Small Luxuries – My Dresser and Vanity

Ok, first off, I want to clear the air. I have absolutely nothing against poor Keanu Reeves. Except for his nasty facial hair, he’s a perfectly charming guy and plus, he was awesome in Bill and Ted’s.

Moving right along, this week I found it a little tough to set aside time for blogging, as you may have probably barely noticed. I struggled to allow myself enough time to even throw on some mascara before I got out the door. And that’s unfortunate, since someone, at some point in my life said, “a lady should never leave the house without at least putting on mascara – you never know who you’re going to bump into.”  Which reminds me…a couple of years ago, while recovering from having my appendix out, I left the house without getting dressed OR putting on mascara and guess who I bumped into on my quiet nobody famous ever comes here Main Street? Keanu Reeves. And guess what? He was pretty hot. And I looked like a homeless gym teacher. So, listen everyone…put on your mascara! (btw, he was filming this movie, which I never saw – was it any good?)

In a time when we seem to be in a constant state of running out the door, I like the idea of carving out one space in the house and an extra ten minutes in our schedules for some good old fashioned primping. It’s a small luxury that can be worked into any space with a little creativity.

When we were rethinking the floor plan at Lil’ Spot we decided to take the smallest room as our master bedroom. Consequently, my “dresser” is actually a built-in bookshelf that we designed into the space when we redid the adjoining bathroom.

The built-in unit is about 10″ deep and has adjustable MDF shelves that we painted white. The unit handily houses my shoes, jeans, scarves, jewelry boxes, makeup, perfume collection, a baseball hat and a few things I like to look at.  Although having open storage means that everything has to be kept neat and tidy, it’s fun to get dressed when your things are displayed as if they’re in a fancy boutique. I rotate shoes and scarves seasonally and bring forgotten pieces out of my jewelry box to remind me to wear them more often.

My ‘vanity’ space occupies one of the shelves hung at eye level with a thrifted mirror leaning against the back. I keep it from looking too cluttered with a variety of trays, cups, bowls and dishes. This is one of the all-time best and easiest styling tricks! Plus it justifies my totally unchecked hoarding of new and vintage dish ware. I keep my perfume collection on a vintage beaded glass tray.

My makeup is tossed in a vintage African bread basket (big enough for me to rummage around in) and my makeup brushes are in a gold-trimmed glass.  There are also some thrifted elephants that might be ivory (?) but they were probably just found on the floor under some dirt and junk mail so I’m not contributing to the demand for illegal ivory, I swear.

I drape favorite necklaces over the mirror or hang them on a pair of brass scallop shell hooks. My scarves are kept in another vintage African basket. Baskets all up in here.

Sure, it’s a standing room only situation in a tiny room with a basket of laundry that I haven’t put away yet. But it’s a space just for me, that is entirely dedicated to getting pretty for dinner. It’s a small luxury. And we like those!