Making your perfect Designing Room
The perfect modern dressing room combines elements of the boudoir and the walk-in closet. It is a room where prized designer frocks and shoes can be displayed in one bright, well ordered space; a place where the man and woman of the house can pamper themselves and plan their outfits. But a dressing room is more than that. It’s also a refuge from the hurly-burly, somewhere to make private phone calls and enjoy a moment of “me” time, and a place to share a cocktail or a glass of champagne with friends before heading out for the evening. No wonder more and more home owners are turning unused spare bedrooms into their dream dressing room.
When it comes to deciding what to wear, it helps to be in an environment that stimulates the eye and imagination. But whatever the decorative scheme, it is important to remember that in most cases the primary purpose of a dressing room is to supply storage. Therefore a starting point for the majority of designs will be to work up a plan for a series of fitted cabinets and shelves, all ideally open (i.e., without doors) so as to give an inspiring overview of all the assembled clothes and accessories. With the optimum blend of symmetry and repetition, this structure can help to give the dressing room both a feeling of order and a sense of theatre.
Colors for your Dressing Room
There are two basic approaches as regards dressing room color. One is to use a neutral palette – for example, various shades of off-white, or natural wood tones – to provide a discreet backdrop that will show off clothes and shoes without distracting from or clashing with them. The other is to employ bold colors and patterns to create a subtle mood of fantasy – for instance, lavish striped wallpaper for a baroque, vintage boudoir feeling. Which to choose will largely depend on whether the focus of your dressing room is on the clothes or on relaxing and socialising.
Flooring your Dressing Room
Soft carpeting is the ideal option for a dressing room floor, which needs to be comfortable to walk around on in bare feet. Carpets in pale pastels and neutral tones work well as they reflect light upwards, making the dressing room feel bright and flesh. A smooth hardwood floor can also feel very opulent, with a few thick rugs placed in those parts of the dressing room (i.e., in front of mirrors) where the occupant is most likely to stand trying on clothes.
Tips for decorating your Dressing Room
There are lots of little touches that can be incorporated into a dressing room to make it a pleasure to use, such as back-lighting for shelves, angled shelving for shoes and cubby-holes for handbags. In addition, remember to include a dressing table, a full-length mirror, and some kind of versatile and compact seating for sitting down and trying on shoes. If there is room, it is also a good idea to add a small sofa or daybed where friends can relax and enjoy a sip of wine. A very large dressing room can benefit from having a central island – this creates a focal point, and can also be a convenient place for laying out a tray of drinks and displaying a selection of recently purchased handbags, shoes and trinkets.
Style Guide for Decorating your Dressing Room
Country Style Dressing Rooms
A country style dressing room should be fresh, restful and bright. Walls tend to be in cream or neutral tones such as pale grey or green, with wooden flooring or carpets in beige, camel or similar hues. With features such as white-painted furniture and arched wardrobe compartments, the country style often has antique French feeling that can be very attractive without seeming too fussy or delicate. This makes it particularly appropriate for a “his and hers” dressing room. It also works very well in a more spacious room where cabinets and shelving can be scaled up to create a feeling of solid, impressive luxury.
Minimalist Dressing Rooms
The basic minimalist style dressing room is usually simple and functional, designed to maximize storage space, achieve order and make it easy to inspect a whole wardrobe at a glance. With clean, sharp lines and a palette of whites, greys and blacks, it’s a style that’s well suited to modern properties of all sizes and is relatively inexpensive to achieve. A more elaborate minimalist style will retain the same clean lines but be bolder in palette, often juxtaposing broad areas of contrasting colors against each other – for example, white shelving against a black background, or a vibrant feature wall paired with a more restrained floor color.
Classic Dressing Rooms
The classic dressing room offers smart, cosmopolitan decor such as you would expect to see in a high-end luxury hotel. Equally appropriate to men and women, this style of decoration often employs dark woods for cabinets and shelves and shades of grey, powder blue or dark brown for upholstery and walls for a look that’s timeless and soothingly luxurious. It’s a style that will suit a wide range of properties and has a broad market appeal – something to bear in mind for those renovating with an eye to reselling.
