This Sunday morning (when I’m writing this) I am sitting at my vanity. Before Sunday morning, this corner of my bedroom housed my overflow clean laundry basket. You know what I’m talking about right?
The corner of your house where clean laundry piles up because you just aren’t going to “deal with it later?” Well TODAY I decided I would finally deal with it. Literally. I cleared out that corner and now it is home to my vanity.
I used to sit at the bathroom sink and do my makeup. Literally, for years.
Hunched over, craning my neck to see into the bright, unnatural light of the bathroom overhead fixture.
Also, bathrooms lights make you look pale or orange. Fun! My old makeup bag sat on my bathroom counter so every time I brushed my teeth I would have to move an abundance of mascara tubes, lipsticks, etc.
Just so I could spit into the sink. Really what I was looking for was some peace and quiet to tame my morning war paint. After finding an ad on my phone (yes, I scroll through furniture picks on my phone while laying on the couch on a Sunday) for used furniture.
Mainly because, Sunday afternoons we all just kinda browse ads pretending we have better things to do than our actual responsibilities. I stumbled upon this darling little white desk. It was simple.
Nothing flashy. About 30 inches wide with two small drawers. $40. The woman selling it said it was from IKEA but she thought it was one of their HEMNES desks but she wasn’t positive.
The only issue was it had a couple scratches on the desktop. But it felt sturdy. Forty dollars.
I can’t mess up forty dollars. Okay so my issue was HOW do I fit this in my room without taking over my ENTIRE bedroom. As I’m sure some of you aren’t aware, but my bedroom is 3’ x 3.5’.
Now that’s not small by London standards but not a lot of space. The bed takes up most of the room. On one wall is a built in wardrobe.
Nothing I can do about that. Bottom line I just have that, a walk space, and the corner by the window. Which was previously home to my dirty laundry mountain.
I measured the space twice. (don’t ask me how I know this but buy twice cheque once. I learned that the hard way after assembling a book shelf.) It will fit with roughly 6” of space on either side of it. Enough room so it doesn’t look squished but not too much dead space.
Mirror time. I love those bigatas “vanities” with the mirror surrounded by lights. But HELLOO that takes up your entire corner and more.
So instead I opted for a simple round mirror. About 20” in diameter. I found this bad boy at a vintage store in Hackney for $18.00.
It had a thin brass frame around it which made it look way more highend than those generic mirrors you can get anywhere. Alright so now I was getting greedy with my lighting. I knew from square one that lighting is everything when it comes to doing your makeup.
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I also knew I couldn’t exactly wire in new lights and still have my security deposit returned. (Rental living, am I right?) So I purchased 2 battery operated LED strip lights that clamp onto the back of your mirror. They come in a beautiful warm white light. Not too yellow not too blue and they recharge via USB.
About $25 bucks for the set of 2. They last for weeks on a charge as well. But where I think I really scored was when I decided to throw an actual table lamp into the mix.
I found an adjustable brass desk lamp at my local charity shop for $10.00. It was super tarnished but a wipe of some metal polish and she shines like the night! Now I have the option of using both my strip lights as well as the actual lamp.
The strip lights give you even lighting but then the lamp is great for a focus free zone to get rid of shadows. Storage. I hate when my makeup and brushes are just kinda EVERYWHERE.
I didn’t want to dig through drawers when I was trying to find that one eyeliner pencil. The desk drawers are perfect for my “everyday” stuff. Foundations, concealers, and everyday lipsticks.
But I wanted something for the junk drawer makeup stuff. You know, all of the lip balms that mysteriously appear. Forgotten hair ties.
Or the earrings you take out but immediately forget you took off. I found these darling clear acrylic drawer organizers that fit PERFECTLY into my desk drawers. Basically these are little boxes of all different sizes that slot into your drawer.
They help organise and display all of your makeup junk. Now I can actually see everything I own without digging through to find the one shade of eyeshadow I reach for every other day. Cost me about $15 bucks from Amazon.
As far as what I kept on top of the desk, I kept it pretty minimal. If I didn’t use it daily, it didn’t get to sit on my vanity. Besides my “everyday” cosmetics, I have a small ceramic bowl to toss my jewellery in when I’m done.
I also have a small succulent plant (because why not add more plants to your life?) as well as a candle I light when I’m doing my makeup. It sounds super dorky but there is something nice about creating that little routine before you run out the door. The last thing I purchased was a stool.
REAL vanity stools are either way too big and bulky or cost WAY more than I wanted to spend. I opted for a simple wooden stool from ya know who. ($12.00) It fits perfectly under the desk when not in use and doesn’t take up any walking space. All in all I probably spent close to $125.
I think that’s pretty decent for changing the way I spend my mornings. Not only do I look WAY better put together before I leave the house, but I actually sit down.
Take my time.
I used to rush to get ready while still half asleep at the bathroom sink. Now I unwind a bit before doing my makeup and feel like a hot girl boss when I leave the house. The best part is IT DOESN’T dominate the room.
The desk is literally white so it blends with the walls. Since everything has a “home” it also doesn’t look cluttered. When people come over they actually comment on how “grown up” my room looks.
How the vanity makes it look like I “have my life together.” Umm little do they know my kitchen cabinets but hey…I’ll take it! If I could go back and change anything? Maybe spend the extra bucks on a stool with a back.
This one is ok but I don’t like sitting on it for longer periods of time (cough getting ready for work in the morning) Also, maybe a bigger mirror? But then I feel like you’d loose too much space.
