More so, I'd love to carry this tradition and idea into a full dressing table in a larger bathroom, when I have the actual space.
I love the idea of having an official table and chair to sit and do your morning routine. A place that is dedicated to those few moments of skincare, hair and makeup. I've found these four amazing bathrooms all that show off different styles of vanities.
Do you use a vanity regularly? Would you include one in a bathroom remodel plan?
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I have a love-hate relationship to Carolina Herrera Jr.'s vanity in the bathroom: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49895033@N06/4917221760/
My mom had one in our house growing up, and I have distinct memories of her sitting in her little white vanity chair putting on her makeup every morning. She still has that chair (with a new cover made by me) that she uses at the vanity in her current house. I had a townhouse a few years ago with a built-in vanity, so it only seemed natural to get my OWN little white vanity chair. So the answer is yes, I definitely think vanities have a place in the bathroom and would LOVE to have one again one day. It sure beats sitting at the dining room table!
I have used a dressing table since my twenties...it was my one nod to grown-up girlie things and have loved it ever since. It has had various incarnations including different table/chair/ottoman combinations, however sitting and taking time in the a.m. is a calming way to start the day. I am thinking of transforming a spare bedroom into a dressing room and I am planning for a more elaborate dressing table...
I love vanities, and I currently have one in my bedroom -- I use it every day. I'd like to set up a vanity in my bathroom instead, but a lot of makeup can't take the humidity and temperature changes.
If I had a huge bathroom (I'll take that first one!) where the tub and vanity could be far apart, then I might risk it, but otherwise I don't think it's a great plan. I'm very happy with my combination vanity/desk in my bedroom.
The most crucial thing for me -- you need to be able to sit, not stand (or what's the point?), and the chair or stool has to tuck in! I need to get closer to the mirror. #2 would drive me nuts!
I had one in my room growing up and though short, disliked the jaunt around the corner to my bathroom. When in college I missed having a vanity so much I turned the desk in my dorm room into my beauty nook and did my studying on my bed or couch. If/when I build my own house I will definitely be including a built-in vanity in the powder room, preferably with an adjacent small room for the toilet, though I don't mind it with the shower and bath.
WHOAMYGOSH, I have no need whatsoever to ever "lounge" in my bathroom, but suddenly I'm majorly jonesing for bathrooms 1 and 3. Bathroom 3 looks like my dream dressing room, a room I will one day have all to myself, that is girly, freaking gorgeous, and huge.
I think this is a great way to get that "bathroom as a room" look without doing something too weird, like we saw with that last post where they had an entire living room set in there. Number 3 is a great example.
My mom has one in her bathroom now, but it is the only vanity that I really know of. Since she didn't grow up with one, she rarely ever uses it. The most use it gets is when someone is dying their hair.