DRESSING ROOMS
AWESOME DRESSING ROOMS
"Our clothing Is The Largest Investment We Keep in Our Homes"
American Insurance Agents Association
In each of my houses I've always taken one of the guest rooms and made it into a tricked-out dressing room. When those houses went on the market Realtor's disdainfully smirked and requested I return it back to a functioning bedroom for "greater market appeal" - I smirked back and said "just wait"... When the houses sold the buyers always remarked it was the dressing room that sold them the house.
It's not uncommon for people living in one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan, London or Rome to use the bedroom as a dressing room and put their bed in a corner in the living room.
WHAT'S THE POINT?
EVERYONE WANTS A FREEKIN' DRESSING ROOM!
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED IN A DRESSING ROOM
(Men and Women)
"Our clothing Is The Largest Investment We Keep in Our Homes"
American Insurance Agents Association
In each of my houses I've always taken one of the guest rooms and made it into a tricked-out dressing room. When those houses went on the market Realtor's disdainfully smirked and requested I return it back to a functioning bedroom for "greater market appeal" - I smirked back and said "just wait"... When the houses sold the buyers always remarked it was the dressing room that sold them the house.
It's not uncommon for people living in one-bedroom apartments in Manhattan, London or Rome to use the bedroom as a dressing room and put their bed in a corner in the living room.
WHAT'S THE POINT?
EVERYONE WANTS A FREEKIN' DRESSING ROOM!
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED IN A DRESSING ROOM
(Men and Women)
- Good Light, preferably natural, but halogen if there's no windows
- Valet hooks - everywhere
- Mirrors, lots of them, an adjustable 3-way is best
- Minimum of 30" wide walkways
- Low-pile, lint-free wall-to-wall carpeting with a dense pad
- Long hanging for gowns, pants, bathrobes
- Short hanging for everything else
- Shoe racks
- Matching hangers for each purpose: (makes any closet look 100% better than a mish-mosh of junky plastic and wire hangers)
- Medium-duty wood - for jackets and coats
- Padded - for sweaters and thin shirts
- Velvet - for slippy, silky items
- Pants hangers - fold-over or clip-type
- Light-duty wood - for polo and dress shirts
- Drawers to hide all the crap you need to make yourself sexy
- Underclothes
- Silk scarves and ties
- Stockings, socks
- Eyeglasses, sunglasses
- Jewelry
- Bathing suits
- Workout clothes
- Gloves and winter scarves
- Junk drawer for glass cases, lint brushes, gift cards, change purses and small cases, wallets, passport covers, etc.
- Shoe bags for traveling
- Special drawers for each sport, tennis, running, yoga, etc.
- Shelves for sweaters, twin-sets, folded clothes
- Closet for luggage
- Seat to sit on when putting on shoes and stockings
- Large, flat, smooth surface, 36" - 48" high to assemble outfits on
- Flat surface to place open suit-cases for packing, 24" - 30"high
- Shelf with containers for daily unloading of pockets: keys, change, cuff-links, airline stubs, etc.
- Three laundry bins; dry cleaning, delicate and normal
- Safe for jewelry and cash
- Shallow divided drawers for jewelry, scarves and watches
- Cupboard or shelf with electric for watch winders, phone chargers, etc.
- Glass(!) topped shelf or tray for perfumes and colognes
- TV outlet for listening to the news or weather as you get dressed
(Source: Ferguson and Shamamian)
This space just screams Hedge-fund!
The center table is the axis of a series of spaces for the 'lady' to get dressed. Pale peach, gilt accents, padded upholstery and flouncy curtains creates a super feminine aura all up in here...
The center table is the axis of a series of spaces for the 'lady' to get dressed. Pale peach, gilt accents, padded upholstery and flouncy curtains creates a super feminine aura all up in here...
(Source: Yolanda Foster)
This banquette is super smart as it's great for packing your suitcases, or sitting on whilst struggling with your 8" Jimmy Choo's
The glass doors keep the clothes visible and dust free.
(Source: Unknown)
A proper lady's dressing room has a makeup table with lots of storage for all her war-paint...
(Source: Unknown)
Clean-n-Serene!
The mirrored doors hide the clothes and can be used as a three-way mirror; the mirrored top on the island reflects the crystal chandelier, daylight and the ceiling.
(Source: Mariah Carey)
In Mariah's NYC penthouse the dressing room has perpendicular clothes racks which are much less efficient than if she had one wall of clothes... jus sayin'.
(Source: Robert A.M.Stern)
A dressing room and work station.
The makeup table and a desk each have direct views to the water and are flooded with natural light. The large storage island is centered between four walk-in closets.
(loves me some symmetry!)
(Source: Fisher and Weisman)
Gretchen Bellinger is known for her exacting standards in her textile line, but her closet is pretty over-the-top anal in my mind - but, at the same time its "orderliness" is attractive.
(Source: Joe Nahem)
Want your dressing room to look like Neiman Marcus? Well, here ya go! Everything seems to be more on display than functional.
The room's too big, it feels commercial - although the details are pretty cool...
(Source: Ferguson and Shamamian)
A lovely country-style home uses a less flashy approach by incorporating antiques and accessories. Clothes are kept in the large , old-fashioned-looking built-in's and purses and accessories in the antique chest-of-drawers.
(Source: Unknown)
Not much space to work with or weird architecture to work around? Several closets along this corridor allow the light to enter while the beautiful frosted glass doors make a 'quality' statement.
(Source: Pinterest)
Mirror, mirror on the wall, how can I make it look like I have the most clothes of all?
This isn't my taste, per se... but it's well done, and definitely high glam.
Prolly shoulda measured that chandelier before ordering it...
(Source: Pinterest)
In one part of this homunculus dressing room a custom
wall-unit combines a three-way mirror and cabinets for stuff you wanna keep the dust off of.
(Source: Antonio Martins Interiors)
For the person with ornatious taste. Aren't the 90's over yet ???
(Source: Ferguson and Shamamian)
Boom, Shakalaka!!!
This traditional, yet uncluttered room is achieved by the cabinetry blending seamlessly into the architecture.
GENTLEMAN'S DRESSING ROOMS
(Source: Ferguson and Shamamian)
My favorite dressing room in this missive!
Natch - 'cause everything is perfect!
Seating, table, lighting, easy access to clothes... it's all there.
(Source: Martin Kemp)
This poncey bachelors pad in Monaco has combined the bath and dressing room. The Art Deco decor is masculine and clean-lined.
(Source: Hank Azaria)
Azaria's casual dressing room uses free-standing furniture instead of built-ins. The black painted cabinets match the walls making them less obtrusive, which is the key to a less cluttered look.
(Source: Allessandra Branca)
A Regency style dressing room has a pull-out shelf which is perfect for assembling an outfit if you don't have a table. Above that, the recessed shelf is great for displaying personal items, phone chargers, jewelry boxes or just accessorizing.
(Source: Pinterest)
This contemporary dressing room is neither masculine or feminine
It's just right!
(Source: Homebunch)
Dudes often want a dressing room that looks like it's been plucked right out of Savile Row! This comes very close with its elegant cherry woodwork.
(Source: Unknown)
Take that extra bedroom and treat yourself to a killer dressing room to keep all your blue shirts and grey suits in...
(Source: Luis Bustamante)
Updated Prepster!
Dressing rooms are very personal spaces; in theory no one sees it but you, so let it express your taste and interests.
(Source: Unknown)
OMG, how gay is that dude, right???
(Source: Ferguson and Shamamian)
Bath and dressing combo's can be good - and they can be horrible!
This is a good one as the clothes are contained in closets which doesn't make it feel like you're bathing in your closet.
(Source: Joseph Dirand)
This design is beautifully reductive, but the built-ins and mirrored pier aren't enough, you need a table-top and a seat.
(Source: Steve Wynn)
This is what I would expect from a Vegas casino owner...
Too commercial looking - looks like Bloomingdale's Men's Department circa 1990.
(Source: Central de Arquitectura Design)
dat mofo is HOT!
Two semi-attached sink-bases giving way to a huge-ass dressing room with everything visible and loads of natural light.
(Source: TwentyFourSeven)
#INSANE!
Love the sleekness, use of wood and the indirect lighting.
The mirrored wall on the left with the marble shelf separates the dressing area from the bath.
ACCOMMODATING YOUR SPECIFIC NEEDS
You can't 'do' a proper dressing room if you don't know what you have. You'll need to do 'lineal'
measurements of your hanging clothes and 'counts' of all of your folded items.
Do you want drawers and cabinets with upholstered interiors?
Its a nice touch; silky clothes don't slide around in an upholstered drawer...
How much jewelry do you have, does it need to be locked up or is it mostly junk?
Christina Aguilera has a major make-up station in her dressing room, replete with mani-pedi chair!
This photo explains a lot...right?
Are you disciplined enough to toss a pair or shoes if you buy another - or are you a hoarder?
Ain't nothing harder to store than pocketbooks!
Big ones, small ones, soft ones, odd shaped ones...
Adjustable vertical dividers are best.
Phyllis Diller had a wig room...
How about a few full-height pull-outs to accommodate your belts and ties?
Elton John has a glasses room!
If your bathroom and dressing room are separate rooms install a small sink in the dressing room at your makeup table.
Yankee's Pitcher CC Sabathia has a sneaker room!
How do you like to store your trousers?
Folded over, or full-length on clip-hangers?
Rolled, draped, hung or laid? ;)
Women's shoes are best if kept on flat, adjustable glass shelves, that way the heel height is more obvious when selecting shoes.
Adjustable shelves are smarter as shoe styles change annually, so why lock yourself into a certain configuration?
Folded shirts from the cleaners take up much less space!
Aren't you tired of hunting for that other earring, or untangling your beads and pearls?
LESS EXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVES
This massive dressing room was "found space."
The owners absorbed the attic over the garage, popped in a few skylights and voila! now they have an amazing new dressing room with great light - without building on or taking over a bedroom.
Apartment dwellers, I feel for you...
The best thing to do is have your existing closets tricked out, you'll be stunned at the space a pro can provide you with.
Maybe you don't have another bedroom to absorb, but what about that old sewing room, or upstairs landing?
This is the basic 'closet-factory' type of interior - and, it's fine!
They have the same technology and storage options as the up-market company's, just not as many finish options.
Using an old walk-in closet?
Make it yours, pee in every corner, give it a lil' zhuzh!
If you do take over that extra bedroom you can outfit it with modular pieces from 'big-box' stores. A little creativity and Shazam!
Small bedroom, large closet?
Lose the dresser and add a built-in in the closet.
There are dozens of the European-style closet companies that can give you a majorly rad look for less than custom built-ins. They have awesome accessories too.
Old apartments were built for the days when women had four dresses and men had two suits... we've come a long way baby!
This chic hangs her heels on her bedroom wall as art and has Ikea drawer units below in 'moderne black' and it works!
This contemporary loft has birch plywood shelving supported with screw rods and nuts.
An older home uses the sleeping porch adjacent to the bedroom for a dressing room. Charming, easy and full of light!
Use El-cheapo closet components from Home Depot, throw up a cool paint color, add a $99 mirrored table from Home Goods and install a funky chandelier and BAM! Youre rockin' it!
An old sewing room is now a walk-in closet with fo-shizzle.
Inexpensive shelves and galvanized piping are affixed to the walls for the hanging clothes. The chandelier and accessories make it less closet'y looking.
IKEA CLOTHES STORAGE GALLERY
Their cabinets come in zillions of configurations with a zillion more accessories to outfit them with.
A small European bedroom had no closets. For some small coin they created wing-walls and hung curtains between them. The shelving and hanging clothes are out of sight behind the curtains.
ACCESSORIES FOR THE WELL-APPOINTED
DRESSING ROOM
GENTLEMAN'S TROUSER PRESS
I have one and use it all the time; it saves sending pants to the cleaners just because the crease is gone.
FOLD-OUT IRONING BOARD
I want one of these!
PULL-OUT VALET RODS
I have these everywhere, and there's always shit hanging on them too!
PULL-DOWN CLOSET POLES FOR HIGH CEILINGS
(Source: Ferguson and Shamamian)
My favorite dressing room in this missive!
Natch - 'cause everything is perfect!
Seating, table, lighting, easy access to clothes... it's all there.
(Source: Martin Kemp)
This poncey bachelors pad in Monaco has combined the bath and dressing room. The Art Deco decor is masculine and clean-lined.
(Source: Hank Azaria)
Azaria's casual dressing room uses free-standing furniture instead of built-ins. The black painted cabinets match the walls making them less obtrusive, which is the key to a less cluttered look.
(Source: Allessandra Branca)
A Regency style dressing room has a pull-out shelf which is perfect for assembling an outfit if you don't have a table. Above that, the recessed shelf is great for displaying personal items, phone chargers, jewelry boxes or just accessorizing.
(Source: Pinterest)
This contemporary dressing room is neither masculine or feminine
It's just right!
(Source: Homebunch)
Dudes often want a dressing room that looks like it's been plucked right out of Savile Row! This comes very close with its elegant cherry woodwork.
(Source: Unknown)
Take that extra bedroom and treat yourself to a killer dressing room to keep all your blue shirts and grey suits in...
(Source: Luis Bustamante)
Updated Prepster!
Dressing rooms are very personal spaces; in theory no one sees it but you, so let it express your taste and interests.
(Source: Unknown)
OMG, how gay is that dude, right???
(Source: Ferguson and Shamamian)
Bath and dressing combo's can be good - and they can be horrible!
This is a good one as the clothes are contained in closets which doesn't make it feel like you're bathing in your closet.
(Source: Joseph Dirand)
This design is beautifully reductive, but the built-ins and mirrored pier aren't enough, you need a table-top and a seat.
(Source: Steve Wynn)
This is what I would expect from a Vegas casino owner...
Too commercial looking - looks like Bloomingdale's Men's Department circa 1990.
(Source: Central de Arquitectura Design)
dat mofo is HOT!
Two semi-attached sink-bases giving way to a huge-ass dressing room with everything visible and loads of natural light.
(Source: TwentyFourSeven)
#INSANE!
Love the sleekness, use of wood and the indirect lighting.
The mirrored wall on the left with the marble shelf separates the dressing area from the bath.
ACCOMMODATING YOUR SPECIFIC NEEDS
You can't 'do' a proper dressing room if you don't know what you have. You'll need to do 'lineal'
measurements of your hanging clothes and 'counts' of all of your folded items.
Do you want drawers and cabinets with upholstered interiors?
Its a nice touch; silky clothes don't slide around in an upholstered drawer...
How much jewelry do you have, does it need to be locked up or is it mostly junk?
Christina Aguilera has a major make-up station in her dressing room, replete with mani-pedi chair!
This photo explains a lot...right?
Are you disciplined enough to toss a pair or shoes if you buy another - or are you a hoarder?
Ain't nothing harder to store than pocketbooks!
Big ones, small ones, soft ones, odd shaped ones...
Adjustable vertical dividers are best.
Phyllis Diller had a wig room...
How about a few full-height pull-outs to accommodate your belts and ties?
Elton John has a glasses room!
If your bathroom and dressing room are separate rooms install a small sink in the dressing room at your makeup table.
Yankee's Pitcher CC Sabathia has a sneaker room!
How do you like to store your trousers?
Folded over, or full-length on clip-hangers?
Rolled, draped, hung or laid? ;)
Women's shoes are best if kept on flat, adjustable glass shelves, that way the heel height is more obvious when selecting shoes.
Adjustable shelves are smarter as shoe styles change annually, so why lock yourself into a certain configuration?
Folded shirts from the cleaners take up much less space!
Aren't you tired of hunting for that other earring, or untangling your beads and pearls?
LESS EXPENSIVE ALTERNATIVES
This massive dressing room was "found space."
The owners absorbed the attic over the garage, popped in a few skylights and voila! now they have an amazing new dressing room with great light - without building on or taking over a bedroom.
Apartment dwellers, I feel for you...
The best thing to do is have your existing closets tricked out, you'll be stunned at the space a pro can provide you with.
Maybe you don't have another bedroom to absorb, but what about that old sewing room, or upstairs landing?
This is the basic 'closet-factory' type of interior - and, it's fine!
They have the same technology and storage options as the up-market company's, just not as many finish options.
Using an old walk-in closet?
Make it yours, pee in every corner, give it a lil' zhuzh!
If you do take over that extra bedroom you can outfit it with modular pieces from 'big-box' stores. A little creativity and Shazam!
Small bedroom, large closet?
Lose the dresser and add a built-in in the closet.
There are dozens of the European-style closet companies that can give you a majorly rad look for less than custom built-ins. They have awesome accessories too.
Old apartments were built for the days when women had four dresses and men had two suits... we've come a long way baby!
This chic hangs her heels on her bedroom wall as art and has Ikea drawer units below in 'moderne black' and it works!
This contemporary loft has birch plywood shelving supported with screw rods and nuts.
An older home uses the sleeping porch adjacent to the bedroom for a dressing room. Charming, easy and full of light!
Use El-cheapo closet components from Home Depot, throw up a cool paint color, add a $99 mirrored table from Home Goods and install a funky chandelier and BAM! Youre rockin' it!
An old sewing room is now a walk-in closet with fo-shizzle.
Inexpensive shelves and galvanized piping are affixed to the walls for the hanging clothes. The chandelier and accessories make it less closet'y looking.
IKEA CLOTHES STORAGE GALLERY
Their cabinets come in zillions of configurations with a zillion more accessories to outfit them with.
A small European bedroom had no closets. For some small coin they created wing-walls and hung curtains between them. The shelving and hanging clothes are out of sight behind the curtains.
ACCESSORIES FOR THE WELL-APPOINTED
DRESSING ROOM
GENTLEMAN'S TROUSER PRESS
I have one and use it all the time; it saves sending pants to the cleaners just because the crease is gone.
FOLD-OUT IRONING BOARD
I want one of these!
PULL-OUT VALET RODS
I have these everywhere, and there's always shit hanging on them too!
PULL-DOWN CLOSET POLES FOR HIGH CEILINGS
These are brilliant for short people or utilizing the higher spaces in your dressing room.
LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT IN THE DRESSING ROOM
Isn't this where the most laundry is generated?
If you do your own laundry it's a smart idea.
TRAUM SAFE, THE FINEST IN THE WORLD
WALL SAFE
An easily accessed, out-of-sight place to store a few things.
It can be installed in the wall behind the hanging clothes.
BAD DRESSING ROOMS
All those touch-latches and zero indication about what's behind which door or drawer = mind games!
Looks like something from a daytime TV game show..
Behind which door is the $500???
And, bright neon light coming up from the floor is always flattering too...
So, if, say, I was debating between several outfits - hmmm, where and how do I put it all while I'm making my decision, on the floor?
This is purely a showoff closet - too bad they didn't get the memo on thermofoil cabinets being so low-rent...
Awww snap - yes I did!
This is part of a dressing room in the most expensive penthouse ever sold... WTF is up with the lighting?
Bet they look like clowns when they hit real daylight...
Really?
Jay Gatsby, super billionaire, wants to sleep surrounded by his clothes? Really?
This looks like the locker room at the gym...
Oak cabinets = ugly!
Fluorescent cove lighting = even uglier!
Highly polished marble = wayyy ugly!
Oh yeah, mamma's just gonna soak here in her schmancy bubble baff and stare at her husbands randy sweatpants and running shoes...
Liberace lives on!
Cheap-ass orange floor stain combined with low-budge 8" recessed can lights
I just love the smell of new money...
Yeah, that's a good idea for matching your clothes, paint the inside of your cabinetry iridescent blue...
Looks like you're sterilizing your clothes with ultraviolet light!
You can do it, I'm here to help!