Vanity Desk

While designing and decorating most of the spaces in our house, I try to choose colors and styles that my wife and I will both like. We have a lot of style preferences in common–we both like modern things with traditional elements, a lot of natural light, a little bit of a farmhouse vibe, and things inspired by nature. That said, I am definitely more girly than she is. When it comes to common spaces, I’ve managed to tone down my ultra-feminine side and use colors and styles that are more gender-neutral. But sometimes it’s nice to design a little space for myself and go crazy with pastel colors and pretty details. When I was converting an old desk into a vanity where I could sit, have my coffee, and do my hair and makeup, my wife said I could do whatever I wanted with the space (isn’t she the best?). Since this little corner of the bedroom belongs completely to me, she doesn’t seem to mind when I fill it full of flowery things. And I love how it turned out. It’s one of those spaces that just speaks to me.

My mom gave me this old desk that used to be in my great-grandfather’s office. No one in the family was really using it, and it had some watermarks on the top and needed to be refinished. I decided to sand it down and paint it mint green. To me it feels like such a refreshing color, like eating a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream. I used the original desk hardware to keep a little bit of a vintage feel. I also added a funky swivel chair, and a round mirror and chandelier from IKEA.

It’s always fun to have a place to hang mementos and birthday cards–usually I keep my birthday cards up all year until I get more for my next birthday. To create a hanging system for them, I just put a couple of clear thumbtacks on the wall and tied some brown twine onto them. A package of colorful binder clips works well for hanging things on the string.

I use a jewelry tree that my sister-in-law gave me to store jewelry and hair clips. A small catchall or saucer is a great place to store bobby pins or other small items.

These recycled tea tins are such a cute way to store sunscreen, lotions and other odds and ends. I’ve seen these tea tins in a whole range of colors at stores like Target. I bet they would make great planters, too, with some drainage holes drilled in the bottom.

Even if you’re not that into makeup, I still think a desk like this in the bedroom is really useful. It seems like the older I get (or maybe the longer I live in a rural, laid-back community), the less time I’m willing to spend fussing with my hair and makeup. Most of my beauty products fit in a small drawer in the bathroom. I have a feeling that eventually this desk might become a storage space for extra art supplies. (Because I tend to horde that stuff. It’s a bit of a problem). Anyway, a bedroom desk is useful for so many things other than doing your hair/makeup. You can also use it as a quiet space for journaling, having your morning coffee, writing email, storing clothing and accessories, taking selfies, writing to-do lists, etc. Most importantly, it’s a place that you can display textures and colors and memories that bring you joy! If you do this with any space, I promise it will feel like your own natural habitat ❤