Dream Closets

I'm yet to meet a single person male or female who would not like a walk-in closet/dressing room and I've met quiet a few who are absolutely in LOVE with the idea of having their own celebrity style walk-in closet thus I figured I'll write about dressing rooms and what you need in one to make it stand out and be ELLE Decor worthy.

So what's a dressing room for as oppose to say having a wardrobe or closet in your bedroom. A dressing room is a place where you go in to plan or put on an outfit as oppose to "storing clothes" which is what a closet or a wardrobe is for.

In a dressing room you are; storing clothes and accessories, displaying special items, getting your hair and makeup done, trying on different clothes/shoes, and finally emerging in an "outfit"

So what would you need in a dressing room for it to be both, efficient and awe worthy?

Just like a wardrobe or a closet; one of the main purposes of a dressing room is storing and displaying clothes. That job is performed by closets, shelves, hanging rods, drawers, etc...(which is basically what a wardrobes/closets fit-out company would do for you such as; American Wardrobe, Creative Wardrobe, IKEA and any of the other redundant shops in Doha,

The type and amount of storage depends on 3 main factors; the room area, the type of clothes you want to store/display, and the amount of clothes you want to store/display. Now whether you want to "store" or "display" your clothes that is also an additional factor.

While you might want to hide away all of your clothes in closed wardrobes and drawers

Or put a few special items on display

others might like to go all out and have open storage for everything that they own

And some might even go the extra mile to do a very extravagant display of something they cherish so much, wedding gown in a box frame ladies? or are you more of a "display it on a mannequin" kind of bride

Adrienne Maloof, former cast member of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills had her wedding gown displayed oh-so beautifully in a clear box frame

a gown put on display on a mannequin in a shop. This could very much be done in your own dressing room for an exclusive boutique sort of feel. 

or maybe it's jewelry, makeup, or bags and shoes that you like to keep out in a special display?

The choices of how to display these items are endless and they depend again on space, quantity, and type of items. It could be a jeweler stand, a counter with a clear top or clear boxes just like at jewelry boutiques, an open or glass front armoire, shelves, and just a corner in the dressing room, the last will make the piece look like it's a sculpture or a vase on display!

Now for the utilitarian makeup savvy artist the top vanity is a dream come true , but you can still get your beauty on (hair & makeup) at a fit for a Hollywood star vanity and get to store all of your makeup and hair products. Be it modern and more on the utilitarian side or fancy and old world glamorous, a vanity table, mirror, and chair are a must have in a good dressing room.

This leads us to the trying clothes on and getting ready role of the dressing room. Now what's also essential in a dressing room for getting ready is for it to be equipped with the following; seating, to sit and put shoes on or to wait while someone else is trying clothes on, a hanger/table to put whatever you want to wear on while your getting ready, a full size mirror, and adequate lighting.

Now with seating and the mirrors you can either make them statement pieces or make them blend in with the rest of the interiors and be a built in within the wardrobe set.

I absolutely love having hangers and counter tops or tables for laying out or hanging clothes out to wear them. It helps a lot too if you need to get something steamed.

Would you like a hotel bellboy sort of golden rail cart to hang your clothes out on for steaming? I wouldn't mind! will make you feel like you are staying at a hotel.

And last but not least is what I believe to be the most important thing in a dressing room, adequate lighting. You want your dressing room to be well lit with soft general lighting that is a mix of slightly warm light and daylight in order to be able to see the true colors of your clothing/make up yet still get the tone improvement effect of having the warmer lights. Steer clear from directional lighting and strong lights that cast harsh shadows because they will put a super model to shame (changing room meltdown flashback anyone?)

So whether you've got a small space to use as a dressing room

or a huge space

got a classic style

or a quirky one

There is always room for dressing rooms love!

Just remember:

Put your clothes away

But show off some

Vanity Fair

Sit

Get Ready

and Go!

What do you think? do you have a dressing room envy? or do you already have your dream closet fitted?

Living Small

Good Evening Everyone,


I thought that I should share with you these little misconceptions related to designing and decorating small houses/rooms because I see them happening around me repeatedly.

Some of the Taboos related to living small and decorating a small home are;

1-If the room is small use smaller furniture and furnishings.

Wrong, whenever you are decorating choose furniture sizes that work in your room and are functional, too small furniture might mean that you need to buy 2 pieces instead of 1 and thus have more visual clutter and a more squished together layout, plus you do not want to end up with the doll house effect.
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2-If the room is small then you have no space to store in it, store your things somewhere else.

Wrong, there is always space to store things, for example even in a small room if the room's size and location of window/door/AC allow block out an entire wall and fit in custom floor to ceiling and wall to wall closets with sliding doors covered entirly in mirrors, it will double up your space and work as a great storage unit, it doesn't have to be your closet if you have enough wardrobe space and this room happens to really be small, you can always make it 40-50cm wide only and use it to store shoes, magazines and paper goods, DVDs, sports goods, the works!
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3-If the room is small then you must paint it white.

Well not at all, you can paint it black for all that matters as long as you love it. A well designed space will be able to allow you to perform all the needed activities in that space even if its small. White walls do work as a reflector and that doubles the light that you have in the room making your space feel bigger and making the walls appear like they are retracting away from you however, the room size won't change and its better for you to end up with a small room that you love than a small dull room that appears slightly bigger but isn't really.
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*If the room is small then you must use smaller patterns for upholstery, curtains, wallpaper, carpet, etc.

WRONG.

For the same reasons that 1 & 3 are wrong.

Design your rooms in a way that fulfills your needs and allows you to work and live in there in terms of layout, function, storage, etc. But, do it in the style,color,finishes that would make you want to spend your time there.

Wardrobe Organization by Nurbry

I had to share this great piece on organizing your wardrobe from Nurbry, a must-check-out website

"Summer is here, and if you have not had time to conquer your closet yet, there is no better time than now. An unorganized closet can equate to clutter, tardiness, and stress…who has time for that?

How To Organize Your Closet For A Guilt-Free Wardrobe

Your closet is no place for guilt! Every item in your wardrobe should make you feel amazing and proud of your investment, not the other way around.  It’s time to streamline your life and feel amazing about your beautifully organized closet!

With a little work, some closet therapy, and daily maintenance, you can save yourself a great deal of stress.  Any good closet organization project starts with going through your closet and ridding yourself of items that you no longer need, use, or should be wearing.

Below, we’ve listed 3 closet decluttering steps necessary for you to achieve a guilt-free wardrobe. Leave a comment below telling us your wardrobe organization strategies!

RELATED POST: How To: Organize Your Closet

Step 1: Purge and Plan

Start by going through your closet and deciding what items you need to get rid of and what items are questionable.  If you don’t wear it, pass it on and don’t let it clutter your life. We often hold onto hope that we will wear something again, but that item often continues to sit in our closets and causes nothing but guilt every time we happen upon it. Free yourself, your mind, and your closet…if you haven’t worn it in a year – give it away! Remember to always give away items, rather than throw away, because you never know who might be able to use your hand-me-downs! 

Follow the closet purging tips below to help you decide what needs to go:

• Analyze Everything: invite a friend over, try everything on, and take pictures of yourself. Be subjective. If an item of clothing doesn’t make you feel amazing when on, get rid of it – no matter how expensive, stylish, or amazing off the hanger something might look, if its not right for you, it doesn’t belong in your closet.

• Think Creatively: some items can be salvaged but will need some creativity, a good tailor, or a needle and tread. Set aside anything that requires a new button or needs repairs, and take care of it now! Never put damaged items back in your closet. If items have potential, take them to a tailor to have them custom fitted. Or, consider shortening, hemming, or altering items to make them more stylish/wearable.

• Mark Maybes: for questionable items that you just can’t make up your mind about, try a hanger or labeling system. Have all of your hangers facing one way and as you wear items turn the hangers around. As the year progresses you will realize what you have not worn and can toss them. You might also try marking maybes with a post-it and utilizing the same system.

Step 2: Implement

After you have the items you want to keep, devise an organization system that works for you. Try these simple tips to help organize all the items in your closet.

• Accessories: roll up belts, gloves, and other small accessories and keep them in a drawer. Belts can often become tangled up so keep them separated and easy to gaze over.

Roll belts and store in a drawer with other accessories

• Scarves: try using a tie hanger/organizer for scarves. This is an easy way to hang and display your scarves so that they are organized and easy to find.

Hang / Tie scarves so you can easily see them

• Shoes: make your shoes visible. If you love shoe boxes, put a picture on the shoe box. If you can’t see them, you are unlikely to wear them. You might try buying a shoe hanger system and place off-season shoes in an under-the-bed container to maximize space.

• Shelves: utilize shelves. Items like jeans, sweaters, and tee shirts can be much more easily organized and save you space by organizing on a shelf. Try labeling a shelf for jeans. Use categories like skinny, trouser, straight leg, etc. Then, place your jeans on a shelf according to the right label so that you can easily see style and color.

Use shelves to accommodate folded sweaters

Label jeans and display them neatly on a shelf

Step 3: Maintain

A well-organized closet stays well organized because of constant maintenance. Below are some organization rules to live by.

• Never drop clothes on the floor and leave them there.

• Take 5 minutes a day to inspect your closet and ensure that everything stays organized.

• Have a special bin for items that need repair and constantly evaluate.

• If you find yourself always feeling blah when you wear a certain outfit or always passing something over even after trying it on, let it go."

I'd add this

* Store shoes/accessories/hats/etc in boxes and bins and place them at the bottom of your wardrobe if you had that space available.

*organize your clothes per color or per category or both, you might want to have a gradient of color going through your wardrobe from one end to the other, or you might prefer to have a gradient of jacket colors on one side and then blouses, pants, and so on.

*Add baskets/bins on top of your closet if you had that space available for storing out-of-season items or- if planning a new closet- plan to have floor to ceiling built-in wardrobes, if you can afford them, the extra storage space that you get on top of your regular storage is priceless.

*For all of those drawers separators & organizers, closet organizers, shoes closet hangers, etc in Doha, visit IKEA they are ultimately the best

P for Purge

As summer vacations are well behind us and the back-to-school rush settle down, at least I think it did?, comes the time to purge and de-clutter.

I know most people call for spring cleaning and I'm all for it except I think there are specific times when de-cluttering and organizing your wardrobe and closets becomes a big task that you need to tackle it a couple of times a year and the best time to do that is in between seasons and at the end of vacations.

As you are about to put away your swim suits, flip flops, and short shorts and bring out your light cardigans, scarfs and closed toe shoes make a point of addressing the rest of your closet especially before going out shopping for new items.

These are basic rules that you can go by to purge your wardrobes content and any other uncategorized piles of "stuff" that you might have laying around in a box

When it comes to clothes and while sorting them out ask yourself the following questions;

* When was the last time I wore it? if it was more than 6 months ago and is not a seasonal item (winter/summer) through it out because you most likely won't wear it again. The same goes for that really nice item that you only used once and then decided you don't really need it.

* Does it fit me? if it's too big or too small through it out immediately, keeping clothes that are too small will not make us loose weight and holding onto pieces that are too big as a safety net in case we gain that weight again encourages weight gain and just takes up all the space in your closet. The same goes for items that are not really you and you can replace with ones that represent you.

* Is it fit for purpose? ladies, if you are not planning on having any more kids through out these maternity clothes. They will just make you look bigger and frumpy and no body likes that. Give them to someone who needs them more. The same goes for things that no longer serve a purpose in your house or are age inappropriate (eg; old toys,etc). 

* OMG, I have that?! if you find yourself asking yourself this question, through it out. If you didn't know you had a piece of clothing or an item then you most likely won't miss it or notice that it's gone and in the meanwhile it's just eating away space in your closet.

* How many of those do I have? If you have more than one say, black leather jacket that are almost identical or short pink skirts then keep only one and get rid of the extras. You will find out that you always stick to one piece and abandon the rest so unless your starting a collection you know what you have to do. The same goes for having 5 similar pairs of scissors (unless you have an arts & crafts related hobby)

* Is it seasonal? if the question is yes and it is not its season then store it away on a high shelf or closet. The same goes for shoes and accessories. The same goes for items not just clothing such as; Christmas decoration, etc...

* Is it a basic item? if the question is yes and you do frequently use it then hold onto it.

* Is it in? We sometimes find ourselves buying items that are so in right now and happen to be the latest trend, a few years later or a decade maybe? suede boots with tassels, unless you participate in rodeo shows, and leg warmers and headbands get dropped off the must have list and become a burden to your wardrobe shelves and closets, through them out.

**by throwing them out I of course mean donating them to charities which will make a better use of the items/cloths and give them to the less fortunate.