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?

Fitting a Small Home Office into an Already Small Home!

Good afternoon everyone,

Since having small rooms/houses appear to be a problem that a lot of people who contact me for tips are facing, I thought you should all take a look at this video from Maxwell at Apartment Therapy It gives you a few tips on how to fit a small home office in an already small home. Your bedroom can't be smaller than her's in this video! it's all a matter of furniture choice and layout, think double duty!

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.