embarrassing. Never mind.

You’ll also notice there’s a new rug in the room. I really wanted that boho look in here that I love. I know not everyone would choose a cow skin (and I’m not looking for a debate here) but I have a white one in my living room and I love it. If you want a hard-wearing rug, these things are practically indestructible. It’s part of the reason why I wanted another – because a quick vacuum and it looks like new.

I also finally treated myself to a really nice full length mirror. I’ve been wanting a new one in here since Day 1 and this one has a beautiful antique look without being too OTT.

I’d considered a leaning mirror but as you can see, the space is TIGHT in this room and so it made more sense to choose one I could hang.

I had an extra hook left over from the bathroom remodel so I decided to hang it along side the mirror. I have a scarf on there right now but I use it to hang the clothes I’ll be wearing the following day. Just keeps me more organised and anything to assist me in getting out the door on time is a winner in my book.

Obviously, you’ve already seen the chest of drawers makeover

The one change I have made here is that pretty much all my jewellery is now in one area of the room. I used to have it spread out around all the shelving and the chest of drawers but now it’s all contained to the top of the dresser and the one shelf. It’s just so much more practical – I don’t know why I didn’t do it before!

The side of the room where the clothes rail is didn’t get so much a makeover as a clearing out. I donated 2 very large bags of clothing, handbags and shoes I just didn’t wear any more. Even though I have more room in here than I would with just a small wardrobe, I think a clear out is always good for the soul and entirely necessary at least once a year.

Finally, I used a very very cheap wide angle lens to capture a bit more than what I can with my normal lens. It’s not a great shot mind you but it gives  you a better idea of the new look.

As you can see, it’s got Meisha’s full approval. Since I’ve made the room over, she hangs out in here more and more. And as she matches the space, I’m allowing it. For now. ;) I reckon she thinks I did all this for her. Typical diva cat.

I’ll be sharing a little more about this room including the DIY vanity skirt and pelmet, and those stunning new bamboo-style frames I got for my Leigh Viner prints that you can see now on the top of each shelving unit so stay tuned for more.

In the meantime, what do you think of the new look?

Don’t miss a thing!

(If you need a reminder of what the room used to look like, you can see Dressing Room 1.0 here, here and here.)

Oh and don’t forget, there’s still time to vote for my little splodge on the interwebs in Amara’s Interior Blog Awards 2014! Thank you to everyone who’s already voted, it truly does mean so much to me!


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