What if we told you there is a single piece of furniture that separates a functional bedroom from a luxurious one?
It’s called the dressing table, and most girls will attest that these dedicated beauty spots are hugely important for getting ready to go out.
Since they do so much to help us look our best, the least you can do for your dressing table is style it to perfection, elevating the entire bedroom as a result.
So without further delay, here are 11 stylish dressing table ideas that will leave you with a pamper station to die for.
Supersize a mirror
There’s no question that dressing tables have a habit of attracting a great deal of clutter, which can make a small bedroom feel a lot smaller.
All the more reason to create the illusion of extra space with a supersized mirror above your dressing table.
The reflective properties of a mirror adds a sense of depth to a room and amplifies light levels, both of which hold up the illusion that extra space has been created out of thin air.
Hopefully you can see how this would be the perfect antidote to a compact and overcrowded dressing table, and it would bring an end to your search for that crucial focal point of the bedroom.
Chair vs stool
You can’t style a dressing table to perfection without giving any thought to your choice of seating.
Choosing the right seat comes down to where your priorities lie: do you want to save on space or introduce more materials, textures and colors?
If it’s the former that speaks closer to your needs, a stool is the better option as they are diminutive in size and can be neatly tucked away under the dressing table.
On the other hand, chairs are brimming with design potential and choosing one that adds heaps of color and texture will raise the aesthetics of the room, let alone your dressing table.
Tall accessories
Seasoned interior designers don’t bend over backwards to give a space a sense of balance for the fun of it.
An unbalanced space will immediately feel off, which is why you should make a concerted effort to visually stabilize your dressing table if it sits ‘out in the open’ rather than tucked into a corner or inside a nook.
The trick is to place a tall accessory like a plant or floor lamp next to the table to help frame the space and please the eye.
Double up
In the event that your bedroom is too small for a dressing table unit, you don’t have to abandon the idea of having somewhere to complete your morning and night beauty rituals.
If you have one at the right height, a piece of furniture can double as a dressing table.
The bedroom dresser and wall shelves are both excellent candidates for an improvised pamper station. The key to pulling this off is by keeping it casual and not over-committing – simply add a leaning mirror and some beauty essentials, and nobody will question it.
The worst thing you can do for the look of your bedroom as a whole is cram in a dressing table when there’s no space for one.
Window backdrop
Sometimes the location can take away much of the legwork that comes with styling a dressing table.
Indeed, placing your setup in front of a window is a great example of a shortcut to a winning backdrop as often you’ll find there’s nothing you can put on the wall that can compete with the view out of a window.
If you’re still not sold on the idea of a window backdrop, think about it from a lighting perspective – natural light is a valuable commodity for detailed, focused tasks such as applying makeup.
Better yet, window curtains and drapes are another opportunity to add a decorative touch to your pamper station, and will also give it some symmetry for that all important balanced look.
Inspiration
After you have finalized your lineup of must-have dressing table accessories i.e. the tools you need to help you ‘put your face on’ each morning, you should turn your attention to items which serve no other purpose than to inspire.
Just as it does when used to pick out desk decor, styling through inspiration will make the space personal to you.
Just the sight of certain items which are close to your heart will lift the mood and enhance the experience of getting ready to go out. Candles, ornaments, books, photo frames, memorabilia – literally anything is game as long as it has intrinsic value.
Keep it simple
Our natural instinct when tasked with making a space look nicer is to add more stuff to it. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it often generates the results we wanted.
But has it ever crossed your mind to take the opposite approach?
Home offices with minimalist desk setups are growing in popularity because they have a positive impact on productivity and there’s no reason why you can’t tap into the same benefits with a minimalist dressing table.
Remove anything that serves no practical use for your beauty routine, even if this means the table, chair and mirror are the only things that remain, and you’ll be left with a highly presentable and productive dressing table.
Color coordinate
You wouldn’t put together an outfit using color combinations that don’t work, so it’s only right that you put some thought into the colors that comprise the overall look of your dressing table.
It’s not rocket science: simply color match key components such as the mirror, table and maybe a couple of accessories, and just like that you will have a color coordinated setup that means serious business.
Add film-star lighting
Mirrors are absolutely vital for helping you get red-carpet ready, so finding a dressing table mirror that delivers in terms of style and function is a must.
Since the world of Hollywood knows a thing or two about giving the celebrity treatment, this is a good place to draw inspiration from.
One thing every A-lister has in their dressing room is a Hollywood mirror, and if it serves their highly demanding needs then it will surely take your own setup to the next level.
Hollywood mirrors have bulbs around the mirror frame, but you can also get backlit mirrors for a more continuous glow around the edges, adding a touch of glamor to any room they are in, and more importantly they give off that vibrant shadowless light we all crave.
Take it off-center
So you have a beautiful, lengthy dressing table and you want to top it off with a perfectly-centered wall mirror?
Consider resisting the urge to place your mirror in the middle and go for an off-center aesthetic as this has a nice asymmetrical effect that will take the eye by surprise.
And besides, you can deploy shelving more efficiently with this setup since you have a decent amount of wall space on one side of the mirror.
Float it
Some people have streamlined their beautification to the point where they have no need for substantive storage.
If you fit this description and are content with a nice work surface and a few drawers, a floating dressing table could be the answer.
They’re a great way to free up more floor space and keep that open and airy feel. That’s why the no-fuss design of a floating dressing table will look the part in bedrooms with a minimalist scheme.
And not to mention, walls that are unsightly or lacking personality will also benefit from this transformation into a pamper station.