SD Project: Bijou Dressing Table

I am SO EXCITED to share my latest project with you.  It's been in the works for ages and it's finally, finally done!

As you may have seen from previous "home tour" posts, I have an old home that is fairly streamlined and not very girly.  I love our decor but I've always wanted a pretty dressing room.  I've been sort of adding elements, such as my shoe cabinets, to our guest room but I am loathe to take over the whole space completely.  I also, didn't really have a place that would be safe for a delicate dressing table or all the perfumes, puffs and crystal that I would want to be there.

But that doesn't mean that I haven't dreamed of a pretty space all my own...

Then I realized I did have one small space that I could repurpose into a bijou dressing table. I started making plans and lists...

In my funky old home I have a funny closet-in-a-closet space in the guest room.

You open the outer door and you see this rectangular space that has a clothes rod on the left, a window on the right and another deep cabinet straight ahead.

The inner cabinet holds the guest room blankets and pillows, hat boxes and craft supplies. I keep some shoes in here as well as my off season clothes.

I drew up plans for a shelf that would be hinged under the window which would be supported by a shelf bracket for a brace and two decorative chains on each side.  The bracket would be hinged to lie flat against the wall and then the table part, also hinged would be able to be lowered down so I could open the inner cabinet doors.

Once I decided on a plan, I started to plan my furnishings - vintage dressing table linens...

A Ghost chair to sit on...  I thought and searched for ages on what chair to have in the space.  It need to be high enough but small in width.  I looked at all kinds of chairs and stools from new Pottery Barn to vintage vanity stools.  In the end, I've always loved the Ghost chairs and the clear will keep the small space airy. 

With a color scheme of crystal, pinks soft and bright, gold and small touches of black, a sari was the perfect fabric to act as a cover for the clothing section and a window shade.

A gilded shelf for accessories...

Antique tassels...

The project has been on hold for a while but know that I'm back in town, the pub is done and I'm done being sick this week, it has all come together.

The outer door now has a small sign warning of the girly space inside.

Yes, I have a Keep Calm poster, but now it's hidden inside the "fourth wall" of the room.  The sari was long enough to cover the clothes still on the left, drape across the ceiling and down, suspended from chain, to cover and decorate the window.

Isn't it ADORABLE????

I've decorated it with some of my existing pieces as well.  A Waterford crystal sugar sifter for powder, a Caron puff, my Chanel and Chloe perfumes and Waterford clock (the first piece I ever bought from when I was 17) on a Waterford tray.  A glove hand and small boxes for jewelry.

The most crucial piece I invested in and that I was very specific about was the mirror.  I knew from the start that I wanted a vintage Murano dressing mirror and this one with it's gilding and pale pink glass flowers was everything I dreamed of.

The Ghost chair and my tuffet fit perfectly too.  I'm going to get a faux flokati to cushion and protect the chair.  That's the last detail.

The last details are these amazing antique hand-cut paper cuts I had framed.  With their fairy tale themes they are perfect for my new space.

And my gilded shelf holds a delicate glass carousel horse. 

I so thrilled to have my little space.  I can't wait to linger over perfumes and polish and powder.

We all need a special place to find a bit of peace... mine just happens to be pink!

Other posts:

Key Word: Projects - an anthology

Key Word: Custom - an anthology

Key Word: Home - an anthology

Ensemble du Jour - Oktoberfest Edition

PROST!

Tonight was the official grand opening of the pub we built.  This little pub is built in the old nanny's quarters off of the back of our garage building. My husband and our talented neighbors turned this shell of a room into a pretty sweet pub filled with copper bar top, hand-crafted wrought iron footrest, hex and subway tiling, a vintage wood stove, darts... and a stolen Bavarian flag!

My contribution was the name, (temporary) logo, homemade pretzels and being the bar girl wearing a dirndl straight from Germany for our Oktoberfest.

The hubby in his Trachtenhosen (left) and one of our great neighbors.

Here's the dirndl I wore and a detail shot of the bodice.

As I mentioned the other day, I did more crafts on my Crafty Crafterson day. Two other crafts were the necklace to wear with my dirndl...

And my matching purse.  The traditional Trachten outfit often adds a gingerbread inspired purse to wear with the outfit.  To save some money, since the outfit was a bit pricey, was to make my own! 

I hand stitched the purse using 3 pieces of brown felt and then added embellishments to give it that "iced" look.

I think it turned out pretty snazzy!  Since it took me several hours, I'm glad it did.  We're actually going to another Oktoberfest next weekend, so I'll get my use of it then.  I just hope my stitches hold!

Now, off to play another round of darts...

Crafty Crafterson

I would not call myself a "crafting" type of person.  I like to make stuff for myself sometimes but not all the time.  Generally, I just don't have the time, the space or the patience.  But every once in a while I get in the mood and spend the whole day churning out a bunch of project.

And I have to admit this is a Pinterest-fueled post.   I saw a bunch of cute ideas on there, ran to Michael's and bought a whole ton of stuff to make.

I started off easy with a fun centerpiece.  I love that I can switch out the contents each month - chestnuts in November, cranberries in December, etc.

That took just a few minutes, but then it got out of hand as I dug though all my supplies and pulled stuff out.  I have now determined I have waaaayyy too much stuff.  Dang!

Shakers for my glitter = more glitter manicures to follow

Storage for my nail plates - a simple project.

I've had this piece of black coral since I was a kid.  It became a necklace for my neighbor.

And this necklace went to the little girl across the street.

1 embroidery hoop and 40 yards of black tulle later and I have my new favorite wreath for Halloween.

The Fall wreath was simple - a wreath hoop and two strings of the faux fall leaves.  Wired on and I added a ribbon too. Done!

A gaggle of ghostie pins for me and my friends...

I actually did 3 other projects too (11 in all!) if you can believe it but those are going to have to come in a separate post. I was exhausted by Sunday night!

Stay tuned!

Crafty Crafterson

Last year I saw this adorable felt bow project on Twig and Thistle and new I had to make one of my own.  They actually used a tutorial from How About Orange on making bows from magazines and other papers as the inspiration for the felt version.

Isn't this sweet?  I love it on the presents as a special topper but it's so perfect as a classy yet festive holiday brooch.

I had almost forgotten about it but yesterday it popped into my mind again and I ran out to grab some felt.  Luckily I already had pin backs. It takes a bit of time to cut out all the strips so they stay even.  That was the longest step.  This is the first bow I made so it's a bit of a test bow but it turned out great, I think!

So, unoriginal, I know but I styled it with a grey blazer as well.  It jazzes up my otherwise boring work outfit of jeans and black flats.

The red bow is classic but I'm going to try a nice dark evergreen green (maybe for the hubby to wear) and I found this amazing alligator print embossed felt in red that I'm really excited to try out next.  I'll post pics.

If you want a simple yet festive bow to wear or decorate with this is it.  Plus it's inexpensive.  I only needed 1 piece of felt which is $0.29 and the pin back which are 50 for $3. If you have a glue gun already, you're set!


Photo Credit (all but last two) from Twig and Thistle.